- Thua Thien Hue: Social insurance and unemployment insurance regimes help ensure social security
- Thua Thien Hue fines many businesses for late social insurance payments
A case of an employee who just had a decision to terminate his labor contract at Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant but the employer still owes social insurance
At the end of September 2023, Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant issued a decision to terminate the labor contracts with 7 workers and employees. 4 out of the 7 employees who were just "fired" had social insurance books and the company has been late in paying them since May 2019.
Not only those who were laid off, but all remaining employees, including factory leaders, were also late in paying social insurance.
On September 30, 2023, many workers who used to work at Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant went to the factory, demanding that the investor, Tam Sinh Nghia Investment - Development Joint Stock Company, pay the remaining social insurance premiums so that they can enjoy the benefits according to regulations.
Ms. Cao Thi Lan Anh, a worker who has been with Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant for nearly 13 years, said that she has not yet received maternity benefits even though her child is over 4 years old. “In 2019, I gave birth to my child and he is now in kindergarten, but I have not yet received maternity benefits because the company owes me social insurance. Up to now, I have owed social insurance for 4 years and 2 months, so I request the employer to resolve this and ensure our rights.”
"We request that relevant agencies and departments intervene and handle the situation to ensure social security, jobs, and living conditions for the workers of the Factory," Ms. Le Thi Hoang Nu, a former worker of the Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant, suggested.
“All the workers at the factory work hard in a toxic environment. We sympathize with the current difficulties of the unit, but the factory owner needs to resolve and pay us all the social insurance,” said Nguyen Van Thu, a former worker at the Thuy Phuong waste treatment plant.
Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant has temporarily suspended almost all operations since 2018, but the amount of untreated waste still remaining is huge.
According to our research, Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant - a branch of Tam Sinh Nghia Investment - Development Joint Stock Company in Thua Thien Hue has been operating since 2007, with a capacity of over 200 tons of waste/day and night.
This was once a pioneer in processing and recycling waste into fertilizer. From its inception until around 2018, this factory operated quite effectively, contributing to waste treatment for Hue City, reducing the burden of landfilling at Thuy Phuong Landfill, and creating jobs for more than 140 workers.
However, from 2018 until now, the operation of Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant has encountered many difficulties. The plant has completely stopped receiving new waste sources from Hue Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company.
The factory is only operating at a low level, trying to complete the processing of the waste it has received. Therefore, the number of working hours and days of workers is gradually decreasing, and income is not guaranteed.
Factory workers said that from 2022, they will still have work 2-3 days/week, just to operate a single furnace, with a salary of about 1.2 million VND/month.
After facing difficulties, the number of workers at Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant decreased sharply (being laid off or quitting).
And after the "layoff" at the end of September 2023, this factory only had 12 employees left, including workers and administrative and leadership positions, of which 10 people participated in social insurance but were all delayed since May 2019.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Dang Van Tien - Director of Social Insurance of Huong Thuy town said that the insurance agency has worked many times with the leaders of the branch of Tam Sinh Nghia Investment - Development Joint Stock Company, and at the same time issued a document urging the Factory to complete the payment of social insurance, health insurance (HI), unemployment insurance (UI), occupational accident - occupational disease insurance (OHD-BNN) for employees.
Huong Thuy Town Social Insurance has requested businesses to make monthly payments and develop a roadmap to pay the remaining debt to the Social Insurance agency in accordance with regulations.
According to Mr. Nguyen Dang Hai Thien - Deputy Director of Social Insurance of Huong Thuy town, as of September 30, 2023, the branch of Tam Sinh Nghia Investment - Development Joint Stock Company still owes social insurance, unemployment insurance, and occupational accident insurance of 14 employees, with a total amount of more than 1 billion VND, of which the interest due to late payment is 355 million VND. However, every month, this company still transfers 6.3 million VND to pay health insurance for employees.
Previously, before 2016, the branch of Tam Sinh Nghia Investment - Development Joint Stock Company in Thua Thien Hue also owed social insurance contributions to 29 employees, with an amount of more than 2.2 billion VND.
The company was then sued and forced to pay all insurance premiums for its employees, but now the company continues to owe the remaining employees.
Currently, Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant only operates this incinerator to process the remaining waste.
Regarding the reason for the delay in paying social insurance for employees, recently, the branch of Tam Sinh Nghia Investment - Development Joint Stock Company sent an official dispatch to reply to the Social Insurance of Huong Thuy town.
In the document, this company said that it had stopped receiving waste and had not been operating for many years, since the third quarter of 2018, so it had no source of income. During the years it was still operating, the parent company had to pay to cover losses for the Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant.
In particular, Tam Sinh Nghia Company has not been paid by Hue City People's Committee for waste treatment fees in the third quarter of 2018 (more than 2.4 billion VND).
Therefore, the enterprise requested the Social Insurance agency to postpone the payment of the unit's Social Insurance until the Hue City People's Committee paid for waste treatment.
The leader of the Social Insurance of Huong Thuy town said that if the enterprise has stopped production and business activities, it must submit documents to the Social Insurance agency to reduce all employees participating in Social Insurance, Health Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, and Occupational Accident and Disease Insurance from the time of stopping business.
Based on the enterprise's records, the Social Insurance agency will stop calculating late payment interest according to regulations; at the same time, close the Social Insurance book for employees until the time they have paid, thereby ensuring basic rights.
However, up to now, Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant has not submitted a registration application to stop production and business activities.
“We sympathize with the difficulties of businesses. However, businesses must also develop a roadmap to promptly complete the transfer of outstanding social insurance payments and interest according to regulations, thereby ensuring the legitimate rights of employees,” said Mr. Dang Van Tien.
From a praised unit, a pioneer in applying new technology in non-landfill waste treatment, recycling products useful to society (microbial fertilizers), now Thuy Phuong Waste Treatment Plant is like a "stepchild" that has been mercilessly abandoned.
At the factory area, we witnessed with our own eyes the abandoned and damaged factory; the advanced machinery had stopped working for many years and many details were rusted.
It is thought that state management agencies and trade unions at all levels in Thua Thien Hue need to coordinate with agencies at the same level where Tam Sinh Nghia Investment - Development Joint Stock Company is headquartered (Ho Chi Minh City) to intervene and ensure the rights of workers.
On the other hand, Hue City People's Committee also needs to soon complete debt repayment to businesses so that they have funds to take care of workers' lives.
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