Workers are upset because Tet bonus is lower than the Labor Agreement
On the afternoon of March 4, in an exchange with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, many workers of Tenma (HCM) Vietnam Co., Ltd. said that they want the company to properly implement the signed Collective Labor Agreement, and give Tet bonuses of at least 1 month's salary to employees.
A female worker with many years of experience working at Tenma (HCM) Vietnam Co., Ltd. in Dong Nai said that she supports the Executive Committee of the Trade Union of Tenma (HCM) Vietnam Co., Ltd. in protecting the rights of union members and employees related to Tet bonuses, because the company does not properly implement the Collective Labor Agreement (TƯLĐTT). She hopes that the company will properly implement the signed TƯLĐTT, and give Tet bonuses of at least 1 month's salary to employees during the 2026 Tet holiday and the following years.
Previously, on December 25, 2025, because the company had not announced the Tet bonus level, employees at the company stopped working collectively to request notification of the Tet bonus level. On January 20, 2026, the company's Board of Directors informed the grassroots Trade Union Executive Committee about the Tet bonus level of 0.7 months' salary based on the production and business situation in 2025.
Trade union sues company for Tet bonus lower than Labor Agreement
On March 3, 2026, the Executive Committee of the Trade Union of Tenma (HCM) Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park, Tran Bien Ward, Dong Nai Province) filed a lawsuit with the People's Court of Region 1 - Dong Nai regarding the dispute over bonuses lower than the Collective Labor Agreement (TƯLĐTT), requesting the Court to consider and resolve, forcing Tenma (HCM) Vietnam Co., Ltd. to pay Tet bonuses to employees at a level of at least 1 month's salary in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the Collective Labor Agreement that the two parties have signed.
The Executive Committee of the grassroots Trade Union has consulted employees and unanimously requested competent authorities to resolve labor disputes.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet - Vice President of Dong Nai Provincial Labor Federation - said: Immediately after the incident of Tet bonus not being in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement leading to collective work stoppage disputes occurred, the upper-level Trade Union coordinated with functional agencies to organize dialogues with the Company's Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the grassroots Trade Union, requesting early answers for employees. The negotiation process increased the Tet bonus level from 0.5 to 0.7 but still did not ensure compliance with the Collective Labor Agreement that the two parties had signed. Therefore, the Provincial Labor Federation continues to coordinate to support the grassroots Trade Union in protecting the rights of union members and employees.
In 2022, through collective negotiation and collecting opinions from employees, representatives of the Executive Committee of the grassroots trade union and the Board of Directors of the company signed a collective labor agreement valid for 3 years from October 27, 2022 to October 27, 2025. Before the collective labor agreement expires, the two parties are still continuing negotiations to re-sign a new collective labor agreement.
Mr. Vu Ngoc Ha - Labor Law expert - said: According to the provisions of Article 83 of the 2019 Labor Code: "When the collective labor agreement expires and the parties continue to negotiate, the old collective labor agreement is still allowed to be implemented for a period of no more than 90 days from the date the collective labor agreement expires, unless the parties have other agreements". At the time the company issued the 2026 Tet bonus notice, the two parties were in the negotiation phase, so the old collective labor agreement was still allowed to be implemented. The bonus level issued by the company is lower than the collective labor agreement, which is not appropriate.
