Income cannot be lower than yesterday
Talking to PV Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang Nhung - Director of Department of Finance - said that Yen Bai is a pioneer province in implementing the civil service regime and organizing the apparatus, arranging civil servants and public employees.
After the Yen Bai Provincial People's Council issued Resolution No. 67 dated December 8, 2023, realizing that there were still some shortcomings, the Yen Bai Provincial People's Council continued to issue Resolution 58 dated August 16, 2024 amending and supplementing a number of contents on the assignment of payroll and labor contracts to perform support and service work according to Resolution No. 111/2022/ND-CP to increase the minimum wage for drivers by 5%.
According to Ms. Nhung, the Department of Finance and the Department of Home Affairs have exchanged and discussed a lot regarding Resolutions No. 67 and 58 as well as issued documents guiding the implementation of policies and regimes for labor contracts.
“Some agencies, units, localities, and leaders do not fully understand, leading to some shortcomings and disadvantages for drivers, especially those with seniority. The contract here is the contract quantity and the amount of money for the unit to allocate funds.
For example, the Department of Finance is assigned 5 contract quotas according to Decree 111 (janitor, security guard, driver). On that basis, we make a contract basis (may not use up all 5 quotas but still meet the work) so as not to reduce the income of workers after signing new contracts," said the Director of the Department of Finance.
Ms. Nhung emphasized: This is a monetary norm to be assigned to each unit and the head of the agency must balance the finances so that employees receive salaries not lower than the minimum and contract levels.
“The Department of Finance’s view is that income cannot be lower than yesterday, workers’ lives must improve. If a senior driver previously received a salary of 10 million VND/month, now that they have signed a new contract, they cannot be given 5 million VND/month,” Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang Nhung expressed.
The closer to retirement age, the more the regime must be guaranteed.
Regarding the petition of drivers who have not been considered for a salary increase for many years, Ms. Nhung said that according to Decree 111, they are no longer civil servants but have signed a fixed-term contract, so they are not entitled to a salary increase. However, the head can still balance the fixed-term salary and re-sign the contract for the employee so that the salary is higher and more suitable for the job.
“The Department of Finance has no basis to provide more money or increase the salary for drivers according to the opinion of the Department of Home Affairs. I told the heads of the units to save their own money and estimate the budget assigned from the beginning of the year to take care of the interests of the brothers. Agencies that have money to spend on drivers equal to the director are also allowed, as long as it is not lower,” Ms. Nhung expressed.
Pointing out the fact that many senior drivers working at departments and Party committees have had their salaries reduced to 5-6 million VND, Ms. Nhung said: Some agencies such as the Traffic Inspectorate have a lot of vehicles and drivers, so they have used up the maximum staff and it is very difficult to balance finances to ensure income for drivers after signing contracts.
“Yen Bai province has assigned the Department of Finance to meet with the Department of Home Affairs to find a solution. I want to completely cut off the old system for senior drivers because there are not many of them so they can receive salaries and pay social insurance as before, while the new Resolution will be applied to new drivers. However, the Department of Home Affairs wants to move towards a true contract, so for now, it will still apply it synchronously.
However, both Resolutions No. 67 and 58 clearly state that labor contracts are assigned to perform support and service work according to Decree 111 in agencies and units under the Party, Fatherland Front, mass organizations and the State of Yen Bai province in 2024. In 2025, when there is a new policy, we will advise the Yen Bai Provincial People's Council to issue a new Resolution or make additional adjustments to resolve the above shortcomings," shared the Director of the Department of Finance of Yen Bai province.
Reflecting to Lao Dong Newspaper, many drivers who have worked for decades at Party committees and departments in Yen Bai said that since May 2024, they have submitted petitions about changing the current salary compared to 2023 but have not been resolved fairly and thoroughly.
Accordingly, since signing a new labor contract according to Resolution No. 67 dated December 8, 2023 of the Yen Bai Provincial People's Council, their salaries have been cut by 30-50%. With the new salary, the lives of the drivers have been disrupted as well as affecting their future social insurance contributions and pensions.
While waiting for Yen Bai province leaders to come up with a reasonable solution, many drivers for state agencies have to work overtime as taxi drivers or work as night security guards to earn extra income to cover their living expenses.
