The proposal to consider adding 2 more days of holiday on National Day is one of the notable proposals presented by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor at the 14th Congress of Vietnam Trade Unions.
If approved, the number of full-time holidays and Tet holidays for employees will increase from 12 to 14 days per year.
And if it reaches 14 days, Vietnam will approach the group of countries with relatively many holiday days in ASEAN, although it is still not in the highest group like Thailand (18 - 20 days) or Indonesia (16 - 17 days).
This figure reflects a change in the development of labor policies of the Trade Union organization, stemming from the legitimate aspirations of workers.
The Trade Union organization not only cares about jobs and income, but policies are increasingly aimed at helping workers improve their quality of life, family time and balance between work and rest.
The proposal to consider adding 2 more holidays on the occasion of National Day (holidays from September 2nd to 5th), according to Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu - Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, is to create opportunities for workers to take their children to school on the opening day.
That is a very practical need of millions of workers' families, workers working in industrial parks, export processing zones or working in shifts.
Reality from many years ago shows that many workers, especially workers in export processing zones, have repeatedly missed important moments of their children during the opening ceremony just because they could not arrange time.
Of course, this recommendation will be considered in the context that Vietnam is setting high economic growth targets in the coming years. Businesses are facing fierce competition in terms of orders, production costs and labor productivity.
Increasing the number of days off means reducing the number of working days in the year, leading to certain impacts on production and business activities.
Therefore, the proposal to increase holidays was placed along with the proposal to reduce working hours to 40-44 hours per week and accompanied by the requirement to improve labor productivity - as in the Summary Report of recommendations of union members, workers and trade union organizations to the Party and State at the Vietnam Trade Union Congress, which is a reasonable approach and raises the issue.
The possibility of receiving consensus on this proposal will be higher when the increase in holidays is placed in a comprehensive package of solutions including improving labor productivity, promoting digital transformation, improving labor skills, organizing more flexible production... to reduce working hours but not reduce the production efficiency of businesses and the economy.
With 2 more holidays, workers not only have more time for their families, children, and rest to regenerate labor, but also have a great motivation to be more enthusiastic about their work.
Creating motivation to work for workers is an important goal that all labor policies need to aim for.
