The Labour Code (revised), the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, regulations regarding marriage involving foreign elements are among legal documents that took effect as of May.

According to the Vietnam Government Portal (VGP), the new Labor Code, which includes 17 chapters and 242 articles, was designed to promote gender equality in recruitment, use, training and salary regime for labourers.

Under the law, maternity leave will increase to six months instead of the current four months. However, female labourers can go back to work after taking at least four months for maternity leave.

The retirement age of men and women will be 60 and 55, respectively.

With five chapters and 35 articles, the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms covers measures to reduce the use of tobacco, control tobacco supply as well as conditions to prevent harms.

According to regulations on marriage involving foreign elements, marriage registration will be refused if one or both parties fail to reach the marriage ages according to Vietnamese law and the foreign party fails to be eligible for the marriage according to the law of the country which he/she is a citizen of or where he/she permanently resides (for stateless persons).

Marriage registration will also be rejected if the interview, inspection and verification results show that the marriage is conducted through illegal brokerage or is sham, not for the purpose of building a prosperous, equitable, progressive, happy and sustainable family; or aims at human trafficking, labour exploitation, sexually abusing women or other self-seeking purposes.-VNA