Supplementing a living minimum wage suitable for the new development stage

Dr. Pham Thu Lan - former Deputy Director of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions said: The 2012 Labor Code has supplemented and clarified the concept of "minimum wage (LTT)", which must ensure the minimum living standard of workers and their families.

Photo caption — Dr. Pham Thu Lan - former Deputy Director of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions proposed to add content on innovation in the method of calculating minimum wage, ensuring the implementation of a living minimum wage.

According to Ms. Lan, on the basis of the provisions of the Labor Code, in 2011, the National Wage Council (NLWC) was established. In the spirit of the provisions of the Labor Code, the NLWC has established the LTT level and calculation methods to meet the minimum living standards of workers and their families. It can be said that, up to now, the LTT level has basically met the minimum living standards.

However, the basic minimum living wage is only based on the poverty line, not the average level of society. When calculating the minimum living wage, the National Wage Council uses the database of the survey of living standards and expenditure levels of groups of households with wage earners (about 9,000 households) to calculate the minimum living wage. Such a calculation standard is no longer suitable when Vietnam enters the group of countries with upper middle income.

According to Ms. Lan, the Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasized that "Do not sacrifice fairness, progress, and social security to pursue mere growth", so it is time for us to change the concept of the minimum wage to meet the minimum living standard with the concept of "Living Wage". Of course, the "Living Wage" is to ensure a suitable standard of living during the country's development stage, not enough to live with a luxury salary.

Dr. Pham Thu Lan cited Oxfam's definition and said: "A living wage is a simple concept. It is the lowest wage paid to a full-time worker, enough to cover the basic expenses necessary for themselves and their families, including: nutritious food, suitable housing, utilities, health care, clothing, transportation and education , social relations, along with some savings for the future and unforeseen events."

The International Labour Organization (ILO) also defines "a living wage as a wage necessary to ensure an adequate standard of living for workers and their families, taking into account national conditions and achieved during standard working hours".

According to Dr. Pham Thu Lan, ILO also provides principles for calculating living wages to recommend to countries. Thus, we see that living wages by definition are also the lowest wages, not luxury wages. "Living wages completely imply that the minimum wage must be enough to live on," Ms. Lan said.

In the current context, if we continue to stipulate "the minimum wage to meet the minimum living standard", we will not be able to change the development mindset. To do that, it must be reflected in the Party and State's regulations, and first of all, it must be in the Documents of the 14th Party Congress.

Therefore, Dr. Pham Thu Lan proposed to add to the Documents of the 14th Party Congress a concept to suit the new period, which is to implement "a living minimum wage". Specifically, in the draft Political Report of the 13th Central Executive Committee at the 14th National Congress of the Party, it is necessary to add the content of assessing the implementation of a living minimum wage to meet the minimum living standard after 40 years of renovation and add the goal of implementing "a living minimum wage" in the section on viewpoints and goals for building and developing the country in the new period.

"Why is it necessary to add the word 'enough to live' in the document?", according to Ms. Lan, this helps change perception, which will lead to a change in calculation method. "If we keep the old concept, it will still be the old perception, but if we change the concept, we will change the perception and new calculation method. The new concept will no longer refer to the poverty standard but must refer to the appropriate group in society, with risk prevention and accumulation for the future," Dr. Pham Thu Lan explained.

Regarding the draft action program of the Party Central Committee, in the section on management, sustainable social development, ensuring progress and social justice, Dr. Pham Thu Lan proposed adding content on innovating the method of calculating the minimum wage, ensuring the implementation of a living minimum wage in accordance with international standards on calculation methods.

"I think that the minimum living wage is very important conceptually and leads to changes in action, especially as it contributes to improving society in the new development stage of Vietnam. At the same time, it also contributes to improving productivity and economic development," Dr. Pham Thu Lan expressed her opinion.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/bo-sung-tien-luong-toi-thieu-du-song-phu-hop-voi-giai-doan-phat-trien-moi-20251111150349986.htm