The union protects workers who have occupational accidents and is compensated more than 1.2 billion VND

Enterprises refuse compensation claims

On September 30, the People's Court of Phu My Town (Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province) held a first-instance trial of the dispute over compensation for work-related accidents between the plaintiff, Mr. Luu Chi Hieu (born in 1973) and the defendant, Phu My 3 BOT Power Company Limited (abbreviated as BOT PM3 Company).

Mr. Luu Chi Hieu has made 5 requests including: Payment of co-payment medical expenses of more than 222 million VND; compensation for occupational accidents of 26.7 months' salary; payment of interest of more than 166 million VND; support of 10 months' salary as committed to employees (with a salary of 41.189 million VND); forcing businesses to complete documents to submit to the Social Insurance agency to enjoy related benefits. The total amount of compensation requested is about 1.9 billion VND.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Ngan - Head of the Legal Policy Department of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Federation of Labor - was assigned to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Mr. Luu Chi Hieu at the trial. According to Mr. Ngan, the parties had reached an agreement but could not reach a consensus. Therefore, the employee filed a lawsuit in court.

At the trial, the representative of BOT PM3 Company stated that Mr. Luu Chi Hieu's case was not a work accident because Mr. Hieu had previously felt unwell, so he went to the medical room, was examined by a doctor and asked to rest. A moment later, Mr. Hieu showed symptoms and had a stroke. At that time, Mr. Hieu was resting, not working, so this was a medical condition.

Forced to compensate more than 1.2 billion VND

At the trial, the representative of the People's Procuracy expressed his opinion on the dispute, that is, based on the labor contract, legal regulations, related documents... and most recently the appeal judgment of the Provincial People's Court on the labor contract dispute between the parties, this was a work accident.

"The defendant's opinion is that this is a disease, which is not in accordance with the provisions of the law", the representative of the Procuracy stated.

However, the representative of the Procuracy stated that the salary to calculate the compensation amount should be 38.197 million VND, corresponding to Mr. Hieu's salary for social insurance contributions; the interest arising should not be accepted because there is not enough basis. At the same time, the representative of the Procuracy also expressed the view of not accepting the request for compensation of 10 months' salary because the employee could not provide any documents or evidence to prove the commitment between the enterprise and the employee; and the enterprise also denied having a commitment to Mr. Luu Chi Hieu. However, in this issue, Mr. Ngan said that proving it is the employer's responsibility is a characteristic of labor dispute.

Based on the opinions and arguments at the trial, as well as documents related to the case, the Trial Council declared a partial acceptance of the plaintiff's request, forcing Phu My 3 BOT Power Company Limited to compensate Mr. Luu Chi Hieu with more than 1.24 billion VND.