Mobilizing workers to return home on time

(Baonghean) - Nghe An is one of the leading provinces in the country in terms of the number of workers whose contracts have expired but do not return home on time, staying illegally in Korea. Recently, our province has made many efforts to mobilize these workers to return home, in order to restore this high-income labor market...

Nghe An started sending workers to work in Korea under the EPS Program since 2005. According to statistics, up to now, the whole province has nearly 5,500 workers going to work in Korea. From 2007 to 2012, on average, the whole province had 500 - 700 workers selected and sent to work by Korean enterprises every year. Notably, in 2011 alone, the whole province had 2,307 people going to work in Korea. The monthly salary is from 1,000 - 1,500 USD/person. This is a significant source of income for workers and families with workers in Korea, helping them improve their daily lives, cover living expenses, contribute to job creation, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, legitimate enrichment and increase foreign currency revenue for the province.

Workers listen to advice on exporting labor to Korea at Nghe An Employment Service Center.

However, since the end of 2010, a situation has arisen where Vietnamese workers, after their contracts have expired, have not returned home but have stayed to work and reside illegally in Korea. Nghe An is one of the top 5 provinces in the country with the number of workers whose contracts have expired but have not returned home on time but have stayed illegally in Korea, along with Nam Dinh, Bac Giang, Ha Tinh, Phu Tho, causing the Korean side to stop implementing the agreement to send Vietnamese workers to Korea from August 2012 to December 2013. This not only affects the image of Vietnamese workers, but also affects the province's job creation and labor export work, affecting the rights of the people. As a result, 2,075 workers who passed the Korean language test, including more than 200 workers in poor districts according to Resolution 30a of the Government, have to wait for the opportunity to leave the country.

Workers listen to information about labor regulations in Korea at Nghe An Employment Service Center.

According to Mr. Dang Cao Thang - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Korea is a high-income labor market, so many workers do not want to return home after their contracts expire but continue to work illegally. These workers only care about their personal interests, not the common interests of the country and the community. In the face of this situation, in recent years, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue directive documents on this work, requiring localities to focus on reviewing and counting the subjects who are required to return home and are about to return; actively propagandizing, mobilizing, and coordinating with relatives of workers to call on their children to return home on time; determined in signing a commitment to determine the responsibilities of the families of workers going to work in Korea... Thanks to that, the rate of illegal residence of Nghe An workers decreased from 74% in 2011 to 71.3% in 2012 and to 45.68% in 2013. Specifically, in 2012, 234/788 workers were mobilized to return home on time (29.7%); in 2013, 603 workers were mobilized to return home on time out of a total of 1,110 workers who had to return home (44.32%). By the end of 2013, the number of workers whose contracts had expired but did not return home, stayed to work and resided illegally decreased to only 507 workers/1,110 workers (45.68%)".

Nghi Loc is one of the districts with a large number of workers whose contracts have expired and are staying in Korea. Mr. Tran Huu Lam - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee said: "In 2 years (2012 - 2013), the district had more than 2,600 people going to work abroad, of which nearly 300 went to work in the Korean market. As of 2013, in the district, there were still 82/147 workers staying illegally in Korea after their labor contracts expired, accounting for 55.8%. To reduce the number of these subjects, in recent times, the district has actively implemented many synchronous solutions, focusing on promoting propaganda and dissemination of policies of Korea and Vietnam for workers whose contracts have expired and voluntarily return home; organizing the signing of responsibility commitments, coordinating with relatives of workers to mobilize and call on their children to return home; regularly posting publicly the list of illegal workers and workers whose contracts are about to expire in Korea at cultural houses of residential areas and announcing on the system. Broadcast from district to commune; include in the criteria for classifying cultural families and other emulation titles".

Mr. Nguyen Duc Thinh in Hamlet 2, Nghi Hop Commune - father of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nhon (born in 1984) who is working in Korea said: "In a few months, my son's labor contract in Korea will expire. With the encouragement of mass organizations and hamlet officials, given the benefits and difficulties he will face if he continues to stay after the expiration of his contract, I will encourage my son to return home on time."

The number of workers sent to work abroad in Vinh City is 1,014, of which 209 went to work in Korea. By 2013, Vinh City had 60 workers staying in Korea out of 145 whose contracts had expired. In 2014, 20 workers had to return home. In order to limit the situation of illegal workers residing in the neighboring country, in addition to organizing commitment signing, propaganda, mobilization, and emulation evaluation, the city focused on directing the police of wards and communes to join in; strictly managing the personnel, household registration and the number of exported workers returning to the locality; requiring the staff of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to closely coordinate with the relatives of the workers in mobilizing their children to return home on time. Therefore, in 2013, Vinh City mobilized 85 workers to return home and in the first months of 2014, there were 2 people.

Returning home after more than 4 years working in Korea, two workers in Vinh City, Ho Van Sy (born 1987) in Hamlet 13B, Nghi Kim Commune and Nguyen Huu Dong (born 1987) in Block 8, Trung Do Ward, saved nearly 1 billion VND. The two men said that with their professional job as mechanics, the average monthly salary, after deducting all expenses, each person can save from 800 - 1,000 USD/month. “When my contract was about to end, most of my friends in Korea advised me to stay, try for a few more years and then return home. I had to struggle mentally for a long time before deciding to return. Money is really needed, but violating the law will greatly affect my honor and that of my family. If we return home, we still have the opportunity to return to Korea to work; if not, with the accumulated capital, I can open a mechanical workshop at home. With the work experience there, if I work hard, it will also bring me a stable income,” said Nguyen Huu Dong.

With the efforts of the province as well as the whole country to reduce the number of workers whose contracts have expired and who have returned home on time in the past time, at the end of December 2013, the Korean side agreed to sign a special memorandum of understanding on sending and receiving Vietnamese workers to work in Korea under the EPS Program with a term until November 2014. Accordingly, 2,075 workers of the province who passed the Korean language proficiency test in 2011 and 2012, workers of poor districts who went to work in the fields of agriculture and fisheries and workers who returned home on time and passed the Korean language test will have the opportunity to be recruited by the Korean side. Currently, 1,702 workers have completed their profiles and 50 workers of the province have been selected by Korean enterprises. This is a good sign for the labor export work of the province in general and for workers in particular.

In 2014, 3,594 Vietnamese workers whose labor contracts in Korea expired had to return home, of which Nghe An alone had 173 people, accounting for 4.8% of the country. The most numerous were in the districts: Quynh Luu, Vinh City (20 people), Hung Nguyen (16 people), Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Cua Lo Town (15 people), Thanh Chuong (14 people), Dien Chau, Do Luong (12 people)... To minimize the rate of workers whose labor contracts expired but did not return home, stayed to work and reside illegally, in the coming time, the province will continue to strengthen extensive propaganda work on mass media to inform the people and workers about the Party's policies and the State's laws on labor export activities, especially for workers going to work in Korea; Strictly handle violations in the field of sending workers to work in Korea under the EPS Program; Seriously implement Decision No. 1465/QD-TTg dated August 21, 2013 of the Prime Minister on depositing for workers working in Korea under the EPS Program.

Accordingly, before going to work in Korea, workers must deposit a minimum of 100 million VND to ensure the performance of the labor contract; the deposit period is 5 years and 4 months; Continue to sign a commitment to determine the responsibilities of the family of the worker going to work in Korea; Include the target of mobilizing workers to return home on time in the emulation ranking for the People's Committees of communes, wards and towns of the locality.

Hopefully, with these solutions, and the active participation of the entire political system, the situation of workers who have come to Korea to work and whose contracts are about to expire and then illegally stay in Korea will be reduced.

Article and photos:Minh Quan