Types of Tet bonuses that make you laugh until you cry

Many companies reward customers with rice, fish sauce, and even block calendars after slow sales. When receiving gifts, many people worry about giving them away or selling them.

Mr. Huy, who works for a furniture company in Ba Dinh (Hanoi), just received a Tet bonus of 5 liters of fish sauce. According to him, the family of a company leader owns a fish sauce factory, so they can use their homegrown products as gifts for employees.

As an interior designer, due to the large number of customers making Tet products, for the past few months he has had to do loading, unloading, and assembly work, even on holidays, without a raise or overtime pay. Now that he has received Tet gifts, Huy plans to bring them home to share with several families in his family. "We don't know when we will finish 5 liters of fish sauce," said this employee.

Having worked for more than 6 years at a large construction company in Hai Ba Trung district, Mr. Dung said that last year he received a Lunar New Year bonus of 500,000 VND. This year, he was even sadder when he received a physical reward of 5 kg of rice and 1 kg of sticky rice, along with a message from the leader to share his difficulties.

Some businesses reward their employees with several kilos of rice. Photo: DDDN

However, looking back, Mr. Dung still feels lucky because in 2013, the company cut staff by 10-15%, and in his department alone, two people had to quit. "Anyway, if the company can do business, employees like me can expect high salaries and bonuses. But with the current situation, work is slow, projects are completed but no money is collected, and we have to worry about paying salaries to so many employees, so it is difficult to arrange for Tet bonuses," he said.

Recently, employees of a company in Ho Chi Minh City received Tet bonuses in chili sauce, while another company in Hanoi gave away toilet paper. There are even some "weird" bonuses that make employees rush to find ways to liquidate them.

Ms. Thuy, who works at a printing company, said she received her Lunar New Year bonus earlier than usual, but it was also more awkward because it was all block calendars. About a week before the New Year, the leader announced that due to high production and slow sales, the employees would be given a bonus of 8 block calendars.

"It was close to New Year's Eve, so I sold it for a few hundred thousand, and gave the rest to my relatives. This was a bonus for both holidays, so I won't get anything else from now until Lunar New Year," said Ms. Thuy.

Although the gifts were small, the above employees were still luckier than many others. Ms. Thuong, who works for an electronic components distribution company, said that not only did she not receive a bonus, but her salary was also withheld until after Tet. To have money to cover Tet expenses, she and her husband had to borrow 5 million VND from acquaintances.

A leader of the Hanoi Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs also said that usually only units that give Tet bonuses are willing to report. There are many other businesses that do not give bonuses or give bonuses in kind, so the Department cannot update the situation. However, he said that the number of units that give bonuses in kind is not rare.

"I think there is a story about bonuses in the form of unsold goods in the company. However, it is true that in a difficult context, it is difficult to handle businesses without profits," he said.

Previously, according to a report by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the person with the highest bonus at an FDI enterprise in Ho Chi Minh City received about 709 million VND, an increase of 9.2% compared to the highest Lunar New Year bonus in 2013 (650 million VND).

The Ministry's leaders also said that according to the summary of data from enterprises reporting that they had Lunar New Year bonuses, the average increase was about 20% compared to last year. However, there are 420 enterprises nationwide that do not give Lunar New Year bonuses to their employees. The number of employees in these enterprises is about 118,000 people.

According to vnexrpess