VietNamNet Bridge – Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep said Vietnamese workers that absconded illegally while working abroad were a major problem.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep

According to Diep, a massive 56 percent of Vietnamese workers that saw their contracts expire in South Korea did not return home in 2012, while this rate declined to 44 percent in 2014 after the two governments announced that those wanting to return to Vietnam would not be punished.

Tienphong News spoke to the deputy minister about the issue.

What do you think is the cause for this problem?

Participating in the labour export programme costs USD4,500 per person if they work in Taiwan and USD3,600 for Japan. Domestic labour export companies in order to win the contracts to supply labour to markets abroad often have to pay substantial amounts of money.

Vietnamese looking to work abroad have tried to make contact with export companies via brokers in order to bypass local labour export companies, but as a result, not have not only had to pay the fee to work abroad but additional fees to brokers.

What do you think when some people said the contracted wages were too low compared to market wages?

That's not exactly true. However, employers must take some responsibility too. In South Korea, some firms are willing to pay a higher wages for illegal workers because they won't have to waste time on administrative procedures, taxes and insurance.

I'm upset that employees are happy to ditch their original employer for higher wages, as this causes a lot of trouble for our diplomatic relations.

Do you have any solution to this problem?

We'll publicise the list of labour export companies and the costs each person is forced to pay to work in each country.

If these higher costs are transferred onto people wanting to work abroad we’ll have to evaluate the situation, including cases where foreign companies tendering for export labour are setting to high prices.

Companies that have too many runaway labourers will have their licence revoked. 17% of workers in Taiwan from these companies currently become illegal immigrants. We'll revoke their licences if the rate doesn't fall to 10 percent within the next two years.

The Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply has ranked export companies and given them from one to six stars. One or two-star companies will be inspected more frequently. Companies that are fined twice in a year could have their licences revoked.

DTriNews/Tienphong