Regional minimum wage increase 2019: Businesses want to delay
Most businesses believe that the regional minimum wage should not be adjusted in 2019.
This afternoon (July 9), the National Wage Council held its first meeting. Speaking before the negotiation, Mr. Hoang Quang Phong, Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said: “We have had a working session with domestic and foreign business associations to gather opinions, and we will express our views based on that basis. Most of the opinions of business associations believe that the regional minimum wage should not be adjusted in 2019. We will discuss further with other members of the council to reach a final conclusion.”
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| The National Wage Council held its first meeting. |
Explaining the opinion that the minimum wage should not be adjusted this year, Mr. Hoang Quang Phong said that it is necessary to create conditions for businesses to improve their business performance, use funds, if any, to serve vocational training for workers, and increase labor productivity.
Speaking at the opening of the first session, Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Chairman of the National Wage Council Doan Mau Diep emphasized that according to Resolution 27 that has just been issued, the spirit of wage reform will move towards the State not intervening in the wage policy of enterprises, promoting the negotiation mechanism between employers and employees.
“From now until 2020, the regional minimum wage will continue to be adjusted to meet the minimum living standard. The minimum wage needs to target the group of workers with the lowest wages in the labor market and depends heavily on factors such as GDP, labor productivity, wages in the labor market, the ability of businesses to pay... to be included in minimum wage negotiations,” said Mr. Diep.
As planned, the first negotiation session of the National Wage Council will spend time listening to the results of a survey on workers' living conditions conducted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, and the impact of the 2018 minimum wage on production and business costs of enterprises.
The parties will also receive comments from the technical group of the National Wage Council reporting on the implementation of the 2018 minimum wage and determining the minimum living standards of workers and their families.
Finally, the Council will receive comments from the parties on the 2019 regional minimum wage proposal../.