A series of non-state enterprises violate labor laws

(Baonghean) - Quy Hop has hundreds of non-state enterprises operating in the mineral exploitation business with thousands of workers, most of whom find ways to "circumvent" the law and violate the law. They do not establish trade unions, do not pay social insurance for workers...

Only when in trouble do you see the disadvantage!

In a dilapidated thatched house in Dong Hung village, Dong Hop commune, Quy Hop, Mr. Truong Van Nghiem (born in 1974, Thai ethnic group), a worker of Toan Thang Company Limited (headquartered in Quy Hop town) bitterly lamented when talking about his accident. Nghiem had an accident at 6:00 a.m. on May 31, 2013. That day, Nghiem was connecting a water hose at Ba Khong quarry, Van Loi commune when a rock slipped and severed his Achilles tendon. He collapsed on the spot and was then bandaged by his co-workers and taken to the hospital. Up to now, after 5 months of treatment, the wound has not healed. Not only that, on August 23, he had to go to Tay Bac General Hospital for another surgery. Because his leg was so painful that he could not walk and his child was still young, Nghiem's ​​wife, Ms. Ha Thi Lien - a worker at Nghia Dan Tunnel Brick Company, had to quit her job to stay home and take care of her husband.

Nghiem sadly said: "30 million VND is gone. I'm unlucky so I have to accept it...". When asked, he said that the business owner sent someone to the hospital to give him 10 million VND to pay for the hospital fees. On the day of the surgery, the couple went to ask for another 5 million VND from the business owner. Nghiem said that he had been working at Toan Thang Company Limited for 4 years. Before starting work, the business owner signed a contract for each year. "The owner asked them to give their ID cards to draft the contract and the contract was also kept by the owner. The company has about 60 workers but everyone is like that, at the end of the year they sign another contract and that's it, they don't pay social insurance..." - Nghiem said.

After 5 months of treatment, Mr. Truong Van Nghiem's ​​wound has not healed yet.

Truong Van Nghiem's ​​case is better than that of Tran Van Hong (My Dinh hamlet, Chau Dinh commune). Also a worker of Toan Thang Company Limited, Nghiem still managed to keep his life. Hong died at 9:30 a.m. on September 16, 2013 while cutting acacia trees with some other workers. Hong had worked for Toan Thang Company Limited for nearly 13 months. When he started working at this company, he did not sign a labor contract but only had a verbal agreement (in My Dinh hamlet, many people work for Toan Thang Company Limited with a verbal agreement). Hong worked at the stone cutting team. That day, the company owner mobilized the whole team to cut acacia trees near the headquarters. Hong was using a chainsaw to cut the tree when a tree branch fell and hit his head, causing his death. "I was working in Malaysia, so it took him a whole week to come home. The family was confused so they did not have time to see how the company owner was responsible for his death..." said Ms. Thanh, Hong's wife. Mr. Hong has two sons, the second one is in 9th grade and is in very difficult circumstances.

According to the information we have, from December 1, 2012 to October 18, 2013, in Quy Hop district, there were 4 fatal work accidents, of which 3 were workers and they were not covered by social insurance. In addition to Mr. Hong's case, there were also the following cases: Luong Van Dam, residing in Dan village, Chau Loc commune, was a seasonal worker at the construction stone mining complex of Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh (residing at 9, Phan Chu Trinh, Vinh city). While collecting forest vines to build a shack, Mr. Dam slipped and hit his head on a rock, causing his death; Mr. Le Van Tuat, residing in Muong Ham village, Chau Cuong commune, was a contract worker of Thanh An Cooperative. Mr. Tuat died because he was crushed by a rock while working...

Alarming numbers

According to statistics from relevant agencies in Quy Hop district, there are currently 350 non-state enterprises in the area, of which 220 are operating. There are 9 enterprises with trade unions. As of May 30, 2013, the total number of employees in non-state enterprises was 6,376. Of which, as of September 2013, the number of employees registered to pay social insurance was only 673. Many companies are well-known in the area and have a large number of employees but the number of employees participating in social insurance is low, such as: An Son Joint Stock Company has 400 employees, 13 employees participating in social insurance; Chinh Nghia Company Limited has 214 employees, 36 employees participating in social insurance; Trung Hai Mineral and Trading Joint Stock Company has 270 employees, 35 of whom participate in social insurance;... Some companies even report an incorrect number of employees, such as Toan Thang Company Limited. According to workers of this company, the workforce here is no less than 60 people, but according to statistics from the authorities, this unit only has 17 employees, of which 8 participate in social insurance!?

