A Code of Conduct for labour exporters, announced in Hanoi on July 15, calls on target businesses to ensure the safe and convenient return of guest workers, especially females, after their labour contracts expire.

The 12-article document, coded CoC-VN, has been published as a manual and covers all steps required by law from business standards, advertisements, personal screening, vocational training, immigration arrangements and protection of guest workers abroad.

The code includes the signing of labour contracts, guest worker repatriation and reintegration, labour disputes and mechanisms for dispute solution, building partnerships and colleague relations between businesses.

The document makes it clear that dismissed guest workers will not pay the cost of their return if they are found not guilty. Exporters are also asked not to lure labour by advertising incomes, bonuses and other benefits higher than the labour contracts they have signed with foreign employers.

Chairman of the Vietnam Labour Exporters’ Association Nguyen Luong Trao said the manual aims to prevent forced labour and human trafficking, especially relating to vulnerable populations such as females. He added it would help exporters abide by not only the national law but also international conventions./.