While many people are busy preparing to return to their hometown for holidays, Mr. Hieu chooses to stay to work during the Hung Kings Commemoration Day and the April 30 - May 1 holiday.
“My group of nearly 50 people, about 85% register to work during the holidays,” Mr. Hieu shared. This decision, according to him, stems from an economic problem.
As a new worker for nearly 6 months, his income is not high. Holidays are an opportunity to significantly improve his salary, because the salary paid for holidays and Tet is often many times higher than normal days.
For Mr. Hieu, choosing to stay to work is not only because of the attractive salary but also because of the inconvenience of traveling during peak times. "On holidays, there is a lot of traffic, and tickets are expensive. I think taking a few days off to visit my family after the holiday will be more convenient," he said.
This year's holiday, he received an additional bonus of 500,000 VND. Thanks to working on holidays, his total monthly income is estimated at 16-18 million VND. For workers with seniority over a year, the income can be up to 19-20 million VND if they work enough holidays.
Not only Mr. Hieu, but in the row of rented rooms where he lives, most rooms are empty due to workers returning to their hometowns. However, a significant number still choose to stay, taking advantage of the opportunity to increase income in the context of increasing living expenses.
From the business perspective, the arrangement of holiday schedules and production during the holidays is also calculated flexibly. Mr. Do Danh Giap - Chairman of the Trade Union of Nissei Company (Thang Long Industrial Park) said that the business has proactively swapped work schedules so that employees can take long holidays.
The working day of April 28 is moved to a Saturday after the holiday, and employees use one day of annual leave on April 29. Thanks to that, about 1,500 workers have 8 consecutive days off, from April 26 to the end of May 3.
According to Mr. Giap, this plan was built early, with unity between the trade union and employers, based on consulting workers' opinions. Therefore, the plan received high consensus.
Being proactive from the beginning of the year helps businesses not be passive when there are changes close to the date. At the same time, the production plan has also been pushed forward beforehand, so the long holiday does not affect the progress much," Mr. Giap said.
Notably, in addition to creating conditions for long-term leave for the majority of workers, businesses still maintain a workforce that works through holidays to ensure that orders and production chains are not interrupted. This is also a group of workers who enjoy higher incomes thanks to working on holidays.
Lawyer Dao Nguyen Thuat - Bac Ha Noi Law Company Limited (Hanoi Bar Association) said that according to the provisions of the 2019 Labor Code, specifically Article 98 on overtime wages, working at night, workers going to work on holidays and Tet will be paid as follows:
Employees working on holidays, Tet holidays, and paid holidays are paid at least 300% of their salary, not including holiday and Tet salaries for workers receiving daily wages.
Thus, if employees receive a daily salary, the total income on a working day holiday will include: 100% of the salary of the holiday (because they are entitled to full-time leave); at least 300% of salary due to working hours. That is, at least 400% of the salary of a normal working day.
If employees receive a monthly salary: Because the monthly salary already includes the salary of the holiday, when going to work, they will be paid an additional at least 300% of the salary of a normal working day.
In addition, in case employees work at night on holidays, they are paid at least 30% of the salary of a normal working day (because they work at night). And an additional 20% of the salary calculated according to the unit price of the work done during the day of the holiday.
When combined, total income can be up to about 490% - 520% compared to normal working days, depending on the specific calculation method of the business.
