On the afternoon of April 6, Mr. Tran Tien Anh (from Phu Tho) sat alone in his rented room to prepare for extra work. April 6 is a Sunday, a weekly day off for the company, but because the company has many jobs, he decided to stay and work overtime to earn more income. He will also work overtime on the night of April 7 (the day of the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day holiday).
Having a day off on Saturday and Sunday during the Hung Kings' Commemoration, Mr. Tran Tien Anh decided to leave his wife and children to return to his hometown in Phu Tho, while he still stayed in Hanoi to work part-time.
Mr. Tien Anh's basic salary is 6.6 million VND/month. With a total income of about 20 million VND/month for a job overtime and about 15 million VND/month for working just during office hours, while having to cover many expenses, this male worker always has to try to find a job to earn more income.
"After 5 years of working as a worker, I have not been able to save much, because there are many expenses to spend, especially when I have young children. I have to cover house expenses (1.2 million VND/month); raise young children; send money to grandparents in the countryside (3 - 4 million VND/month). My grandparents are old and have no income, so I have to support them every month" - the male worker born in 1998 shared.
According to the male worker's calculation, he will earn about 2 million VND from working on Sundays and Monday. "I work on Sunday and get 200% of my salary; and work on Monday (the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day holiday), I work at night and get 390% of my salary compared to normal days" - Mr. Anh said.
Although he was paid more than usual, the male worker confided that if he had a better income, during holidays like this, he would rest to take his family out, or rest with relatives, and not want to work extra during these days. But now, due to difficult circumstances, I have to try to go to work" - Mr. Anh said.
Like Mr. Anh, Mr. Phan Huu Nghia (from Phu Tho) did not return to his hometown but stayed to work part-time. "I have 3 days off for the anniversary of Hung Vuong's death in 2025. But because I get a high salary during the holidays, I try to stay and work overtime, Mr. Nghia shared.
According to Mr. Nghia, if he does not work on extra days off, the monthly salary of workers will be around 12-13 million VND; if he does work on holidays, he will receive 15-16 million VND.
As for holidays, according to his calculations, workers who stay to work overtime will receive an additional 2.3-3 million VND. This is a huge amount of money for a worker like him.
"If I return to my hometown, I can only take 3 days off, while staying and working overtime to earn millions. Therefore, if the company has more work and organizes overtime, I think many people will stay to earn more income" - Mr. Nghia said.
Article 98 of the 2019 Labor Code stipulates the salary for overtime and night work as follows:
1. Overtime workers are paid according to the unit price of salary or actual salary paid for work they are doing as follows:
a) On normal days, at least 150%;
b) On weekly days off, at least 200%;
c) On holidays, Tet, and paid holidays, at least equal to 300%, not including salary for holidays, Tet, and paid holidays for employees receiving daily salary.
2. Employees working at night will be paid an additional 30% of their salary calculated according to the unit price of salary or actual salary paid for work on a normal working day.
3. Employees who work overtime at night, in addition to paying the salary as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, are also paid an additional 20% of their salary calculated according to the unit price of salary or salary according to work during the day of a normal working day or on a weekly day off or on holidays and Tet.
4. The Government shall detail this Article.
