Minimum wage asked to remain unchanged

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has recommended the minimum wage should stay the same this year as in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In documents sent to agencies for proposals on the regional minimum wage to report to the Government, the ministry said the National Wage Council agreed not to increase the minimum wage this year.

In 2020, about 101,700 enterprises had to temporarily suspend their operations, shut down or wait for dissolution procedures, up 13.9 per cent compared to 2019, according to the General Statistics Office.

The unemployment rate was 2.48 per cent, 0.31 per cent higher than that of 2019.

The number of workers aged 15 and over was 53.4 million, a decrease of 1.26 million people compared to 2019.

The average income of workers was at VNĐ6.62 million (US$287.42) per month, a slight decrease compared to 2019.

According to the council, with the CPI increase of 3.23 per cent in 2020, the regional minimum wage was actually higher than minimum living conditions by 2.28 per cent.

So workers could maintain a minimum standard of living with current wages.

The ministry also said that the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be complex in Việt Nam and abroad.

It is impossible to predict when COVID-19 will end and the extent of its impacts on the domestic socio-economic situation to the end of 2021.

The ministry believes it is not time to adjust the minimum wage this year to help businesses recover and enable workers to keep their jobs in the context of the pandemic.

Adjustments to the minimum wage could be considered on January 1, 2022, the ministry said.

As a result, the minimum monthly wage for workers in Region I, which covers Hà Nội and HCM City’s urban areas, is set to remain at VNĐ4.42 million ($191.77), while that of those in Region II – covering Hà Nội and HCM City’s rural areas, along with major urban areas in the country like Cần Thơ, Đà Nẵng and Hải Phòng – will be VNĐ3.92 million.

Workers in Region III, or provincial cities and the districts of Bắc Ninh, Bắc Giang and Hải Dương provinces, will earn at least VNĐ3.43 million a month, while those in Region IV, or the rest of the country, will receive a minimum of VNĐ3.07 million. — VNS