Increase wages and ensure working hours for workers

Workers want to work overtime

Ms. Tran Thi C ( worker at an electronics business in Bac Ninh City, Bac Ninh Province) said that recently, the company where she worked worked overtime about 3-4 days/week, 3 shifts per day. hour. “With such overtime hours, my total income is about 7-8 million VND/month. If there is no part-time job, this number drops to about 5.5-6 million VND/month" - Ms. C said.

Ms. C shared that, like many other workers, she always wanted to work part-time to have more money to cover her living expenses. “If I don't work overtime and only receive a basic salary and some allowances, my income is very low, while my need to cover is very great. I have to send money to feed my two children in the countryside, in addition to paying for rent, food, and living expenses..." - Ms. C shared.

The months leading up to Tet are Ms. C's busiest days, because the company organizes overtime every day of the week, except Sunday. Her total income this month is 9-10 million VND.

Talking to reporters, the president of a company in Bac Ninh province said that currently the company's employment is stable and there is not much overtime work organized. "If any company does not work overtime, it will have difficulty recruiting workers" - said the female president of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Currently, employees in this company have a basic salary of 5 million VND; Allowances (including gasoline, room, transportation, living expenses...) are about 1 million VND. Thus, if they do not work overtime, their real income is only about 5 million VND (after deducting payments such as social insurance).

In addition, when working overtime, employees also receive an additional meal at the company; sunny weather and being in air-conditioned air... "Therefore, many workers want to work overtime. Working from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., or 3 hours of overtime per day, they can do it" - according to this union official.

Ensure a living wage for workers

Ms. Pham Thi Thu Lan - Deputy Director of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions (General Confederation of Labor of Vietnam) - said that Vietnamese law when establishing the maximum overtime time has evaluated and considered health and ability to work. work, labor productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to comply with the law on overtime hours.

“If businesses have more jobs, they should recruit more workers to create more job opportunities for many other workers. Many workers still need jobs, a group of workers should not be forced to work too much overtime, affecting productivity, health, and ability to regenerate labor power" - Ms. Lan commented.

According to Ms. Lan, a living wage must be guaranteed during standard working hours (8 hours/day), not overtime to earn a living wage. “Increase base salary and ensure working hours, not increase salary and increase working hours. When there is a living wage and a guaranteed life, workers will have more choices. They can choose to work more to save money for their children; or don't work anymore to have time and conditions to care for their family or do other jobs that they like more" - Ms. Lan said, adding that ensuring a living wage also helps the labor market function. Practice more correctly, workers do the right job and promote better for the economy.