Dao Thi Ai

Associate
HCMC Office

Language
  • Vietnamese
  • English
Contact
Social Link

 

Ai is mostly involved in employment issues. This includes compensation and benefits, transfer of employment, foreign employees, labor discipline, termination, restructuring and more. The task is always to combine legal knowledge with commercial awareness and human strategy to help the company achieve the best outcome.

Selected Publications

  • Vietnam’s Employment Manual, Russin & Vecchi, 2024
  • Some Common Misunderstandings about hiring a foreigner to work in Vietnam, 2023
  • Vietnam: New regulations on work permits, 2023
  • Vietnam’s New Labor Code – Key changes – Lexology, 2021
  • Is Covid-19 Infection a Work-related accident – Lexology, 2021
  • Hiring a Vietnamese in Vietnam to work abroad: What you need to know – Lexology, 2021
  • Employment and Labor Law in Vietnam, International Employment and Labor Law – Sixth Edition, Littler Mendelson, 2018
  • Some Common Misunderstandings About Hiring A Foreigner To Work in Vietnam – Lexology, 2023 November

Practice Areas

  • Employment
  • Corporate

Education

  • Ho Chi Minh City University of Law (LLB, 2013)

Significant Cases

  • Worked closely with HR manager and In-house counsel to develop, review and implement policies involving compensation and benefits, employment disputes and claims.
  • Advised a major multinational company in all aspects of employment law issues, including transfer of employees, foreign-employee-relations matters, compensation and benefits, labor discipline, termination due to restructuring.
  • On several Due Diligence teams to determine legal compliance of target companies’ employment practices and personal income tax matters.
  • Advised several companies and assisted in negotiating termination of senior employees.
  • Assist the client in labor audit/inspection.
  • Assist several foreign employees to dealt with termination of employment by their employers.
  • Successfully assisted in defense of several companies in lawsuits brought by former employees, claiming unlawful termination and violation of rules on contribution to social insurance.
  • Assist the client in labor audit/inspection.
  • Assist several foreign employees to dealt with termination of employment by their employers.
  • Drafted, tailored, translated and filed International Labor Regulations, salary policy, leave policy, issues involving sexual harassment, bonus policy and others for numerous companies.

Author’s Insights

five major kinds of employment laws

Performance-Based Termination In Vietnam

 November 28th, 2025

Terminating an employee for poor performance is permitted in Vietnam.  But there are strict conditions.  Most employees will strongly resist; practical implementation is fraught with procedural hurdles and risks of legal disputes. This article sets out the legal requirements, common HR challenges, best practices and alternatives for employers seeking to terminate an employee for underperformance. […]

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