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Tet bonuses in the belt-tightening period
A lot of businesses have thought of reducing Tet bonuses for their staffs to cut expenses in the difficult period. Even foreign-invested enterprises’ pockets won’t be as deep this year.
Early Tet bonuses
Nguyen Van Viet, a worker of Toan My Company Ltd, a packing producer in the southern province of Long An, related that last year he got a bonus equal to one-month’s salary, VND3mil.
He said that he has got VND700,000 for a Tet bonus this year, while other allowances have been cut.
Also last year, after getting early Tet bonuses, a lot of workers of the company also got a two-month’s salary bonus, severance allowances.
Dang Thi Bich Phuong, Director of Toan My Company, said that she knows most workers expect Tet bonuses to help them cover subsistence expenses or remit to their families in their home villages. However, Toan My has experienced a very difficult year in 2008.
Nguyen Minh Tuan, who works for a private-run plastics company in district 8, HCM City, said that last year he got VND5mil for a Tet bonus, while he just got VND500,000 this year. “With such a small sum of money, how can we celebrate Tet?” he asked.
According to Dr Cao Sy Kiem, Chairman of the Vietnam Small- and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs) Association, a lot of SMEs have been facing big difficulties, which are forecast to last until the end of 2009. Therefore, businesses will have to seriously think about whether or not to give Tet bonuses.
2009 Tet bonuses will be the same as 2008’s?
The chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) said that despite the big difficulties, Vinatex will try to maintain the same Tet bonuses for this year as it gave last year.
The labourers working in the enterprises belonging to Vinatex will receive Tet bonuses equal to 1-2 month’s salaries. An said that enterprises have to maintain suitable Tet bonuses if they want to retain labourers.
Service companies also say that they will try to maintain the same bonuses this year as last year. Nguyen Phuc Thai, General Director of Information Communication Networks (Incombet), said that the company has not made a final decision on Tet bonuses; however, the company intends to give one-month salary bonuses and allowances, the same as in 2008.
Finance & banking enterprises always give the largest bonuses. However, this year most of these enterprises plan to cut bonuses by 40-60%. A representative of a joint-stock bank in HCM City said that big difficulties still exist, and that the bank’s business plan will not likely be fulfilled.
Another bank reportedly got the high growth rate of 40% in 2008, but still has decided to cut bonuses by 60%. The bank anticipates that the biggest difficulties are still ahead, and that it needs to be well prepared for this.
Dang Thi Oanh, Human Resources Director of An Binh Bank, said that on 2008 Tet, besides the 13th month salary, every staff also received 1-5-month’s salaries. However, the 2009 Tet bonus is expected to be just 40% of the 2008 Tet level.
Oanh said that difficulties have hit every business in the national economy, not An Binh bank alone. Oanh added that the bank is still awaiting the final business results so that it can set the highest possible bonus levels for it staffs.
Than Thanh Vu, Chairman of PhuQuocland, specialing in real estate and tourism services, said that the company plans to have 2009 Tet bonuses be the same as 2008’s. Vu said that the company would rather get lower profit than have to move heaven and earth after Tet to seek employees.
The Tet bonuses in foreign-invested enterprises will not be much higher. Nguyen Hoai Nam, General Director of Berjaya Vietnam, said that as difficulties are forecast to last for a long period, Berjaya has been trying to cut expenses, and plans to give only a 13th-month salary as a Tet bonus.
According to Nguyen Thanh Gia, Head of the Finance & Economics Committee under the HCM City Labour Union, on 2008 Tet, every labourer working in foreign-invested enterprises in the city got VND1.6mil on average for a Tet bonus. Some enterprises gave hundreds of million VND to outstanding staffs. However, no enterprise has declared record Tet bonuses so far for this year.
Pham Minh Huan, Director of the Salary and Wage Department under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), on December 14 said that local departments had not made reports about Tet bonuses, while in previous years, the reports were always in by that time.
Huan said that MOLISA has asked local departments to report 2009 New Year and Tet bonuses, and told enterprises to submit their reports to local MOLISA departments prior to December 20, 2008.
Tien phong
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