Vũ Quang Thọ

Viet Nam News

Vũ Quang Thọ, director of the Trade Unions Institute under the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour, talks to the newspaper Nông Thôn Ngày Nay (Countryside Today) on what measures employers should take to retain their workers.

What factors contributed to ensuring that almost all workers in enterprises nation-wide have returned to work following the Lunar New Year festival or Tết?

According to information from the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour, the majority of workers nation-wide have returned to work immediately the long Tết holidays. In many enterprises a hundred percent of the workers have returned their work following Tết.

The problem of workers moving to work in other factories or enterprises also occurred, but less than in previous years. What has happened this year is a positive indication that many factories have offered good policies towards their workers. In other words, the picture of labour relations nowadays is much brighter than in previous years.

However, in reality, some enterprises saw very few workers return due to reasons including their delay in the workers’ wage payment, their bonuses and others. In my opinion, in such cases authorised agencies should intervene to solve the problems in accordance to the laws.

In your opinion, what are the key factors encouraging the workers to return to work immediately after the Tết holiday?

As I have mentioned above, the enterprises’ good social policies towards the workers have become a driving force for workers to return to work immediately following the holidays.

I should say when the workers’ awareness about the law has been improved, their law enforcement have much been improved. This has made the workers stand by the side of their employers to take their enterprises to fly high.

In your opinion, what are the reasons leading to the problem of the labour force shortage in the free labour market?

As we all know labour discipline within the group of free labourers is poorer than those who work in factories/enterprises. What’s written in their labour contract is the agreement between the employees and the employers. So if the employer has good policies towards their workers, no doubt he/she will be able to maintain his/her employees to work for him/her or vice versa.

It is undeniable that many employers have not done their part to keep the employees with them. That’s a key reason why many workers have often moved from one job to another. So in my opinion, a good employer should adopt good labour policies to retain workers. In other words, good relationship between the employer and employees has been established.

So in your opinion, what solutions should the employers adopt to retain their workers to work for them?

In my opinion and also the opinion of many management officers is that a free labour market is a part and parcel of a free market economy in general and in the labour market in particular. It is a supplement for the official labour market. That’s why all economies need a free labour market. For example, in Germany, a free labour market still exists as it meets the demand for seasonal workers. Of course, people in this labour market have to take risks on their wage earning, social benefits and other benefits.

For the case of Việt Nam, the percentage of unemployed people or people who have lost their job is rather high. These people will then become informal workers. To control these informal workers, the Government should adopt measures to manage them or come up with a legal corridor to oversee the informal work force. — VNS

Nguyễn Thu Giang, deputy director of the Institute for Development Community Health (LIGHT) Nguyễn Thu Giang For the time being Việt Nam should officialise some work done by people at enterprises but without signing official labour contracts with their employers. We should also switch a big number of free labourers or people working in the agricultural field to work in industry or service sectors. Only when they have joined the social insurance scheme or health insurance their life will become better and they will feel the need to devote their hearts and minds to the work they do. Phạm Minh Huân, former deputy minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Phạm Minh Huân Whether or not workers return to their work following the Tết holiday is not a big deal for us to think about. Our economy is now a market economy so just let the market decide.