Working with An Son Joint Stock Company, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Diep - accountant, is the person representing the business owner to talk to us. Ms. Diep said: As far as I know, out of hundreds of "named" businesses, only 5 businesses fully fulfill their obligations to their employees. The reason for this situation, according to Ms. Diep, is that Quy Hop enterprises do not have stability in production and business, so workers in the businesses do not have stability, up to now, An Son Joint Stock Company only has 250 employees. And in that case, participating in social insurance is very troublesome...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Diep - accountant of An Son Joint Stock Company said:

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Also with this content, Mr. Le Duy Hai - Director of Thanh An Cooperative said that it is very difficult for seasonal workers to participate in social insurance. Thanh An Cooperative has 110 workers, of which 11 people participate in social insurance.

According to the provisions of the Law on Social Insurance, when a business signs a labor contract with a term of 3 months or more with an employee, it must be responsible for carrying out the necessary procedures to participate in social insurance for the employee. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoang - Director of the Social Insurance Agency of Quy Hop district, very few non-state enterprises in Quy Hop are willing to do so: "Based on the number of people participating in insurance and then applying it to the total number of enterprises, it is clear that only the enterprise's framework is participating in social insurance. There are even enterprises with no one participating in social insurance. We know this and have repeatedly issued documents advising the government to force enterprises to implement policies for employees as prescribed by the Law on Social Insurance, but there has been no positive result yet."

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoang - Director of Social Insurance Agency of Quy Hop district answered reporters

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According to Mr. Hoang, businesses often have "tricks" to "circumvent" the law. "They often sign contracts with workers for 2 months, then do not sign them again even though they still employ the workers and use this contract to deceive the authorities. Some businesses have "verbal contracts" or do not even sign contracts. According to the Chairman of the District Labor Union, Dinh Thi Hai Ly, there are businesses that use the method of establishing companies and satellite corporations to employ workers for them but do not report or declare to the authorities. There are businesses that, when signing contracts, do not fully inform the workers about the contents as prescribed by the Labor Law, and instead of drafting 2 contracts, the business owner only drafts one set of contracts and keeps it, the workers do not even know what is written in it... Although the Social Insurance agency and the Trade Union are aware of this situation, they cannot do anything more because the Social Insurance agency and the Trade Union do not have the function of independent inspection or handling violations.

Regarding the implementation of policies for employees in non-state enterprises, when asked, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Quy Hop district also determined that some enterprises in the area have not properly implemented regulations for employees such as: not participating in social insurance and health insurance for employees, not adjusting the minimum wage according to Government regulations, not building a salary scale, not building labor regulations, labor safety regulations, inadequate labor protection equipment for employees, etc. Most enterprises in the district are mainly engaged in mineral exploitation and processing, but labor safety issues in some enterprises have not been given attention, the risk of labor safety in enterprises is very high.

The reason is that due to the impact of the global economic crisis, business operations are facing many difficulties, so the number of employees in enterprises is often unstable. Meanwhile, non-state enterprises are very limited in awareness, especially about labor laws. There is a shortage of officials doing state management of labor from the district to the grassroots level, they have not been properly trained, and they mainly work part-time. Resources for inspection and examination of occupational safety and health are limited. Compliance with occupational safety and health laws of most enterprises is not strict, many enterprises implement regulations that are only meant to deal with inspections by state agencies. Sanctions are not strong enough to deter enterprises and employers from disregarding the law...

The reasons cited by the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Quy Hop are true. However, the fact that non-state enterprises in Quy Hop are evading responsibility towards their workers is partly due to lax management, lack of attention, supervision, and proper handling by authorities at all levels. And thus, it has led to a situation where the legitimate rights and interests of workers in the area are being seriously violated.

According to regulations, in cases of work-related accidents like Mr. Truong Van Nghiem, or deaths like Mr. Tran Van Hong, the enterprise must take full responsibility for the employee because it does not pay social insurance. But will Mr. Nghiem, Mr. Tran Van Hong's relatives and other workers grasp the legal information to speak up for their legitimate rights? To solve this problem, the Quy Hop district government needs to clearly see the nature and extent of violations by non-state enterprises in order to coordinate with relevant agencies to focus on handling them.

Ha Giang