Proposal to increase retirement age and overtime hours

Mr. Mai Duc Thien, Deputy Director of the Legal Department, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, shared this at the dialogue workshop on new points in the revised Labor Code organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Accordingly,Option 1,From January 1, 2021, the retirement age of employees will increase by 3 months each year for men and 4 months for women until men reach 62 years old and women reach 60 years old.

Option 2,From January 1, 2021, the retirement age of employees will increase by four months each year for men and six months for women until men reach 62 years old and women reach 60 years old.

According to Mr. Thien, the current retirement age for men is 60 and for women is 55. However, in order to adapt to the aging population trend and the socio-economic development situation of the country, while making the most of experienced and qualified human resources for socio-economic development and ensuring the balance of pension and death benefit funds in the long term, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has made the above two proposals.

“But for special occupations, workers are entitled to retire five years earlier or later than the general retirement age,” Mr. Thien noted.

Another new point of the labor law that Mr. Mai Duc Thien also mentioned is the regulation on overtime hours. Accordingly, this draft expands the framework for agreement on overtime hours with two options.

Specifically,Option 1,The maximum overtime hours are 200 hours/year. In special cases where the enterprise has a need and the employee agrees, the two parties will agree to work overtime not exceeding 400 hours/year.

Option 2,Maintain current regulations (overtime not exceeding 200 hours/year, except for some special cases regulated by the Government in which overtime not exceeding 300 hours/year).

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Le Dinh Quang, Deputy Head of the Labor Relations Department, Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, said that retirement age is an issue that has received much attention and discussion from society. With the promulgation of Resolution 28/2018 of the Central Executive Committee, it can be said that this is the right time to consider adjusting the retirement age.

“However, the increase in retirement age must closely follow Resolution 28. There must be a roadmap to avoid shocking increases, a long-term vision, gradually reducing the gap between men and women, ensuring the rights of workers…” - Mr. Quang emphasized.

Regarding the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Mr. Quang affirmed that he is very concerned about the direct labor force, those who work in heavy and toxic areas. Because in reality, women currently retire at the age of 55, men at 60, but workers in these areas all retire early.

Therefore, Mr. Quang believes that there should be a mechanism to solve the problem for direct workers. Specifically, workers should be allowed to choose to receive social insurance policies early. "Raising the age by 4 months for women, 3 months for men or 6 months for women, 4 months for men needs to be calculated more carefully," said Mr. Quang.

Regarding overtime, Mr. Quang also said that it is possible to increase overtime hours but it is necessary to consider many issues such as workers' health, official working hours, labor safety, world trends, etc.