Tet bonus

Low salary, reduced Tet bonus, working for 20 years and still wanting to return home

Having been attached to Hanoi for 20 years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Linh and her husband, 45 years old (Nam Dinh), still want to return to their hometown. At that time, after finishing high school, Ms. Linh, from a poor family, did not take the university entrance exam but instead applied to work as a worker at Thang Long Industrial Park in Hanoi.

After 5 years of working, she got married. Both husband and wife were workers. Life was tight, so they couldn’t afford to buy a house, so they had to rent.

Ms. Linh confided: “Previously, working as a part-time worker and working overtime, each month the couple also received 25-26 million VND, but since the Covid -19 epidemic until now, our income has decreased continuously. Almost my husband and I Only receive full basic salary. Monthly 17-18 million VND.”

Food, living expenses, school fees, housing expenses… for the children are all increasing, only the salary is decreasing day by day. Last year, I heard that her company was having difficulties, but Tet leaders still gave a 1-month salary bonus of 6 million VND. This year it is said that the economy is even more difficult so the company only rewards 3 million VND.

Low salary and reduced Tet bonus, she and her husband don’t know what to do if they return home. “Tet costs a lot of money, including gifts for relatives and neighbors, not to mention buying and selling. My family doesn’t know what to do,” Ms. Linh said.

Ms. Linh said that she plans to move back to her hometown next year when her son goes to college and find a job near home to save money.

Tet bonuses in Hanoi tend to decrease

The report on wages and Tet bonuses in 2023 of the Hanoi Labor Confederation shows that the average salary of workers in Hanoi in 2023 remains the same as in 2022. However, the Tet bonus in 2024 is significantly reduced compared to 2023. In particular, the deepest decrease is in industries such as textiles, footwear, electronics…

Regarding the average salary of workers in 2023, statistics from the Hanoi Labor Federation show that it is equal to 2022 or will increase insignificantly depending on the type of enterprise.

Of which, only enterprises belonging to the Company with controlling capital shares of the State increased by 0.72% compared to 2022, corresponding to an increase from 6.95 million VND to 7 million VND. However, the highest salary in this area decreased sharply, from 70 million VND to 29.8 million VND. The lowest salary remains the same at 5.1 million VND.

For the remaining types of businesses, all are equal to 2022. Specifically, in the private enterprise sector, the average salary reaches 6.8 million VND/person/month. Highest salary of 125 million VND/person/month (down from 180 million VND in 2022); The lowest salary is 4.68 million VND.

For FDI enterprises, the average salary reached 7.4 million VND. The highest and lowest levels are equal to 2022, reaching 70 million VND and 4.68 million VND, respectively.

According to the Hanoi Federation of Labor, this shows that the economic crisis has led to many difficulties in production and business activities of enterprises, affecting the source of funding to pay wages to workers. .

Therefore, current income still does not ensure the minimum living standard of workers, due to rising prices of consumer goods and social services.

Regarding the 2024 Tet bonus, the average bonus of employees in all types of businesses decreases compared to 2023. In particular, the 2023 New Year bonus alone decreases from 16.67% to 32.31% compared to Tet. 2022.

The Lunar New Year bonus for Giap Thin 2024 also decreased from 1.41% to 2.44% compared to Tet Quy Mao 2023. The deepest decrease is in industries such as textiles and garments, footwear, electronics, and wood processing.

Leaders of the Hanoi Labor Confederation said that the reason is that many businesses lack or have no orders in the last months of the year and have to cut working hours and reduce staff. The production and business situation in some enterprises in the area is difficult, leading to employment and income of workers continuing to decrease.

Recently, a clip of a Vietnamese couple working in Japan unwrapping Tet bonus envelopes attracted “millions of views” from the online community and expatriate workers.

The clip was shared with the caption: “My husband and I’s Tet bonus. Pink Japan is real.” Besides, the owner of the clip revealed that the couple’s Tet bonus was nearly 110 million (more than 187 million VND).

After the clip was shared, a large number of labor unions working in Japan rushed to ask for help and receive a high Tet bonus from the company. Many workers also left humorous comments: “Please my arms will never know what the Tet bonus is”, “The Tet bonus is too high, I can only wish”…

According to research, the owner of the clip that caused a stir is Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu (27 years old, from Gia Lai), she and her husband are interns living and working in Shimane province (Japan).

Share with reporters Dan Tri , Ms. Thu said, after nearly 5 years working in the land of the rising sun, this is the first time she has received such a large Tet bonus. Before that, the female trainee’s old company didn’t even have a Tet bonus.

“My husband and I met each other while studying language in Vietnam. I flew to Japan 2 months before my husband, following agricultural orders, and my husband worked for a food company.

In early 2023, I just moved to work at the same food company as my husband. My income is 17 man, my husband’s is about 19 man. The company’s remuneration policy is very good, employees are rewarded 3 times a year. In April, the company gives a bonus of 15 man, in July it gives a bonus of 27 man, the biggest bonus is in December,” Ms. Thu shared.

