Directive No. 16/CT-TTg 2021 ensuring employment and improving working conditions for workers

DIRECTIVE

On ensuring sustainable employment and improving living standards and working conditions for workers

Over the past years, the Party and State have directed creation of positive changes in sustainable employment and improvement of working conditions and living standards for workers. Compared to five years ago, the number of employed workers has increased by 26 percent, with those being stably employed and earning higher income increasing year after year; living standards of workers have been improved; greater attention has been paid to working conditions and occupational health; basic international labor standards have been widely applied at enterprises. However, not a few workers remain employed with unstable and improper jobs, working conditions at many enterprises and living standards of their employers have not been improved, even remaining poor at some enterprises. Specifically, the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously affected enterprises’ production and business activities and therefore adversely impacted living standards and stable employment of workers, especially those engaged in simple jobs.

In order to further effectively implement the Party’s and State’s guidelines, plans, policies, tasks and solutions to ensure stable employment and improve working conditions and living standards for workers in the new situation, the Prime Minister requests:

1. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees:

a/ To focus on directing the review and intensification of the performance of tasks on ensuring stable employment and improving living standards and working conditions for workers as directed by the Government and Prime Minister; and expeditiously formulate specific programs and plans, and mobilize all resources, for implementation thereof; to regularly assess actual implementation  and implementation results, and proactively address arising problems within the ambit of their competence; to report to and assist the Government and Prime Minister in considering and addressing issues falling beyond their competence; to propose new, effective and feasible mechanisms, policies and solutions to ensure stable employment and improve living standards and working conditions for workers.

b/ To continue directing the vigorous renovation of the real economic growth model in their localities in compatibility with the overall socio-economic growth model; to mobilize, allocate and effectively use all resources to create a driving force for rapid and sustainable development of economic sectors; to ensure linkage among areas, regions, economic sectors, and types of production and trade in order to help enterprises sustain their operation and develop, thus increasing their labor productivity.

c/ To effectively implement trade agreements, especially new-generation free trade agreements (CPTPP, EVFTA, RCEP…) under terms and conditions which Vietnam has signed; to continue reviewing legal documents and translating international labor standards into domestic regulations in order to provide better rights to and create better working conditions for workers.

d/ To plan, allocate and mobilize financial resources for investing in development of social infrastructure facilities and services serving production, daily life, learning needs and entertainment of workers and their families; To intensify measures to ensure security, safety and environmental sanitation at workers’ residential and working places; to take measures to prevent workers from participating in “black credit”-related borrowing, lending and debt collection activities, and propose microcredit policies to support workers.

dd/ To proactively formulate and revise housing development  master plans, programs and plans under regulations, to include norms of development of social houses, particularly houses and culture-sports facilities for workers in industrial parks and export processing zones, in their five-year socio-economic development plans; to focus on implementing solutions to remove difficulties in housing development for workers in industrial parks.

e/ To expeditiously develop the “industrial park-urban center-service provision” model comprehensively associated with the development of residential areas and infrastructure facilities, thus meeting personal needs of workers in industrial parks, including also experts and high-quality workers.

g/ To focus on effectively implementing measures for the pandemic prevention and control, especially in industrial parks, export processing zones and labor-intensive workplaces; to share difficulties with and support workers in mitigating adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic; to ensure social welfare and help workers and enterprises overcome difficulties, and rehabilitate their production and trade activities, and stabilize employment.

2. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs

a/ To continue studying and improving policies and laws on labor, employment, wages, social insurance, occupational safety and health based on results of the review and evaluation of practical observance of laws in the aforesaid sectors, particularly in industrial parks and export processing zones; to grasp actual labor and employment crises due to the Covid-19 pandemic for synchronous supplementation, modification and improvement of mechanisms and policies on labor, employment, wages, social insurance, occupational safety and health; to provide advices on reduction of normal working hours as suitable to the practical socio-economic development; to focus on revising the list of heavy, hazardous, and dangerous occupations and jobs and list of particularly heavy, hazardous and dangerous occupations and jobs.

b/ To focus on implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 176/QD-TTg of February 5, 2021, on the labor market development support program through 2030 in a timely and efficient manner, attaching importance to stepping up the building of the system of indices and evaluation of the labor and employment market and income growth; to improve the labor market information system to serve as a basis for matching labor supply and demand, ensuring the supply of workers meeting enterprises’ demands and promptly provide information on the labor market in order to assist workers in getting employed and place jobs for them, and at the same time, set orientations for training of skilled human resources based on practical demands of the labor market.

c/ To intensify the inspection and examination of the observation of laws on labor, employment, wages, social insurance, and occupational safety and health, ensuring legitimate rights and interests of workers.

d/ To step up the implementation of measures to renew and develop the vocational training system in an open, diverse, flexible, permeable and modern manner, with various models, methods and levels of training, thus meeting workers’ learning needs; to attach greater importance to training human resources with high professional qualifications and skills to meet requirements of the Industry 4.0; to link and mobilize enterprises to participate in vocational education for workers in association with creating more jobs for them; and at the same time, to meet the demand for transfer of workers among the ASEAN countries.

dd/ To expeditiously finalize and submit to competent authorities for enactment support policies for workers and enterprises to surmount impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and promptly organize the implementation of such policies to ensure stability of labor and employment, thereby effectively maintaining the dual target of prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic and economic development; to formulate training programs to improve professional skills of workers in order to adapt to changing conditions and circustances during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training

a/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in, directing education departments at all levels in guiding and creating favorable conditions for vocational education institutions to provide continuing education at the upper-secondary level to pupils graduating from lower-secondary schools for streaming, ensuring that those pupils can receive both vocational education and general education at vocational education institutions, especially children of workers.

b/ To improve mechanisms and policies to attract enterprise managers and public entities to invest in building early childhood and general education institutions in industrial parks, export processing zones and labor-intensive workplaces.

