Ms. Pham Thu Trang (person requested to change name, 32 years old) - a propaganda officer at the Cultural Center of a mountainous province shared that if the agency has no source of income or does not spend wisely during the year, she and other cadres, civil servants and public employees will receive very low or even no Tet bonuses.
“The agency’s revenue is mainly used for general expenses throughout the year. The remaining amount after the year-end summary will be divided equally according to the position and work efficiency of each person in each department,” said Ms. Trang.
Tet bonus also depends on the revenue and expenditure fund of each department and unit.
Ms. Trang said that on New Year's Eve 2025, she received a bonus of 1 million VND along with a Tet gift basket worth 500,000 VND. At the beginning of 2025, the department head announced the room's separate fund balance, but the agency had not yet.
Hearing people gossip, the remaining balance of the agency is almost the same as last year, making Ms. Trang even more nervous.
"I just hope this year's Lunar New Year bonus is the same as last year's or at least 10 million VND so I can feel secure about my Tet shopping" - Ms. Trang said.
Expecting a 10 million VND Tet bonus plus her husband's bonus of about 10 million VND, the female officer said she did not have to worry too much. She told herself that next year she would try harder to get a higher Tet bonus.
Mr. Pham Van Tu (person requested to change name, 35 years old, Ha Nam) - Justice - Civil status officer at commune level shared that this year the commune has achieved many achievements and has more revenue. He and other officers, civil servants and public employees in the agency are all extremely happy.
“On December 31, 2024, the Commune Chairman announced that this year the commune’s economy would develop better than last year. Although we don’t know exactly how much, we feel secure and are eagerly waiting for the Tet bonus to be higher than last year,” said Mr. Tu.
According to the male officer, last year the commune's economic situation was not as expected, so there was not much left in the budget at the end of the year. Mr. Tu received a Tet bonus of a gift basket worth 500,000 VND along with 500,000 VND in cash.
Talking about the 2025 New Year bonus, Mr. Tu received a bonus of 200,000 VND, while last year he had nothing. With this positive signal, the male officer expects to receive a bonus of at least 1.5 million VND for the 2025 Lunar New Year.
“These past few days, we have been asking around and found out that the lowest bonus for Tet is 1 million VND, I expect to get about 1.5 million VND. This amount is not much but it helps my family feel secure about decorating the house,” said Mr. Tu.
Although his Tet bonus has increased, Mr. Tu said it is still very difficult to shop and spend during Tet, having to deduct from his salary and rely on his wife's expected Tet bonus of more than 4 million VND.
The male officer shared that he still has to sell and install gas stoves for customers to earn extra income to celebrate Tet.
