Ms. Pham Thi Hang (45 years old) - a leather shoe worker in Nam Dinh, said that without waiting for the regional minimum wage to increase, the company increased the salary 1 month earlier, making workers like her feel very happy.
“In previous years, every time the regional minimum wage increased, we received an increase of 100,000 to 200,000 VND in work allowances, this time there was nothing when looking at VssID. But the company increased wages earlier than prescribed" - Ms. Hang said.
The reason Ms. Hang cares so much about the regional minimum wage is because she wants to have a high pension when she gets old. At the same time, the company's female workers work on a part-time basis, so the basic salary has a large impact.
“Currently, I have paid social insurance for 9 years. If I try to pay until I'm 50 years old, I will quit my job, continue to pay voluntary social insurance, and then wait until I'm 60 years old to enjoy my pension. The higher the early payment, the higher the pension you will receive in the future" - Ms. Hang said.
Sharing more details, the female worker said that while working, workers have the benefit of only having to pay 10.5% of the social insurance premium, so it will not affect their income much.
In addition, if she quits her job and the economy is in difficulty, she can rest assured paying voluntary social insurance at a low rate without worrying about her pension being too low.
Regarding the daily salary, female workers mentally calculate that it will increase to at least 700,000 VND/month. Of which, 273,000 VND is the increase in basic salary, more than 400,000 VND is the increase in overtime hours because Ms. Hang's overtime salary is calculated at 130% of basic salary.
With this new salary increase, Ms. Hang said, she will feel more secure when market prices have increased recently. Besides, she also has extra money to put in a savings fund in case she gets sick or quits her job or has low income.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhien (46 years old, Nam Dinh), a fabric cutting worker, shared that the regional minimum wage helps her feel more secure when there is little work. It is known that Ms. Nhien's basic salary has been adjusted from 4,250,000 VND to 4,505,000 VND.
Talking to Lao Dong, Ms. Nhien said that starting from August to October every year, workers usually only work 1 hour overtime instead of 2 hours as before, and sometimes even only work office hours. The regional minimum wage increased by 6% to help female workers feel more secure about daily expenses.
Ms. Nhien said that with an additional 255,000 VND and nearly 200,000 VND in overtime pay, she barely has to pay for breakfast to go to work every day. There is still nearly 300,000 VND left over to buy delicious food for the family because each breakfast in Ms. Nhien's hometown only costs 5,000 - 7,000 VND.
According to Ms. Nhien, the increase in basic salary means the support money for holidays also increases. In addition, after quitting her job to enjoy unemployment, she also received several hundred thousand more than her previous salary, helping her reduce life pressure.
