Ms. Tran Thi Yen (40 years old) - a leather shoe worker in Ninh Binh said that her income largely depends on overtime. With current regulations, if working hours are reduced, ensuring income will also be significantly reduced, making it difficult to ensure life.
"Working 8 hours/day plus allowances, I receive about 6.5 million VND in salary. If we reduce 4 hours/week, the basic salary will not increase, the income will only be 6 million VND, making life even more difficult" - Ms. Yen said.
Currently, female workers work overtime regularly every day for 2.5 hours, the overtime pay is calculated at 150% of normal working hours. Working overtime, Ms. Yen was also supported by the company with additional expenses for an evening meal.
When working overtime all month, Ms. Yen receives an income of nearly 10 million VND, working 1 month is equal to 1.5 months if working hours are reduced. Therefore, the female worker shared that she and most of the workers hope to work overtime even though they are quite tired.
Ms. Yen proposed that it should clearly stipulate that non-state employees are entitled to at least 1.5 days off/week, specifically on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. According to the female worker, this method is quite practical to ensure salary and restore labor.
"Every time the company has less work, the whole workshop is sad because of low income. Overtime is tiring and hard work, but we still like it more with high salaries. With an extra half day to rest, workers will have more time to regenerate their labor, ensure their health as well as go shopping and develop the country's economy" - Ms. Yen said.
Although paying according to output, according to worker Pham Thi Nhung (41 years old), working time still determines about 20% of monthly income.
"There are 9 hours/day to work, the output is still higher than 7.5 hours/day. I like to work 9 hours at a normal intensity to stay healthy and reduce pressure rather than working 7.5 hours at a high intensity, which is very hard and prone to stress" - Ms. Nhung said.
In addition, due to paying according to output, garment companies often do not pay overtime according to regulations. According to Ms. Nhung, this is a rather disadvantage for contract workers (paying wages based on output) compared to workers working over time.
According to Ms. Nhung, orders are urgent but the number of workers is limited, companies still require workers to work overtime. Therefore, according to the female worker, reducing working hours may not be feasible if the enterprise lacks many workers.
Ms. Nhung also hopes to have 1.5 days off on the weekend instead of reducing working hours. According to the female worker, when it has become a mandatory day off, it is very difficult for companies to require employees to go to work, if they go to work, they will definitely have to pay very high salaries.
"Every day I try to work a little more to increase productivity, I told myself that having 1.5 days off on the weekend will give me more time and help my body get stronger to be ready to work overtime effectively for the next 5.5 days" - Ms. Nhung said.
