Recently, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor has proposed two options for adjusting the minimum wage, including an increase of 9.8% or an increase of 8.5%, applied from January 1, 2027.
Working and receiving salaries over time, every time the regional minimum wage is adjusted to increase, it brings joy to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu, a worker in Ninh Binh.
She said that when the regional minimum wage increases, businesses will adjust to increase the basic salary, leading to her monthly income also being improved.
At the beginning of 2026, my basic salary increased by more than 200,000 VND. The total monthly income increased by nearly 600,000 VND," Ms. Thu shared.
According to female workers, the basic salary increase helps ensure a stable income source in periods when businesses have few orders and workers only work during office hours.
At the same time, overtime wages are also calculated according to the new basic salary level, so income increases significantly.
Ms. Thu believes that if the regional minimum wage is increased by 9.8%, her family will reduce pressure in paying for children's extra classes as well as arising living expenses.
During the recent peak period, gas prices increased about 1.5 times, electricity prices and travel costs also increased, leading to the price increase of many other items. Although the family has saved a lot, after paying for living expenses, there is still not much left," Ms. Thu said.
The female worker added that although from the beginning of 2026, the regional minimum wage has been adjusted to increase by 7.2%, her actual basic salary has only increased by about 5% compared to before.
The reason is that her current basic salary is already much higher than the regional minimum wage. Therefore, she hopes the highest increase is 9.8% so that businesses have a basis to adjust basic salaries in a direction that is more beneficial for workers.
Not receiving salary according to time but enjoying salary according to product, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai, a garment worker in Ninh Binh, also expressed her desire for the regional minimum wage to be adjusted to increase by 9.8%.
Basic salary is the basis for calculating overtime and social insurance contributions. I always want to have higher social insurance contributions so that I can enjoy better benefits later," Ms. Hoai shared.
According to Ms. Hoai, at the beginning of 2026, businesses have adjusted to increase the basic salary by about 27%, thanks to which her level of prenatal check-up benefits and maternity allowances is also significantly higher than before.
If the regional minimum wage continues to increase by 9.8%, female workers expect businesses to continue to adjust basic wages. This not only helps improve current income but also creates peace of mind when enjoying regimes such as sick leave, unemployment benefits or pensions in the future.
From a business perspective, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, owner of Tuan Duyen garment enterprise (Ninh Binh), said that the increase in the regional minimum wage mainly increases social insurance contribution costs for workers.
According to Mr. Tuan, at his business, workers are paid by product, so their actual income depends on skills and almost no cases receive wages lower than the regional minimum level.
The difference between the two proposed options is only about 1.3%, so the impact on businesses is not too large. Therefore, I completely agree with the 9.8% increase option so that workers can be more assured about future social security regimes," Mr. Tuan said.
