Information related to the proposal to stipulate a roadmap to reduce the normal working hours of private sector workers to 40-44 hours/week continues to receive much attention from workers.
This is a proposal contributed by a number of units and localities to the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Labor Code, the Law on Archives, the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Red Cross Activities, drafted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Nhac Phan Linh - Deputy Director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy of the Fatherland Front (Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee) supported the policy of reducing working hours, and at the same time said that this needs to be implemented in conjunction with the requirement to improve labor productivity.
He analyzed that if we take the labor productivity growth rate (calculated at comparative prices) in 2024 as 5.88% and in 2025 as 6.83% according to the Department of Statistics, we can assume that the labor productivity growth rate per hour of work recently is about 6-7%/year.
According to Dr. Nhac Phan Linh, if standard working hours are reduced from 48 to 44 hours/week, working hours will decrease by about 8.3%. At that time, to compensate for the reduced working hours and maintain the GDP/labor/year level, labor productivity needs to be improved by about 8.3%, according to this estimate.
The improvement in productivity is about 8.3%, equivalent to about 1-1.5 years of productivity growth at Vietnam's normal level.
If the roadmap to reduce standard working hours lasts 3-5 years, down to 40 hours/week, the necessary productivity increase is about 1.5-2%/year.
Dr. Bui Sy Loi - former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Social Affairs (now the Committee for Culture and Social Affairs) - also supported the policy of reducing working hours. However, he noted that implementation needs to be considered carefully and the appropriate time should be chosen.
He believes that working hours reduction should be implemented according to a roadmap, which could start around 2030, when labor productivity increases and labor safety conditions improve.
Besides the requirement for productivity, Dr. Nhac Phan Linh believes that reducing working hours needs to be placed in the context that Vietnamese businesses are increasingly deeply involved in international raw material and goods supply chains.
According to him, many global brands set high requirements for labor standards for products and goods commercialized in high-end markets such as Europe, the US and Japan.
At that time, satisfactory employment includes working conditions, working hours, rest hours, labor safety, wages, anti-discrimination, forced labor are factors that are carefully considered" - Mr. Linh said.
To handle large orders at certain times, Mr. Linh recommends considering monitoring overtime hours annually, instead of weekly or monthly. This method can help businesses proactively regulate working hours, based on the consent of employees and trade union organizations, to avoid overload.
The role of the State is to regulate the economy, promote growth and development, but at the same time it is necessary to ensure a balance of interests between businesses and workers. Businesses always have the goal of minimum costs, maximum profits. And workers want to stabilize their jobs, develop their careers, ensure enough income to live on and have savings" - Mr. Linh expressed.
