The Tet holiday ( the Lunar New Year) 2024 is in nearly 2 months. All workers are interested in how much agencies, organizations, and businesses reward employees’ salaries and Tet bonuses this year.
Some most profitable businesses in Ho Chi Minh City announced this year's bonus to be equal to 2-3 months' salary or 1.5 times last year's whereas other loss-making businesses announced that their employees each receive about VND1 million (US$41) year-end bonus.
It is forecast that this year's Tet bonus remuneration will be less than prior years because the country’s socio-economic development has not recovered as expected in 2023.
According to the Vietnam Customs, the total import-export value for the whole year 2023 only reached $619.36 billion, down 8.2 percent compared to the previous year. Some businesses especially the fields of garments and seafood continue moaning about the shortage of orders, resulting in the income of employees in unproductive companies sharply decreasing.
Current regulations do not require employers to give Tet bonuses to employees. Therefore, the bonus level will also be decided by the employer based on production and business results and the level of job completion of the employee. For many years, wages and Tet bonuses have become a cultural feature rich in humanity in labor relations in the Southeast Asian country. Salaries and year-end bonuses not only help employees have a joyful Tet holiday but also create long-term, harmonious and stable labor relationships.
In his Directive No. 30, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just required ministries, agencies and localities to ensure a joyful, healthy, safe and economical celebration of the 2024 Lunar New Year Festival. Additionally, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs must ensure that public employees and employees are paid full salaries, bonuses and Tet holidays according to regulations.
Normally, it is not until Tet that units and businesses have plans for Tet bonuses, but this year, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has issued an official dispatch requesting localities to report their plans for wages and year-end remuneration by December 25.
In the context that salaries and year-end bonuses will decline, the issuance of the Prime Minister's directive at this time is very timely and necessary.
Currently, many agencies and organizations are proactively taking care of people and workers’ living conditions when the most important holiday in the country is coming. The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor has prepared early Tet care programs for workers, including cash, gifts, free buses, trains, and planes to bring workers home to gather together with family members for the celebration of the passing of the old year and to welcome the New Year, sharing the joy of the family reunion. Meanwhile, the Fatherland Front, Red Cross associations at all levels and localities are also preparing charity programs to support the poor and beneficiaries of social welfare policies.
The Vietnam Social Insurance has announced that pension payments for January and February 2024 will be paid to pensioners so that more than three million pensioners have money to spend during the Tet holiday.
However, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and localities should understand the living conditions of policy beneficiaries and poverty-stricken people to provide timely support.
Moreover, the Ministry also grasp the labor situation in companies with a large number of workers to have support for workers who have suffered a sharp decrease in income, laid-off workers or unemployed employees due to natural disasters, epidemics, and poor-performing enterprises. Trade unions will monitor the remuneration at the end of the year to ask for employers’ announcements of salaries and Tet bonuses, especially the plan and time of salary and bonus payments.
