Nghe An: Difficult to manage short-term foreign workers
(Baonghean) - The situation of foreign workers entering Nghe An to work without being licensed by competent authorities is still happening. In particular, managing foreigners entering Nghe An for less than 90 days is still difficult.
 |
| The Provincial People's Committee issued 5 decisions to administratively sanction 5 Chinese citizens. |
Punish many violations
On June 6, 2019, Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh signed 5 consecutive decisions to sanction administrative violations against 5 Chinese citizens including: An Jun Ly, Li Bing Qing; Zhang Ai Hua, Ho Zhong Wen, Ke Zhixiong. These Chinese citizens entered Vietnam, specifically to work in Nghe An, but were not granted permission by the competent authority.
These 5 people, including 2 doctors and 3 employees working at a clinic in Vinh City, were each fined 20 million VND and forced to immediately stop their violations and complete all procedures to be licensed by the competent authorities of Vietnam before practicing or engaging in other activities in Vietnam.
Previously, in early May 2019, the Immigration Department of Nghe An Police directly inspected this clinic and discovered many Chinese workers naturalized in Vietnam but had not been licensed to practice.
 |
| Foreign engineers introduce technology to provincial and central delegates at the MDF wood factory project. Photo: Thanh Duy |
According to the leader of the Immigration Department of the Provincial Police, since the beginning of the year, the department has coordinated with the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to inspect 10 enterprises on compliance with the provisions of the law on entry, exit, residence and work of foreign workers in Vietnam. According to the assessment, most workers come to Vietnam to work and then apply for work permits, while according to regulations, foreign workers must have work permits before coming to Vietnam to work.
As of the second quarter of 2019, there were 398 foreign workers working in 71 enterprises and 1 contractor in the province. Of these, 389 foreign workers were granted work permits. The number of foreign workers not subject to work permits was 9, mainly owners of LLCs and capital contributors of joint stock companies.
“The number of foreign workers working in Nghe An mainly comes from China, India, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. They are concentrated in localities such as Vinh City, Nghi Loc, and Quy Hop...”, said Ms. Dang Thi Phuong Thuy, Deputy Head of the Department of Employment and Labor Safety, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. According to Ms. Thuy, there are still a few foreign workers using tourist visas or business visas to enter the country to work, without completing the work permit procedures, which have been inspected, detected, and handled by the authorities.
 |
| Japanese experts learn about production at the mechanical workshop of Yabashi Vietnam Limestone Mining Company in Quy Hop district. |
Difficult to manage short-term labor
In recent years, the number of foreign workers in Nghe An has increased. The presence of foreign workers has provided high-quality human resources, contributing to improving labor productivity, promoting economic growth; creating human resources to meet the needs of foreign investors.
However, the most important goal is to contribute to training domestic and on-site human resources through osmotic interaction; creating a competitive environment, learning, and transferring science and technology between Vietnamese and foreign workers, which has not been as expected.
In reality, there are still cases where foreign employers have not seriously recruited and trained Vietnamese workers to replace foreign positions, with the aim of recruiting more foreign workers and extending the working time of foreigners.
During inspections and checks, the authorities found that the units basically complied strictly with the regulations. However, the situation of foreign workers when coming to work but not proactively learning about the regulations of Vietnamese law on management and granting permits to foreign workers, so in many cases, they came to Vietnam and then applied for work permits. Some were granted work permits but in reality, they did not work in accordance with the contents of the permit, such as incorrect workplaces or incorrect job positions.
Many units have not yet strictly complied with the reporting regime as prescribed, causing difficulties for management. Some enterprises are still passive, waiting for guidance from state management agencies when issuing work permits for foreigners.
 |
| Provincial leaders visit the operating area of Mavin AustFeed Nghe An Company Limited. Photo: Thanh Le |
According to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, there are still some enterprises employing foreign workers who have not complied with the notification of foreign workers working at the enterprise for less than 90 days accumulated in 1 year. Especially at English centers, many foreign workers after entering Vietnam, traveling to Nghe An, have started working as teachers.
However, their working time is short, while according to regulations they do not have to apply for a license. This makes it difficult for authorities to manage foreign workers working short-term in Vietnam.
"The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed that the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to find solutions to manage cases of foreign workers working in Vietnam for less than 30 days and the cumulative time does not exceed 90 days in 1 year."
According to current regulations, foreigners who are capital contributors are not subject to work permits. Taking advantage of this open policy, foreign workers who contribute from 1 to 10 million VND can apply for confirmation that they do not need a work permit. The confirmation documents are quite simple, only a passport and a certificate of capital contributor are enough. This makes it difficult to manage and evaluate records; the authorities cannot detect whether foreigners have infectious diseases or criminal records.
Therefore, according to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, it is necessary to amend the legal regulations on foreign capital contributors in the direction of having a specific level of VND 100 million or more. At the same time, in the application for confirmation that foreign workers are not subject to work permits, it is necessary to stipulate the addition of a health certificate and criminal record of each person.
Only then can we avoid foreign workers entering Vietnam to do manual labor; create strictness in management, avoid risks of people with infectious diseases, and the exploitation of international criminals.
BOX:From 2013 to 2018, authorities in Nghe An detected, fought and handled 172 cases related to the activities of foreigners in the province, of which 249 cases of foreigners involved in labor activities and working in enterprises violating the law on immigration were handled.
