VietNamNet Bridge – At least 15 enterprises at industrial parks (IPs) and export processing zones (EPZs) in HCMC are unlikely to offer their employees bonuses for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday (Tet) due to financial difficulties.

The HCMC Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks Authority (Hepza) did not reveal the names of those firms but said they have around 700-800 employees.

Nguyen Vo Minh Thu, head of Hepza’s labor management division, told a news briefing last week on the performance of IPs and EPZs in the city last year and in 2015 that the authority will make a list of these employees and report it to the city government in order to find appropriate ways to support them.

Tran Cong Khanh, office manager of Hepza, said only 345 out of more than 1,000 enterprises at IPs and EPZs in the city have submitted their Tet bonus giving plans.

Hepza said domestic private firms plan the highest and lowest Tet bonuses at VND457 million (US$21,395) and VND2.86 million per employee.

Foreign-invested firms reported the highest bonus at VND204.5 million and the lowest at VND3 million while the respective figures at firms having State stakes are VND64 million and VND2.9 million respectively.

According to Hepza, the labor unions of the remaining 745 firms that have yet to submit Tet bonus plans will work toward ensuring at least one month of wage would be given to each of the laborers for the biggest holiday of Vietnam.

Hepza has also cooperated with relevant agencies to support workers during Tet by giving them train and bus tickets for their trips back to their hometowns for family reunion and gifts, and organizing spring festivals for them.

In particular, 6,000 tickets have been secured for workers to travel back to their hometowns in Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, and localities from Phu Yen to Hanoi, plus gifts worth VND150,000 each.

Unilever Vietnam International Co. Ltd. will offer 3,500 Tet tickets and gift packages worth VND200,000 each for laborers who are coping with financial difficulties and have not been able to return home for years.

Last year, 274,250 employees worked at the city’s IPs and EPZs, rising by more than 3,330 against 2013.

SGT