Many leather shoe businesses with tens of thousands of workers have seen a decrease in orders, workers take turns taking leave, but keep the same Tet bonus as when production was favorable.
In 2023, Long Rich Company Limited in Linh Trung II Export Processing Zone (Thu Duc City) lacked orders for up to 6 months, but the board of directors decided to keep the Tet bonus at 1-3 months' salary, depending on seniority.
"This bonus is equal to the period when the factory has full orders," said Nguyen Thi Thuy Van, Chairwoman of the Long Rich Company's union. The bonus will be paid on January 25 and 26, 2024. In addition, the company still maintains the gold bonus policy for seniority workers. Those who work for 10 years will be awarded one SJC gold bar.
Long Rich Company employees receive Tet bonuses of 1-3 months' salary. Photo: An Phuong
According to Ms. Van, the Tet bonus plan was proactively proposed by the company in the context of reduced orders, helping employees feel excited. In 2023, there were many times when workers only worked 4 days a week. On days off, the company still paid workers waiting for work.
Long Rich with more than 3,000 workers is one of the factories of Taiwan's Dean Shoes Group, specializing in shoe production. Currently, this group has factories in Linh Trung I Export Processing Zone (Thu Duc City), Tien Giang, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong with tens of thousands of workers. The Tet bonus is 1-3 months' salary, applied to the entire group.
Similarly, despite the general difficulties of the shoe industry, Taekwang Vina Company (Dong Nai) still maintains a Tet bonus of 1.5 months' salary for more than 31,000 employees. The total amount the company spends is about 500 billion VND.
Mr. Dinh Sy Phuc, Chairman of the Taekwang Vina Company's Trade Union, said that 2023 will be a difficult year for both businesses and workers. Therefore, to get the best Tet bonus for workers, the trade union proactively negotiated early.
Since late October, the union has sent proposals for a Tet care program, including expected bonuses. In November, the two sides began negotiations. The company cited reasons for the decrease in orders, which led to a decrease in revenue and profits. Due to lack of work, workers had to take turns taking leave, but the company still paid them, meaning that there were times when the company's finances were negative.
"According to regulations, if revenue decreases, the company can completely change the Tet bonus level," said Mr. Phuc. However, the union tried to convince the employees that although the company is facing difficulties, the employees are looking forward to the Tet bonus to compensate for the decrease in income during the year, the increase in prices and to encourage them to stick with the company.
Along with that, the union also presented evidence of the efforts of workers over the past year when they competed to save energy and increase productivity when the factory had orders. The innovative initiatives of workers brought financial benefits to the business. After three negotiation sessions, the business owner decided to keep the bonus of 1.5 months' salary for each worker as a favorable production period.
Mr. Dinh Sy Phuc gives Tet lucky money to workers on Tet 2023. Photo: An Phuong
According to Mr. Phuc, although the bonus level remains the same, the union has convinced that the bonus will be calculated based on the new salary of 2024. Accordingly, from the beginning of next year, the company will increase the basic salary by 100,000 VND and the allowance by 50,000 VND for all workers. In addition, workers who are due for a salary increase will receive an additional 3% increase. Thus, the actual amount received by workers will be higher than last year's Tet.
In Dong Nai, Changshin Vietnam Co., Ltd. also spent 650 billion VND on Tet bonuses for more than 37,000 workers, the bonus level is equal to the period when orders were stable. Depending on the working time, workers will have different bonus levels.
Specifically, those who have worked at Changshin from 3 months to less than 20 years will be rewarded with 0.25-1.95 months of basic salary. The bonus for those with 20 years of seniority is two months' salary.
Phong Thai Group (Trang Bom district, Dong Nai) also set a Tet bonus for 65,000 workers of one month's salary, equal to last year.
Textiles and footwear are the two industries that employ the most labor in Vietnam’s economic sectors. Of these, the footwear industry needs more than 1.4 million workers, accounting for over 18% of the total labor force.
Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, Vice President of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso), said that so far, most businesses in the industry have plans to pay salaries and bonuses for Tet 2024 to employees. "Most factories give bonuses to employees, depending on the unit, each person will receive from one to several months' salary," Ms. Xuan said.
In 2023, the industry's total export turnover will decrease by 15%. Currently, some businesses have orders but they are quite small, the general situation is that the market is still difficult, brands still have products in stock. However, many large businesses have kept the same bonus level or only a few percent lower than last year.
According to Lefaso's leaders, this is a great effort by companies in the context of declining orders and profits. Businesses still pay bonuses despite difficulties to retain workers. Lessons learned after Covid-19, in early 2022, when orders recover, factories face labor shortages and have difficulty recruiting new workers.
Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhu Y, Chairwoman of the Dong Nai Province Labor Federation, said that negotiating Tet bonuses in the current context requires understanding and sharing from both sides. Workers and unions understand that businesses have seen a decrease in orders, and factories share the difficulties of workers.
According to Ms. Ý, the fact that factories with tens of thousands of workers maintain the same bonus level as last year not only encourages workers to try to stay in business but also contributes to ensuring stable and harmonious labor relations in the enterprise.
Le Tuyet
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