Eight enterprises are awarded certificates of merit from the Prime Minister for their treatment of employees in Hà Nội on Friday. — VNS Photo Minh Hương

HÀ NỘI — Fifty enterprises were honoured for their treatment of employees in Hà Nội yesterday. Eight of them were awarded certificates of merit from the Prime Minister.

Organised by the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the awards aimed to celebrate firms which have treated their staff well in Việt Nam.

Nguyễn Văn Bình, Head of the Central Economic Commission, said: ” Employees are the most valuable asset of the enterprises. Building harmonious and stable labour relations reflect good employers.”

He added: “Motivating and encouraging enterprises to take care of their workers' lives, improve their working environment, building harmonious and beneficial relationships between enterprises will help Việt Nam achieve sustainable development in the process of integration and development.”

Bình said these efforts contributed to help Việt Nam achieve positive growth.

According to VGCL, it was the second time the awards have been announced after the first time in 2016, and thousands of firms have been participating in the "enterprises for employees" movement, in which incomes have improved, especially those with salaries of more than VNĐ20 million (US$860) per month, while the number of employees with a monthly salary below VNĐ6 million has decreased.

Nguyễn Đình Khang, chairman of the confederation, said bonus policies and better welfare offered by the firms had been motivating employees.

Making products for big brands like The North Face, Lululemon, Under Armour, Patagonia, Athleta, Hill City, Marmot and REI, Thái Bình Province-based Manufacturing Sportswear Joint Stock Company (MXP JSC) has 15,000 employees working in seven factories.

The firm’s chairman Nguyễn Tiến Phương told Việt Nam News: “In addition to implementing social and health insurance policies, MXP has spent nearly VNĐ160 billion on different welfare activities for employees. Currently, our company has signed production and export orders with customers in the USA, Canada, South Korea to ensure regular jobs for our employees until the end of 2021.”

Also at the event, Trần Thị Anh Phương, head of the trade union at pharmaceutical firm Traphaco told Việt Nam News: “Over 47 years, we have considered our employees our most valuable asset and tried to do our best to make them happy at work.”

Phương said the firm’s employee happiness index was 82.7 points, much higher than most firms in the pharmaceutical industry, according to a study by a local research firm in 2017.

"What we have gained is our employees' hearts. We stay with our firm for a long time,” said Phương.

As another of example of treating employees well, BRG Group, which runs premium hotel services and golf courses, did not lose any staff during the pandemic, but re-arrange schedules to keep their employees.

“During the pandemic, the BRG group has opened dozens of its new minimarts in central Hà Nội, it has recruited and created jobs for hundreds of employees”, Dương Vân Anh, Director of Human Resources of the firm added

Also among the 50 "enterprises for employees" this year, Trương Bích Đào, Human Resource director of Nestlé Việt Nam, said as employees were key for the firm's development, they have tried their best to keep incomes stable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eight firms awarded the PM’s certificates of merit included: Electromechanical and Explosive One Member Limited Company 31 or Factory Z131, Bỉm Sơn Garment, Samsung Electronics Thái Nguyên, Hyundai KEFICO, Vietcombank, Manufacturing Sportswear Joint Stock Company (MXP JSC), Traphaco Joint Stock Company and Vingroup. — VNS