Many factories in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis have been lowering staff’ weekly hours under the authorized most of 48 to provide them extra time for themselves with out compromising their earnings.
When the end-of-shift bell rings at 4 p.m. at a manufacturing unit belonging to industrial stitching machine producer Juki Vietnam in District 7’s Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone staff have 5 minutes to scrub and arrange their work space earlier than leaving.
Nguyen Thi My Linh, who has labored at Juki for 28 years, stated till a couple of years in the past her shift was the usual 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every single day besides Sunday with 70 minutes for lunch and two different breaks.
However after staff expressed issue in selecting up their kids, the administration agreed to shorten their shift by 25 minutes.
“Getting off early helps me keep away from visitors and provides me sufficient time to choose up my youngster in Nha Be District, take them house after which to District 5 for tutoring,” Linh says.
Nguyen Phuoc Dai, chairman of the corporate’s labor union, says workers additionally get two Saturdays off monthly after they stated they didn’t have sufficient weekend time with their households, which has diminished their week to lower than 44 hours.
The utmost allowed by regulation is 48 hours, not together with time beyond regulation.
Dai famous that the corporate didn’t scale back wages or earnings when it lower the work hours, and as an alternative invested in know-how and optimized manufacturing processes to make sure productiveness.
An Thien Pharmaceutical Company in Nha Be’s Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park equally used to have a 48-hour week earlier than switching to 44 hours prior to now decade.
Its director of human assets, Le Dinh Chi, says the change got here after the labor union forwarded staff’ needs for shorter hours.
“Decreasing working hours is a approach for administration to point out concern for the well-being and households of workers.”
The corporate’s 450 staff earn a median of VND13 million (US$530) monthly.
In accordance with the town Commerce Union of Industrial and Export Processing Zones, Juki and An Thien are amongst greater than 20 manufacturing companies within the metropolis’s industrial parks and EPZs which have moved away from 48-hour weeks.
Some have even diminished it to 40 or give workers three Saturdays off each month, it says.
Vu The Van, its president, says these companies’ choice to shorten the work week is commendable since it is suggested however not mandated by present rules.
Decreasing work hours can be a technique for companies to retain workers amid a rising labor scarcity within the manufacturing sector, as staff with extra time for themselves and their households are likely to really feel happier and extra motivated to stay loyal to the corporate, she says.
Concurring, Thanh Nguyen, CEO of human assets consulting agency Anphabe, says a survey by her firm discovered that time-related advantages and work preparations are the most important concern for 63% of staff whereas solely 24% of them reported being glad with their working hours.
The 2020 Labor Pressure Survey by the Common Statistics Workplace discovered that almost 41% of staff nationwide clock in 40-48 hours per week, 30.9% log 49-59 hours and seven.5% work 60 hours or extra.
