Early research to reduce working hours to less than 48 hours/week

The proposal to promptly implement a reduction in working hours was put forward by the President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Nguyen Dinh Khang, at a conference reviewing the implementation of regulations on working relations between the Government and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor on the morning of May 26.

Chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Nguyen Dinh Khang

According to a summary of monitoring by the Government Office and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, out of a total of 11 tasks assigned by the Prime Minister to ministries and agencies, 2 tasks remain uncompleted. These include assessing, determining, and publishing the "minimum living standard" for workers and their families.

Mr. Khang proposed that the Government assign the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to lead the research and propose reducing normal working hours for employees to less than 48 hours/week and report to the National Assembly for consideration at an appropriate time.

The aim is to ensure fairness between working hours for employees in the state administrative sector (40 hours/week) and the business sector (48 hours/week); creating conditions for employees to rest, regenerate their labor power, take care of their children, and ensure family happiness.

Chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Nguyen Dinh Khang, proposed that the Government assign the trade union organization to coordinate with other agencies to report to the Politburo and submit to the National Assembly a plan to resolve the rights of more than 200,000 workers who are owed social insurance contributions.

Regarding this issue, according to Minister Dao Ngoc Dung, there are currently over 200,000 workers whose social insurance benefits are suspended due to business bankruptcies, dissolution, or owners absconding. To address this, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, and the Vietnam Social Insurance have coordinated and exchanged ideas on how to handle the situation.

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung proposed reporting to the National Assembly to write off social insurance debts for more than 200,000 workers.

Noting that the National Assembly had previously agreed to write off tax debts, the Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs proposed that Vietnam Social Security report to the Government to submit a request to the National Assembly to allow the write-off of the social insurance debt using surplus funds from the social insurance fund and other reserves.

"More than 200,000 workers have had their social insurance benefits 'suspended,' even though this is money contributed by the workers themselves, not paid by the State or private entities," Mr. Dung shared.

Sharing further insights on occupational safety and hygiene in light of recent tragic incidents, the Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs also stated that inspections and audits in these two areas need to be strengthened.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nghien-cuu-som-giam-gio-lam-viec-duoi-48-gio-tuan-185240526183313735.htm