The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) has rejected the proposal on paying workers 15 months of salary annually, instead of a current 13 months.
Businesses have to pay sufficient salaries but it is not compulsory for them to give bonuses
The recommendation from Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, Director of the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs has been rejected. She said that Tet bonuses should be legalised so that workers would no longer have to worry about the possibility of cuts to the end of year bonus pay.
She also believed that the 15-month payment would greatly encourage workers to work harder for their companies. Such policies would also encourage more workforce loyalty.
However, Deputy Minister Pham Minh Huan said that Tet bonuses could not be legalised and the 15-month payment policy could not be implemented, specifying that this was just an individual opinion and the MoLISA’s instructions had to be regulated in the Labour Code.
"Businesses have to pay sufficient salaries but bonuses are based on the efficiency of the company and need negotiations between both sides. Companies are encouraged to offer high bonuses for their workers, but it is not compulsory for them to give bonuses because in many cases, they don’t have any way of making such payments,” Mr. Huan noted.
The deputy minister also pointed out that large numbers of firms had gone bankrupt and that workers had to bear this mind, while companies had to try to support their employees, he added.
The MoLISA had adopted unemployment support policies and urged companies to pay backdated salaries.
Tong Thi Minh, Head of the MoLISA’s Department of Labour and Salary, said the ministry had received Tet bonus reports from around 11,600 enterprises following which 2.2 million workers will surely be offered a Tet bonus this year. Meanwhile, she was not sure whether the remaining 13 million workers in the country would get the bonus because their companies have not sent in the reports.
According to the report, most firms were offering Tet bonuses of less than one month’s salary, Minh said.
