The President's gifts will reach people before Tet

In the program "People ask - Minister answers" on the evening of January 25, the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs affirmed that the President's gifts will reach people before Tet.

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen in the program "People ask - Ministers answer" on the evening of January 25. Screenshot

I would like to forward to the Minister an issue that millions of poor households are concerned about. A citizen sent a letter asking: The State's attention to poor households and policy households during Tet is very humane. But in reality, last year, we had to wait until after Tet to receive gifts from the locality. I would like to ask the Minister, this year, how will the locality implement the State's Tet gift giving program so that we can receive the State's attention before Tet?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen:Up to this point, the President has decided to give Tet gifts to those with meritorious services at two levels, 400,000 VND and 200,000 VND, depending on the recipient.

On that basis, we guide localities and localities to plan their budget allocation from the beginning of the year. This January, many units have started to implement the Tet gift giving. In particular, some localities, for example Hanoi, have set aside over 200 billion VND to prepare Tet for people with meritorious services.

For the poor, in the immediate future, the Government directs localities to review and grasp the subjects, classify them and ensure that all people have Tet.

In 2014, some localities were slow in giving Tet gifts to people. However, this year, the President's gifts will certainly reach people before Tet.

Regarding the two rice subsidies (including support for people to celebrate Tet and during the lean season), some localities may reserve the lean season subsidy to be distributed after Tet. In addition, some businesses also provide support close to Tet.

Learning from these reflections, we have directed localities to be more proactive. Once they have received Tet gifts, they must by all means deliver them to their compatriots in time for Tet.

Dear Minister, a group of workers in Binh Duong shared that after 1 year of working, by the end of January, they still had not received any information about Tet bonuses from their company. They would like to ask the Minister how are the authorities monitoring to ensure adequate salary and bonus levels for workers?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen:With the responsibility of the State management agency in the field of wages, we have directed the industrial zones to grasp the situation of Tet bonuses for workers. In addition, based on reports from localities, this year's Tet bonus increased by 15% compared to last year (over 80% of enterprises have given 2015 New Year bonuses to workers, at about 1.5 million VND/person).

On the occasion of the upcoming traditional Tet holiday, most units have plans for Tet bonuses. However, many businesses have not yet given specific bonus levels.

There may also be some businesses that are still facing difficulties and have not yet given Tet bonuses. We will continue to review and in the spirit that if a business does not give Tet bonuses, we suggest reporting to the local authorities to support the workers.

One thing to add is that according to the law, the Tet bonus is not a mandatory amount, it is an incentive. However, most businesses, when doing well, have a specific plan.

Another issue is that the company's contract with its employees includes a salary and bonus plan. Employees have the right to monitor the implementation of that plan and that plan is made public at the workplace. If there is no information at this point, the employee should first check to see if there is a bonus in the contract signed at the beginning of the year and if that bonus is made public at the workplace.

If there is a regulation but it has not been implemented, it is necessary to report to the Trade Union to urge the business owner to implement it. If the regulation has been in place since the beginning of the year but the business owner has not implemented it, it is necessary to report to the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs or the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs of the locality where the business is located, so that there is a basis for intervention in accordance with the regulations of the business regarding the issue of salary and bonuses in the contract with employees.

Another issue is that in early December 2014, some women who went to work as domestic helpers in some Middle Eastern countries reported that they were mistreated in their host countries and had to pay a sum of money to be able to break their contracts and return home. Minister, how has the Ministry handled these complaints so far?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen:First of all, I have to say that the Middle East is a very good market. We have about 16,000 workers here, including 4,000 female domestic workers.

Through the recent reflection, we have checked and found that there is a problem that in the regulations when sending workers abroad, enterprises must clearly state about that labor market; must instruct workers clearly about the customs and practices of the labor receiving country and the "hard" regulations in the labor contract between the worker and the employer.

The Middle East has its own characteristics and Arabic is very necessary. However, recently, there have been companies that sent workers here but did not prepare them well for the situation, requirements of the workplace, customs, living conditions, and language. Therefore, some women who arrived there could not integrate and returned home on their own.

According to regulations, enterprises must send their staff in the area to send workers there to coordinate with the Embassy to protect the rights of workers under the contract. Recently, along with removing difficulties for workers due to poor understanding of the market, unable to integrate and having to return, the labor management representative of the Ministry and the Embassy has coordinated with businesses to work together and related issues have also been resolved.

Regarding the Ministry's responsibility, along with allowing businesses to operate, we have inspected and considered suspending a number of businesses that do not comply with regulations.

Dear Minister, in the new year, could you please talk about the orientation of labor export markets so that people know?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen:In 2015, the labor export market had some positive signs. Firstly, in addition to low-skilled labor such as domestic helpers in Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea, in 2015, we can export highly skilled labor to Japan and Germany (such as nurses, midwives, and some technical occupations). In 2014, a new point was that we exported nearly 20,000 qualified and professional laborers.

In addition, in the Thai market, we have not had an official contract to protect the rights of workers, although there are many workers from border provinces working there. This year, the two governments agreed to assign the relevant agencies of both sides to sign an official contract. If this is achieved, the target of exporting 100,000 workers in 2015 is very promising.

According to chinhphu.vn