Vietnam wage council suggests hiking min wages by $14.1-18.9 next year

Vietnam’s National Wage Council has achieved a consensus that it will appeal to the government to raise the current minimum wages by VND300,000-400,000 ($14.1-18.9), depending on each region, in 2015.

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The 15-member council convened a meeting on Wednesday to vote on one of the two proposals for hiking the minimum wages for four zones of the country.

With a vote of 64.3 percent, the council’s members chose the proposal with those minimum wage increases, which were put forward by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

The other proposal, prepared by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL), wants each of the four new minimum wage rates to be VND100,000 ($4.72) higher than the counterpart proposed by the VCCI.

On average the new minimal wages are 15 percent higher than the current minimum wages, said Pham Minh Huan, the council’s chairman, who is also Minister of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs.

Vietnamese authorities divide the country into four zones when it comes to minimum wages.

Zone 1 covers the urban parts of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; Zone 2 is applicable to the rural areas of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City along with the urban sections of Can Tho City, Da Nang City and Hai Phong City; Zone 3 comprises province-level cities and the districts of Bac Ninh Province, Bac Giang Province, Hai Duong Province, and Vinh Phuc Province; and Zone 4 consists of the remaining localities.

Currently, the minimum wage for Zones 1, 2, 3 and 4 is VND1.9 million ($89.5), VND2.1 million ($98.9), VND2.4 million ($113), and VND2.7 million ($127.2), respectively, according to Government Decree 182.

If the proposal is approved by the government, the new minimum wage rates for the four zones will respectively be VND3.1 million ($146.3), VND2.75 million ($129.8), VND2.42 million ($114.2) and VND2.2 million ($103.8).

According to Mai Duc Chinh, deputy chairman of the VGCL, the current minimum wages can only pay for about 75 percent of the respective minimum living costs.

A recent survey by the VGCL’s Institute for Workers and Trade Unions also shows that the current minimum wage in Vietnam can cover merely two-thirds of the minimal living cost.

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