When will the regional minimum wage increase in 2024?

At the first session of the National Wage Council four months ago, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) proposed a 5% annual increase in the regional minimum wage. However, to date, the VGCL has not yet reached an agreement on the proposed regional minimum wage increase.

Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Ngo Duy Hieu said: "Up to now or in the future, we have not agreed or discussed how much the regional minimum wage increase proposed by the General Confederation is. At each point in time, based on the socio-economic situation, business health, and workers' wishes, the General Confederation will calculate different minimum wage increases."

This content will continue to be evaluated more carefully by labor representatives based on the picture of the Vietnamese and world economies, especially the "health" of enterprises, to have appropriate proposals in the upcoming negotiation sessions of the National Wage Council.

"We determine that salary negotiations must be the most focused. Because when workers go to work, they must have enough salary to ensure their lives," said Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu.

The decision to increase the regional minimum wage in 2024 is difficult, due to the difficult economic trend, businesses lacking orders, and the situation of underemployment and unemployment may still increase. Meanwhile, the lives of workers are not easy due to reduced income due to lack of work. If the salary is not increased, it will be difficult to meet the living standards in the context of inflation and the basic salary of the State sector and pensions have increased since last July.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Le Dinh Quang, Deputy Head of the Policy and Law Department (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) and also a member of the National Wage Council, predicted that this December, the Council will meet again to continue discussing, but he also affirmed that the proposed level of the organization representing the workers will be discussed and reviewed accordingly.

From a personal perspective, Mr. Le Dinh Quang said that, with the current situation, the regional minimum wage is unlikely to increase in early 2024, because, according to the regulations on drafting legal documents, after the National Wage Council "finalizes" the proposed level, the parties must draft a decree regulating the minimum wage for employees working under labor contracts and submit it to the Government for consideration before promulgation.

“There will be a delay from policy to implementation. But I think the increase from July 1, 2024 will be reasonable because at this time, salary reform will also be implemented according to job positions in the State, administrative and public service sectors,” said Mr. Le Dinh Quang.

To ensure the living conditions of workers, in the coming time, the union will increase dialogue and negotiation on wages. “For a long time, our negotiations have not been good, so we often rely on adjusting the minimum wage to increase wages for businesses to increase wages accordingly. Many businesses have wages that are only slightly higher than the regional minimum wage,” said Mr. Le Dinh Quang.