For many workers, proposing a long Tet holiday will help them feel more secure and comfortable when gathering with their loved ones. However, many are worried about the impact on income and many other related issues.
Ms. Pham Thi Nghia (30 years old) - a worker in Thai Nguyen said that Lunar New Year is the time she looks forward to the most.
“If the proposal to take a 9-day Tet holiday is approved, I will let my children go back to their paternal hometown in Ha Tinh from the 26th of December to the 2nd of January. From the 3rd of Tet, my family will go back to my maternal hometown in Nam Dinh to visit and wish my grandparents and relatives a happy new year, and then go back to work on the 5th,” said Ms. Nghia.
With 9 days off for Tet, the female worker said it was easy to arrange, not rushed like other years. Because each time she went back to her mother's hometown, it took almost a day to go there and back. In addition, the female worker shared that the long Tet holiday made it quite comfortable to catch a bus and prepare Tet items for both sides.
Sharing the same opinion, Ms. Pham Thi Lan (36 years old, Bac Giang, garment worker) said that the long Tet holiday is very helpful for traveling and shopping.
“Although my house is only 40km from my workplace, every time Tet comes, catching a bus is very difficult. It is crowded and takes an hour to get home, thinking about it is haunting,” said Ms. Lan.
Besides, the 9-day Tet holiday also helps her feel more secure when shopping for Tet.
“I will spend the 26th of Tet shopping for candy and clothes for the whole family. On the 27th, I will wrap Chung cakes and prepare food for the Tet holidays. On the 28th, the whole family will do a general cleaning, and the remaining day will be for resting and decorating the house to welcome the New Year,” the female worker shared her plan to prepare for Tet.
Contrary to the above opinions, many workers are worried about having 9 days off for Tet.
Ms. Tran Thi Gam (23 years old) - a garment worker in Nam Dinh - said that the company signs a very large number of orders and pays wages based on output. Therefore, if there is a long Tet holiday, it is likely that she and other workers will have to make up for it.
"A long Tet holiday will be very meaningful, but after Tet, I have to make up for Sundays and feel tired because I have to work 13 consecutive days. If I don't work, my income will be low because January has many days off" - Ms. Gam said.
For Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong (46 years old) - a leather shoe worker in Nam Dinh, a long Tet holiday but low income and limited Tet bonus do not make her feel happy and excited.
“The Tet holiday regulations only allow for 5 paid days, the rest are unpaid. If you use all your annual leave on the remaining Tet holidays, you will have no more annual leave to take. If you have personal reasons to take leave, you will lose a lot of benefits,” Ms. Phuong confided.
Sharing more, Ms. Phuong said that her actual salary is now more than 9 million VND, which means that each day she goes to work she will get nearly 400,000 VND. Meanwhile, Tet holidays and annual leave are only calculated at 175,000 VND according to the basic salary.
Another reason why Ms. Phuong does not want to take a long Tet holiday is because her Tet bonus is not much. The Tet bonus for both her and her husband working at the company is only over 8 million VND. The female worker shared that if she does not save, even if she takes a long holiday, she will just stay at home and not dare to go anywhere or spend too much money.
