Workers at a company in Điềm Thụy Industrial Park in the northern province of Thái Nguyên.— VNA/VNS Photo Anh Tuấn

HÀ NỘI — Trade unions have joined with business leaders to prepare Tết (Lunar New Year) bonuses for workers so that they can return to their home towns and enjoy the holiday although the production situation has faced many difficulties this year.

In Bắc Giang Province, Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, chairman of the Habac Export Garment Joint Stock Company’s Trade Union, said the company often calculates the Tết bonus for workers equal to 9-11 per cent of the workers' total income in a year.

On average, the salary of a worker is VNĐ10 million (US$406) per month, a total income is VNĐ120 million ($4,880), he said.

If the bonus is 10 per cent, it will be equal to VNĐ12 million ($488). If it is 11 per cent, it will be equal to VNĐ13-14 million ($528-569), he said.

In 2021, the average monthly income of a worker was VNĐ11 million ($446); this year, due to many difficulties, it is about VNĐ10.5 million ($426), he said.

In addition to the Tết bonus, this year, the company’s trade union will give a gift bag, worth VNĐ250,000 ($10) to each worker before they returned to their hometown to celebrate Tết, he said.

Nguyễn Văn Cảnh, chairman of the provincial Confederation of Labour, told Lao Động (Labour) online newspaper that Tết bonus in the province's businesses this year might not be as high as last year due to many difficulties in production.

However, the confederation has assigned the chairmen of local businesses’ trade unions to ensure the bonus is commensurate with a hard-working year of the employees, he said.

Recently, the confederation has issued a plan to prepare Tết bonus for workers, he said.

The confederation will direct the local businesses’ trade unions to propose businesses quickly calculate bonus levels for workers, he said.

Đoàn Tiến Dũng, general director of Nam Hà Garment Joint Stock Company, said that from the third quarter of this year, garment export orders began to decrease, and inevitably, the income of employees also decreased.

However, thanks to the good operation of the company in the first half of this year, the company still tries to maintain the Tết bonus, he said.

For the company, the biggest asset is employees, so the company has to find ways to retain them, he said.

Although a Tết bonus is not mandatory, it still has become a custom of the company for many years, so the company has tried to give the bonus for workers this year, he said.

Workers’ wishes

Nguyễn Thị Hạnh, a worker at an electronics company in Thăng Long Industrial Park in Đông Anh District, Hà Nội, said that her company has not announced the Tết bonus so far.

In previous years, she was often given a Tết bonus equal to a month's basic salary, she said.

Hạnh now earns a basic salary of VNĐ6.9 million ($280) per month, she said.

Recently, the company's production has met difficulties because orders have decreased. Thus, she just wished the Tết bonus this year to be equal to previous years, she said.

Trần Thị Thủy, a worker in the industrial park, said currently, the company has few orders and employees only work during office hours without working overtime.

She also guessed that the Tết bonus this year may not be as high as in other years, she said.

She said every year, the company's Tết bonus for workers is calculated based on the work completion and the workers' ability.

A Class-A worker will be given a Tết bonus equal to two months' basic salary. A Class-E worker will receive one month of basic salary, she said.

Thủy said last year she was classified as a Class-E worker and received a Tết bonus equal to about VNĐ7 million ($284), she said. — VNS