What will be the regulation that Tet bonus does not have to be in cash?

From January 1, 2021, the 2019 Labor Law officially takes effect, regulating many new points on Tet bonuses.

Article 103 of the 2019 Labor Code stipulates that a bonus is an amount of money or property or in other forms that an employer rewards an employee based on production and business results and the employee's level of work completion.

The bonus regulations are decided by the employer and publicly announced at the workplace after consulting with the employee representative organization at the workplace where there is an employee representative organization at the workplace.

Accordingly, from January 1, 2021, employers are allowed to reward employees not only with money but also with assets or other forms.

Mr. Bui Sy Loi, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs, said that the regulation on Tet bonuses in kind has been stipulated in the 2019 Labor Law. Thus, businesses can reward in cash or in kind.

However, the bonus must be agreed upon with the employee and agreed upon by the employee. In case the enterprise intentionally "assigns" the product, forcing the employee to receive the gift without consent, it is against the regulations.

“It is recommended that the authorities strengthen inspection and examination work, and guide businesses to comply with regulations on Tet bonuses. However, businesses should not be forced to give bonuses in cash, because there are businesses that give bonuses in kind that are valuable, practical, and highly usable for employees, which can be completely applied,” said Mr. Bui Sy Loi.

Workers should also share the burden with businesses.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Le Dinh Quang - Deputy Head of Labor Relations Department (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) said that according to current regulations of the Labor Law 2012, bonus is the amount of money the employer rewards the employee based on the business performance of the enterprise, the quality and efficiency of the employee's work.

However, at present, this regulation is no longer suitable for practice, when many businesses have many diverse and flexible forms of Tet bonuses such as bonuses in stocks, valuable assets such as cars, houses, motorbikes... Thus, if the regulation of Tet bonuses in cash is still kept, it is not suitable for practice.
Accordingly, the 2019 Labor Law, effective from January 1, 2021, stipulates that Tet bonuses can be in cash or other forms of bonuses.

Mr. Le Dinh Quang said that many workers are concerned that businesses will take advantage of this regulation to "assign" company products instead of Tet bonuses, or have "half-crying, half-laughing" forms of bonuses such as giving toilet paper or construction materials as has happened before. However, in reality, this regulation is not too worrisome.

“Tet bonus is a policy of employers to encourage employees to stick with the business, improve production and business efficiency. This is a cultural feature, with businesses that are not too difficult, they always find the most humane way to reward, reward in cash. Rewarding in kind, or company products instead of money only happens in businesses that are too difficult. This number is not much,” said Mr. Quang.

Tet bonus must be meaningful and highly usable.

According to Mr. Le Dinh Quang, in order to protect the rights of workers, the law also clearly stipulates that when developing bonus regulations, there must be participation from trade unions and it must be made public to workers.

Thus, in the case of enterprises rewarding with products instead of cash, the union needs to verify whether the enterprise is taking advantage of the law to reward products, forcing employees to consume inventory and company products. If so, the union representative needs to have a direct dialogue with the employer. In the case of enterprises that are really in difficulty, despite their efforts but still cannot reward with money, the employees should also share the burden with the enterprise.

Mr. Le Dinh Quang said that, in the context of the 2019 Labor Law taking effect, the construction of salary scales,Tet bonuses are all decided by the business itself., grassroots trade unions need to strengthen and enhance their role in protecting the legitimate and legal rights of workers.

“The union must participate substantially, not just give opinions for the sake of it. In the construction of salary scales, payrolls or bonuses, if the union does not actively participate, some employers can completely pressure workers. Therefore, the responsibility of the union is greatly increased,” Mr. Quang said.

From the business side, representatives of many business owners believe that the regulations on bonuses in cash or in kind need to be flexible, depending on the reality of each business and the needs of the employees. However, the general mentality of many employees after a year of hard work still prefers to receive Tet bonuses rather than gifts in kind, so that they can proactively spend and shop according to their needs. Enterprises that reward with products or in kind also need to base on the needs of the employees, rewarding with a sufficient amount of products.

Some people say that businesses consider gifts in kind to be just accompaniments, but bonuses are indispensable. “Tet gifts must be truly meaningful, practical, and highly usable for employees during Tet. We will still reward both cash and Tet gifts to encourage employees after a difficult year,” said Ms. Hang, a business owner./.