VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is collecting comments on a 2012 Labor Code revision plan in which retirement ages and work hours of local employees could rise.

According to a report presented at a review seminar on the three-year implementation of the code in Hanoi last week, the ministry proposed adjusting up retirement ages as the life expectancy of Vietnamese has risen, piling pressure on the social insurance fund. Meanwhile, there are signs that the nation is facing a shortage of manpower.

The retirement ages may be different between men and women and in different sectors. Workers with heavy and hazardous jobs could continue to retire at the age of 60 for men and 55 for women.

Professionals, managers and those in special cases can retire at higher ages but not five years more than the regulated ages.

Pham Minh Huan, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said Vietnam’s population is aging at a rapid pace, so Vietnam is considered one of the world’s fastest population aging rates.

Foreign experts said many citizens are still living in poverty and labor productivity remains low. Therefore, a retirement age adjustment is should be carefully considered, he said.

According to Huan, it is necessary to gauge the impact of the golden population structure with young people making up the largest portion of the population and aging on employment. Experiences of other countries showed that increasing retirement ages should be done in a gradual approach to avoid its negative impact on the labor market.

If National Assembly approval is forthcoming, higher retirement ages would help prevent the pension fund from default. The ministry has not decided on the issue yet, Huan added.

In fact, the ministry suggested raising retirement ages several times in the past but many, especially workers with heavy jobs, objected to the proposal.

The ministry also proposed extending work hours. The current regulations provide a legal framework to protect the health of workers and at the same time ensure business competitiveness, heard the workshop.

A survey conducted by the department showed 100% of workers interviewed refuse to work extra time as long as they are comfortable with their current wages.

In fact, many employers have been found to force their employees to work more hours than regulated, especially in the apparel and seafood processing sectors. However, large numbers of workers want extra work to earn more.

Therefore, the ministry has proposed raising work hours in a year or on either a “daily and weekly” or “daily and monthly” basis. Flexible work hours should be applicable to special sectors to suit regional working standards and help improve the investment environment.

The current law allows for eight work hours a day, or 48 hours a week. Besides, extra work does not exceed four hours a day, 30 hours a month or 200 hours a year. Special cases with extra work totaling 300 hours a year must be approved by the Government.

Many enterprises have opposed the rules, saying laborers are still poor, so they need to work overtime. This has made Vietnam’s investment environment less appealing.

SGT