Residents complete housing and land-related procedures at the People’s Committee of District 9. In HCMC, the office hours for State agencies start at 7 a.m.

The ministry has floated two options for working hours at administrative agencies at both central and local levels.

For the first, the Government will regulate the opening and closing hours for these agencies at 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with a lunch break of 60 minutes in the revised Labor Law.

An exception will be made for agencies that must be available 24/7, especially those that work with the public.

Under the second option, the working hours will remain unchanged and will not be included in the revised Labor Law. Instead, the hours will be regulated by ministries, people’s committees and specialized agencies.

The ministry said in its proposal that the working hours of State agencies at local and central levels are not in sync.

Employees at central-level agencies start their morning shift at 8 a.m. with lunch break at noon sharp. Meanwhile, those at local offices begin at either 7 a.m. or 7:30 a.m. and lunch break start from either 11 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. They begin their afternoon shift at either 1 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. and finish at either 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.

In Hanoi, the working hours for State agencies also differ, according to the ministry. SGT