On the morning of June 26, the National Wage Council held its first meeting to discuss the 2026 minimum wage plan.
Speaking with Lao Dong before the meeting, Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Ngo Duy Hieu affirmed that he will propose in a harmonious direction, both ensuring the rights of workers and creating conditions for businesses to have the opportunity to recover and develop in the context of many challenges.
"We will continue negotiating, but we can propose a time to apply the salary increase earlier than January 1, 2026, because this is also related to the issuance of the decree. The common wish of workers is still to increase early" - Mr. Hieu emphasized.
He also said that there is currently no specific decision on the increase. However, the parties will calculate and choose to come up with a reasonable level, suitable for price fluctuations in the market, while still ensuring the ability of businesses to pay.
According to Decision No. 992/QD-TTg of the Government, the National Salary Council (Council) has 17 members including: Chairman of the Council is Mr. Nguyen Manh Khuong - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs.
The Vice Chairmen of the Council include: Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu - Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; Mr. Hoang Quang Phong - Vice President of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI); Mr. Dinh Hong Thai - Vice President of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance.
The remaining Council members include: 4 representative members of the Ministry of Home Affairs; 4 representative members of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; 3 representative members of the central employer representative organization (including 1 representative member of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, 2 members representing two central professional associations that employ many workers).
On the afternoon of June 25, Vice President of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry Hoang Quang Phong - Vice Chairman of the National Wage Council - said that the unit is synthesizing a proposed plan related to the regional minimum wage.
"We will agree on an additional plan. However, there will certainly be an adjustment" - Mr. Phong said and said that it will be necessary to carefully calculate the time, location, and level of adjustment of regional minimum wage.
The regional minimum wage has been adjusted 16 times since 2009. Most recently, from July 1, 2024, Decree 74/2024/ND-CP The Government has adjusted the minimum wage increase by 6%, with the following levels: region I is 4.96 million VND, region II is 4.41 million VND, region III is 3.86 million VND, region IV is 3.45 million VND.
Decree 74 also clearly states the list of areas applying the minimum wage from July 1, 2024 in 4 regions.
