VietNamNet Bridge – The highest Lunar New Year (Tet) bonus for a company employee is VND1 billion (US$44,289), according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Garment factory employees are at work. The highest Lunar New Year (Tet) bonus for a company employee is VND1 billion (US$44,289) – Photo: Thanh Hoa/SGT

At a news briefing on Monday, 83.5% of the enterprises in the country have plans to give Tet bonuses equivalent to one month’s pay, or VND4.9 million (US$217) per person, down from VND5.1 million last year.

VND1 billion is the highest bonus, which a private company based in HCMC will give to a staff member. Last year the biggest bonus was VND624 million, which a foreign-invested enterprise in the northern province of Hai Duong gave to an employee. Meanwhile, a private firm in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre has registered to offer a bonus of VND50,000 for each of its employees, the lowest in the country.

As for New Year bonuses, the labor ministry said 70% of the enterprises paid VND1.2 million for each employee on average, a rise of 6.2% compared to VND1.18 million last year.

The highest bonus, VND1 billion, was offered by a foreign-invested company in HCMC and the lowest, VND30,000, at a foreign firm in Thanh Hoa Province.

A ministry survey of 2,000 large enterprises in 18 major cities and provinces last year showed employees’ wages and incomes stabilized or rose against 2015.

The 2016 average wage was VND5.71 million per person, up 7.5% year-on-year. In particular, the average monthly wage at wholly State-owned enterprises was VND7.08 million, followed by joint-stock companies where the State has stakes with VND6 million, private firms with VND5.47 million, and foreign companies with VND5.69 million.

The average income last year was estimated at VND6.03 million, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%. Staff’s incomes at the respective enterprises were VND7.75 million, VND6.48 million, VND6.04 million, and VND5.7 million per month per person.

SGT