Proposal to increase overtime hours, worry about overwork

According to the plan, in September, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs will post on its website to widely collect opinions from businesses and employees about the contents expected to be amended in this Labor Code.

Overtime is one of the issues that will be put forward for comments and revision. According to businesses, the current law stipulates a maximum of 200 hours of overtime per year and 300 hours in special cases, which is very low compared to other countries in the region such as Thailand and Singapore.

The total maximum overtime hours can be up to 400 hours/year.

Compared to other countries in the region, the maximum overtime hours for Vietnamese workers are currently low (for example, Cambodia and the Philippines do not control the maximum overtime hours, Indonesia 56 hours/month, Singapore 72 hours/month, Thailand 36 hours/week, Malaysia 104 hours/month; Laos 45 hours/month...). Vietnam's proposal to increase overtime hours is in line with the general trend of countries in the region and the world.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Mai Duc Thien, Deputy Director of the Legal Department, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that according to the summary report evaluating 3 years of implementing the 2012 Labor Code, the situation of enterprises organizing overtime beyond the prescribed number of hours is common in industries such as garment, seafood processing, and export processing.

At many business forums, the business community and through annual dialogues, there have been recommendations to the Government and the National Assembly on increasing overtime hours, so in this draft, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs continues to submit to the Government to increase the overtime limit.

How much to increase is up to both parties to agree and decide. If the employee agrees, the employer will mobilize the employee to work overtime, but not more than 4 hours a day and not more than 400 hours a year.

Discussing the proposal to remove the overtime ceiling and increase the number of overtime hours to 400 hours, Mr. Le Dinh Quang, Deputy Head of the Labor Relations Department, Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, said that when considering the proposal to increase overtime hours, many factors must be considered. According to research and surveys by the Institute for Workers' Research and Trade Unions, many workers want to work overtime only because their salary is not enough to live on.

Increasing overtime is not a long-term solution to increase production. Long working hours in a week are often accompanied by fatigue, leading to health problems. In addition, excessive overtime also increases confusion at work and the risk of occupational accidents. In addition, long working hours in a week (more than 48 hours/week) are also accompanied by work-life imbalance and increase work-life conflicts.

In addition, Mr. Le Dinh Quang said that the proposal by businesses that overtime in Vietnam is still low compared to many countries in the region and the world, so it is necessary to increase overtime hours, is not correct.

The overtime ceiling in our country may be lower, but in reality the maximum working time for employees is higher than in some countries in the region. If the overtime limit is increased, it means increasing the maximum working time for employees, which is contrary to the world trend.

To solve the practical difficulties of some businesses when there are sudden production cycles (mainly in the textile, footwear, and seafood processing industries), Mr. Le Dinh Quang suggested that it is possible to study removing the limit on overtime work per month.

However, it is necessary to add a regulation that overtime pay must be calculated progressively according to the number of overtime hours. For example, when an employee works overtime on a weekday and up to 30 hours in a month, he/she will be paid at least 150%; from 30 hours in a month or more, he/she will be paid at least 200%. Only then will businesses be forced to calculate before mobilizing workers to work overtime.