Can Vietnam reduce working hours to 44 hours/week?

Reducing working hours needs to be tested in large enterprises before expanding, creating a movement, proving to employers the benefits of reducing working hours such as increasing labor productivity, adding time to regenerate labor...

Textile workers working at Viet Thang Jean Company Limited, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: QUANG DINH

That is the recommendation of some experts when discussing the proposal to reduce working hours from 48 hours/week to 44 hours/week.

Although many foreign-invested enterprises (FDI) in Vietnam are applying a 44-hour work week, according to experts, this expansion of reduced working hours needs a roadmap to avoid causing shock.

Which route is suitable?

Ms. Dang Ngoc Thu Thao - Director of Operations, Outsourcing and Labor Leasing Services in the North of ManpowerGroup Vietnam - commented that some FDI enterprises from Japan and Europe will not be affected much if working hours are reduced.

Partly because these businesses maintain the same culture as their parent company, they do not enforce maximum working hours.

Meanwhile, if reducing working hours is applied to some companies, joint venture factories or domestic enterprises, it will take a long time to convert or put pressure on selling prices.

"Reducing working hours should be a gradual process. Vietnam should learn from other countries' experiences and start testing in a certain area, industry or locality," said Ms. Thao, recommending reducing working hours while maintaining labor productivity and production efficiency.

For example, when a business checks the skills and productivity of its workers, if the total productivity of the entire business meets the set target with less working time and more flexibility, the company can approve a plan to reduce working hours.

ManpowerGroup Vietnam representative said that businesses should build a mechanism to measure real work efficiency instead of applying a rigid time monitoring mechanism, shortening/minimizing work processes, optimizing working time such as minimizing weekly/monthly meetings.

Businesses can improve workers' working skills, focus labor efforts on necessary tasks...

This person analyzed that reducing working hours is ultimately the solution to the problem of increasing labor productivity. For example, a company reduced the production time of a television by nearly half, but said it would take at least four years to improve and adjust the production line, ensuring that working hours remained the same.

"Thus, increasing labor productivity requires time, determination, and investment from businesses. The key is that labor productivity must always be measured quantitatively through many different indicators and appropriate for different departments and positions," he emphasized.

Implementation experience

Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Nhung - chairwoman of the labor union of Yazaki Vietnam Company (100% Japanese capital) - said that the company has been applying 44 hours/week for about 10 years. On average, employees have 2 or 3 Saturdays off.

The reduction in working hours will increase gradually, with one more day off each year, increasing gradually until 2024, when workers will have 31 more days off per year, or about 2.5 days per month (Saturday). The goal is to reduce working hours for factory workers so that they have more time to regenerate their labor.

"Every year, the company has a policy and announcement to create a practice, ensuring paid leave. If there is a plan to go to work, employees will receive pay for working on holidays," said Ms. Nhung, adding that the union and the company's board of directors always review and agree on the production situation for the next year, whether to give more time off or not.

In addition, the company annually adds other benefits for employees.

According to Ms. Nhung, to have a production plan for next year, the company must build a schedule in advance, balance working hours, ensure production volume is suitable for orders as well as overtime is appropriate for reality. In the long run, both sides benefit. If working hours are reduced, the requirements for output will be more stringent.

"For example, normally, this productivity is enough to meet the requirements, but now reducing working hours requires increasing productivity, but it is also part of the process of calculating human resources and machinery in advance, not doing it immediately," said Ms. Nhung.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pham Vu Binh - Chairman of the grassroots union of Nissei Vietnam Technology Co., Ltd. (with 1,600 - 1,700 employees) - supports the reduction of working hours of this enterprise, with 2 - 3 Saturdays off each month. Because the production plan was made early before receiving orders, except for peak months when overtime is required, the work arrangement was carried out smoothly.

"Reducing working hours needs to be piloted, specifically considered based on the situation of companies in a certain area or industrial park and based on labor laws. Every year, we strive to add one more day off, gradually moving towards the goal of working 40 hours/week, avoiding shock reduction, and gradually accumulating. Up to now, many months have achieved up to three days off on Saturday every week," said Mr. Binh.

Workers at Vinh Loc Industrial Park (HCMC) go to the street market after work - Photo: TU TRUNG

Work 44 hours/week, still get paid full salary

Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Dai - Chairman of the Union of Juki Vietnam Co., Ltd. (a 100% Japanese-owned mechanical engineering company in Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City) - said that the company has applied a 44-hour work week for more than 1,100 workers for more than ten years. And this is an advantage that helps the company attract workers compared to other companies. "Working hours during the week are still eight hours a day. But all workers are given two additional Saturdays off in the month instead of only having Sundays off every week as before. During the transition period, the salary is still the same as working 48 hours a week. That means the company still pays normal salary for the two Saturdays that workers are given off," said Mr. Dai.

Many countries are testing a 4-day work week.

According to statistics from ManpowerGroup, many countries have tested the 4-day work week on a large scale, evaluating its effectiveness based on feedback from businesses and employees before officially putting it into law. For example, Iceland is considered the pioneer country to test the 4-day work week for the longest period (2015 - 2019) with a scale of 2,500 people. Other countries that are testing this form include Australia (26 companies), Brazil (testing on 400 employees, lasting 9 months from September 2023), Germany (45 companies, from February 2024 to August 2024). Meanwhile, Belgium is the first country in Europe to pass a law allowing employees to work 4 days/week from February 2022, with an average working time of 10 hours/day (40 hours/week). The United Arab Emirates (UAE) allows state employees (accounting for 90% of the total workforce) to work 4 days/week from 1/5/2023. The most successful is still the UK with over 3,300 employees at 61 companies testing 4-day work/week for 6 months, from June to December 2022. The largest proportion of participants belongs to businesses in the fields of media and advertising (18%), professional services (16%), non-profit (11%). The lowest proportion belongs to the fields of construction (4%) and engineering (2%). In addition, the experiment recorded a clear improvement in physical and mental health. In some countries, the government encourages businesses to apply 4-day work/week but has not yet included it in the law, such as Japan and Thailand.

Reduce working hours to suit reality

According to Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Nhung, it was noted that some employees expressed their desire for the company to work 40 hours/week, but opinions need to be compiled and presented at the employee conference.

To avoid being passive, Ms. Nhung said that when there is an annual work schedule, the company will receive orders, then adjust working hours to suit the reality. In case of any month that requires more than capacity, such as hot-selling products or sudden increase in orders, production must be planned in advance in the months with excess capacity.

For example, if there are many months with many holidays but high orders, produce a part in advance so that the following months have time off, the company also accepts a certain amount of inventory. "When working, there will be difficulties, but if we calculate in advance, everything will be fine," this person said.

According to Ms. Nhung, to get the workers to agree, the company also proactively agreed on a collective labor agreement with more benefits for the workers, such as for the night shift from 10pm the night before to 6am the next morning, in addition to the 30% salary according to the law, an additional 5,000 VND/hour is added.

In addition, the year-end bonus includes basic salary plus allowances according to company regulations. Bonus for outstanding employees at the end of the year, bonus for employees who maintain good health, bonus for technical innovation initiatives, bonus for employees with seniority...

Source : https://tuoitre.vn/viet-nam-co-the-giam-gio-lam-viec-xuong-con-44-gio-tuan-20240617224436491.htm