However, she still hopes to continue increasing the regional minimum wage in the coming time.
"The basic salary the company pays me is more than 6 million VND, nearly 2 million VND higher than the regional minimum wage. Although I have to pay nearly 700,000 VND in social insurance every month, I still hope to pay even higher so that I can later enjoy social insurance benefits" - Ms. Ngoc said.
According to Ms. Ngoc, the basic salary cannot meet the basic living needs of workers. If you work only on a basic salary, you will not have savings to achieve other goals.
Talking about her current income, Ms. Ngoc shared that both overtime and allowances, she receives about 9.5 million VND per month. According to Ms. Ngoc, this level helps workers improve their quality of life.
Recently, the National Wage Council voted to increase the regional minimum wage by 7.2% from January 1, 2026.
The company pays the salary for time, so the female worker evaluates the proposal to increase the regional minimum wage by 7.2% as extremely beneficial and meaningful for workers.
According to Ms. Ngoc, although the current basic salary is much higher than the regional minimum wage, when the State adjusts to increase, the company also increases the basic salary accordingly.
"Every time the State increases the regional minimum wage, my company will adjust it up. The 7.2% increase compared to the current basic salary can help me increase by more than 1 million VND/month. Those who work overtime can increase their income by nearly 2 million VND, said Ms. Ngoc.
"The extra income makes me feel less sorry every time I take a bus home to visit my children. After deducting the cost of the car, I can earn about 700,000 VND per month, enough to pay for a child's education" - the female worker said.
For Ms. Pham Thi Phuong (42 years old) - a goods inspection worker in Hung Yen, increasing the regional minimum wage to 7.2% greatly helps the benefits when receiving social insurance benefits.
"We work under a contract and receive a salary based on output, so even if the regional minimum wage is increased, it will not affect our income. However, the regional minimum wage has increased, the company has increased the social insurance contribution level, and we can rest assured when staying in the hospital or receiving unemployment insurance and pension in the future" - Ms. Phuong said.
Thinking about the long term, the female worker said that she may retire after paying 15 years of social insurance. With this plan and the current regional minimum wage increase of 7.2%, Ms. Phuong said that after 15 years of contributions, she can retire with peace of mind with an expected pension of about 2.8 million VND/month.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - owner of Tuan Duyen Garment enterprise (Ninh Binh) shared that in reality, no enterprise pays workers equal to or lower than the regional minimum wage.
"The salary paid to employees must both meet the living needs of employees and compete with other enterprises to attract workers. At my company, the average salary is 7 million VND/month, many people have a salary of up to 12 million VND" - Mr. Tuan said.
According to Mr. Tuan, if salaries are not guaranteed, workers are willing to leave to work new jobs or find other businesses that pay higher salaries.
Mr. Tuan said that the proposed increase of 7.2% of regional minimum wage compared to the present is lower than the actual income of workers. Increasing the regional minimum wage, according to the owner of this business, helps increase the company's monthly social insurance contributions for employees.
With a 7.2% increase in regional minimum wage, each worker and company will averagely pay an additional VND100,000/month.
"The company is willing to pay social insurance at a higher level to attract workers to work" - Mr. Tuan said.
