Local enterprises are predicting to offer higher Tet bonuses for their employees in 2010 due to better business while most of them give a one-month salary bonus . . .

Saigon 3 Garment Joint Stock Co. will provide Tet bonuses at VND5.5-6 million, increasing by VND500,000 to VND1 million against last year, said Pham Xuan Hong, vice chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association.

Member enterprises of the association have yet to submit Tet bonus plans but they may offer satisfactory bonuses, at around a two-month salary, Hong said. The garment and textile industry failed to reach export value as expected due to the global economic meltdown but business has improved over the past six months.

Struggling firms still manage to give Tet bonuses as this is an important way to keep employees, Hong said.

Financial enterprises will also likely provide high Tet bonuses given better business this year. The bonus rate may be a four or five-month salary, said Nguyen Hoang Hai, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors.

Tong Thi Minh, head of the Labor and Wages Department of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, shared the same viewpoint of Hai given the economic recovery. However, the bonuses will be not as high as those in 2007 due to the Vietnam dong depreciation.

In HCMC, relevant departments have yet to receive Tet bonus reports from enterprises. We have urged enterprises to submit the reports soon and announce to employees, said Truong Lam Danh, deputy chairman of the city’s Labor Union.

The labor ministry has also asked that details on bonuses be made public no later than December 20 to help employees feel secure and prevent disputes before and after the Tet holiday.

VietNamNet/SGT