Last December, Ms. Thu received a bonus of more than 50 million from the company, and her husband received nearly 60 million. In total, the couple received a reward of more than 110 million (more than 187 million VND). The female intern revealed that this year the company “did well” so they decided to give big bonuses to encourage workers who have worked hard for a whole year.

“When I got home and opened the company’s envelope, my husband and I couldn’t believe our eyes. We didn’t think we’d receive so much money. Afterwards, my husband and I recorded a clip and shared it with everyone. Afterwards, many people came asking for help. “, Ms. Thu laughed.

Ms. Thu said that every year when she comes to Japan, she and her husband send money back to Vietnam for their family. This year, the yen has dropped sharply in value. She no longer sends money home regularly like before, but keeps it in the hope that the Japanese currency will increase again.

“Every year near Tet, I send money home to give to my parents to spend Tet, but this year the company gave an early Tet bonus and the price of yen increased, so the couple decided to send it early to make their grandparents happy. What’s left will be saved. “, Ms. Thu was excited.

Sharing about the bonus, Ms. Thu admitted that she and her husband are luckier than many other expatriate workers when the company is doing well and the job is stable. The couple hopes that the yen price will continue to increase in the new year so that workers like her can save more money and send more money home.

The highest Tet bonus is more than 300 million VND/person, the lowest is 300 thousand VND

As of December 23, many localities have begun to announce Lunar New Year bonuses for 2024. Accordingly, many workers receive Tet bonuses of up to a car, but in the opposite direction, many workers receive Tet bonuses of up to a car. I also felt sad because I didn’t get a Tet bonus or a bonus.

A report from the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Hung Yen province, from a survey of 125 businesses, shows that the average income of workers is 8.2 million VND/month.

Regarding the New Year bonus, the highest bonus is 192 million VND, belonging to Kinh Do Northern Company Limited (Km22 National Highway 5A – Ban Yen Nhan Town, My Hao, Hung Yen) specializing in producing cakes from flour. The lowest reward is 100,000 VND.

In Hung Yen, the highest expected Lunar New Year bonus of 300 million VND belongs to Merap Group Joint Stock Company (Ba Khe village, Tan Tien commune, Van Giang district, Hung Yen). This company specializes in manufacturing drugs, pharmaceutical chemicals and medicinal materials.

In addition, some companies in the industrial park with foreign investment have bonuses of over 50 million VND for workers and laborers such as Ochiai Vietnam Co., Ltd. and Wassenburg Medical Vietnam Co., Ltd.

Similarly in Thai Nguyen, Tet bonuses also tend to be lower than previous years. The highest Tet bonus in Thai Nguyen province is 341,456 million VND/month. The highest bonus level during the New Year is 80 million VND, while this level during the Lunar New Year is 130 million VND.

In Binh Thuan, the report of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Binh Thuan province shows that 62/200 businesses sent reports to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Binh Thuan province. Accordingly, the highest New Year 2024 bonus is 36 million VND/month for High-tech Seafood Company 2 – this is a foreign-invested enterprise.

According to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Binh Thuan province, the highest average Lunar New Year bonus belongs to private enterprises at 6.9 million VND/month. And also in this type of business, the highest bonus is 91 million VND/month,

Meanwhile, in foreign-invested enterprises, the average bonus is 2.6 million VND/month and the highest bonus is 21.9 million VND/month belonging to Thang Long Seafood Company.

Confesses that a freelance worker has never once received a Tet bonus

While workers with labor contracts are holding their breath waiting for the announcement of Tet bonuses, nearly 70% of workers in the country – freelance workers working in the informal sector do not have Tet bonuses.

Every time Tet approaches, hearing people talking about celebrating Tet, Ms. Nguyen Thi Luong (42 years old), from Thuong Tin (Hanoi), feels sad. Her education level was low, she only finished 9th grade, so after 9th grade she applied to sell clothes, then worked as a restaurant server… It turned out to be a free and comfortable job, but the salary was low and she had never heard of it. Come enjoy Tet.

“Perhaps at the end of the year, the boss will only give a few hundred thousand more. If a kind person would give an extra gift-wrapped cake box, he won’t get a Tet bonus of a whole month’s salary or tens of millions of dong like other people,” Ms. Luong said sadly.

Sharing the same situation as Ms. Luong, millions of freelance workers also face Tet holidays without pay and bonuses. Not only that, they also face dozens of worries and chaos.

Just riding a motorbike from Ha Trung (Thanh Hoa) to Hanoi to run Grab, Mr. Nguyen Van Giap (27 years old) confided: Previously, the couple lived and worked as workers in Binh Duong. Life was difficult, the couple had to return to their hometown to work and live. But back home, work is also difficult. When I opened a restaurant, it went bankrupt for a while. Now his wife stays at home and runs the ao dai rental business, while he goes to the city to drive Grab.

“I didn’t study very much, so when I was 15 years old, I dropped out of school and went to work. I was self-employed, so I never knew a salary or bonus. During Tet, I had to worry about food, clothing, money, and gifts for my mother and father… So I have to try harder to earn a little more money,” Mr. Giap said.

Instead of working 8 hours a day, Mr. Giap may have to drive up to 12 hours a day. However, unlike before, despite working a lot, the average monthly income is only 10-12 million VND/month.