Submit to the Government to increase minimum wage from July 1

The National Wage Council has just proposed that the Government increase the regional minimum wage in enterprises by 6% per month, an average of VND238,000 from July 1.

The 6% increase was agreed upon by 16 members of the National Wage Council after two negotiation sessions in 2023. This level is based on the context of the labor market and GDP in 2023, although not as bright as expected, but on average, more than 18,300 new businesses were established and returned to the market each month, higher than the number of withdrawals. The orders of businesses in the following quarter were higher than the previous quarter.

The proposed monthly minimum wage increase is VND200,000-280,000 depending on the region. If approved, the salary in region 1 will increase to VND4.96 million; region 2 to VND4.41 million; region 3 to VND3.86 million and region 4 to VND3.45 million. The current salary in the regions is between VND3.25-4.68 million.

The hourly minimum wage increases by 6%, ranging from 16,600 to 23,800 VND. Specifically, region 1 increases to 23,800 VND; region 2 increases to 21,200 VND; region 3 increases to 18,600 VND; region 4 increases to 16,600 VND.

Working shift of garment workers in Thai Nguyen. Photo: Ngoc Thanh — Working shift of garment workers in Thai Nguyen. Photo: *Ngoc Thanh*

The National Wage Council has proposed an increase from July 1 to align with public sector wage reform and give businesses enough time to prepare their finances. If approved, this will be the second time in four years that the regional minimum wage has increased in early July, following an adjustment on July 1, 2022 due to the impact of the Covid pandemic. In the past 10 years, the regional minimum wage has typically increased on January 1.

According to statistics in 2023, the average income of Vietnamese workers reached 7.1 million VND per month, an increase of 459,000 VND (6.9%) compared to the same period in 2022. In the last three months of the year, the number of workers on leave and unemployment continued to decrease compared to the third quarter of 2023. Of which, the number of unemployed workers was 85,000, a decrease of nearly 33,000; the number of workers on leave and unemployment was 77,800, a decrease of more than 187,000.

Hong Chieu

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