4. The Ministry of Planning and Investment

To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with provincial-level People’s Committees in, attracting and selecting investors that possess modern technologies, have good administration experience and social responsibilites, and truly care about and respect laborers and workers; to mobilize and balance funds for quickly forming trade union institutions under the Prime Minister’s Decisions No. 655/QD-TTg dated May 12, 2017, and No. 1729/QD-TTg dated November 4, 2020.

5. The Ministry of Finance

To assume the prime responsibility for summing up needs for and allocating funds to cover regular expenditures for implementing programs and projects on ensuring stable employment and improving working conditions and living standards of workers in accordance with the law on the state budget and annual budget-balancing capacity before submitting them to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

6. The Ministry of Health

a/ To focus on stepping up the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 659/QD-TTg of May 20, 2020, promulgating the program on improvement of health care for workers  and occupational disease prevention in the 2020 - 2030 period.

b/ To provide guidance on mid-shift meals for workers in industrial parks and export processing zones; to formulate regulations on minimum calories intake per meal and meal allowance for particular categories of workers; to coordinate with the Vietnam General Conferderation of Labor in formulating models of health improvement at workplaces suitable to particular characteristics of occupations and trades.

c/ To continue providing advices on formulation of mechanisms and policies to attract enterprises and social entities to invest in building hospitals, clinics and health care facilities in industrial parks, export processing zones and labor-intensive workplaces; to study and propose methods of  management and organization of operation of such hospitals and clinics as suitable to daily life and working conditions of workers.

7. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

To intensify the planning, building and effective organization of cultural institutions for enriching cultural life of workers in harmony with the development of industrial parks and export processing zones and in conformity with urban development master plans; to study and propose mechanisms and policies for mobilizing social resources for building cultural institutions and for facilitating cultural and sports activities of workers.

8. The State Bank of Vietnam

To direct credit institutions and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to continue implementing credit programs and policies for creating jobs for improving living standards of workers, and developing banking products and services for low-income workers, and people living in difficulty-hit regions.

To focus on guiding the implementation of support policies on provision of loans to employers for making severance pay for their employees, and rehabilitate their production heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

9. The Ministry of Information and Communications

To coordinate with the Central Committee for Propaganda and Training in directing press agencies and grassroots information systems to proactively and promptly provide information on employment, working conditions and living standards of workers, support measures and policies for the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control; to get the entire society’s attention and consensus to and mobilize its involvement in renewing and ensuring stable employment and improving working condition and living standards for workers.

10. The Ministry of Construction

a/ To quickly improve mechanisms and policies for housing development, particularly those for housing development for workers in industrial zones and development of social houses; to improve support policies to attract social resources for investment in housing development and public-utility works meeting needs of workers in industrial parks.

b/ To focus on directing and stepping up the implementation of housing projects for workers in industrial parks and building of social houses.

c/ To proactively coordinate with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in implementing the Prime Minister’s Decisions No. 655/QD-TTg of May 12, 2017, and No. 1729/QD-TTg of November 4, 2020, approving the scheme on formation of trade union organizations in industrial parks and export processing zones, striving for the target that by 2030 all industrial parks and export processing zones nationwide will have their own trade union organizations.

11. The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor

a/ To continue paying attention to improving physical and spiritual lives of workers, especially in the annual Lunar New Year festival for its members and workers, particularly those with difficult circumstances residing in deep-lying, remote and mountainous areas, and on islands, and ethnic minority people.

b/ To closely coordinate with ministries, sectors and provincial-level People’s Committees in performing tasks and solutions to implement the scheme on  formation of trade union organizations in industrial parks and export processing zones approved under the Prime Minister’s Decisions No. 655/QD-TTg of May 12, 2017, and No. 1729/QD-TTg of November 4, 2020.

c/ To continue renewing operation of trade union organizations at all levels in order to meet requirements of the new situation.

d/ To coordinate with ministries and provincial-level People’s Committees in intensifying inspection and supervision of the implementation of policies and laws on labor, employment, occupational safety and health; to put forward special topics on examination and supervision of industrial relations and mobilize workers to voluntarily and actively participate in the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control.

dd/ To promptly reflect thoughts, expectations and petitions of workers regarding improvement of policies and laws to the Government, ministries, sectors and provincial-level People’s Committees.

e/ To develop as soon as possible a database on workers and trade union organizations to have grounds for forecasting, detecting and handling  changes in employment, livelihood and expectations of workers.

g/ To directing more intensively trade union organizations at all levels, particularly grassroots trade union organizations at enterprises, in organizing dialogues and negotiations  and signing collective labor agreements with workers, particularly those on wages of workers based on their working productivity and results in accordance with the Labor Code.

12. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam

a/ To formulate programs and plans and organize activities to disseminate laws among and mobilize employers to comply with laws and voluntarily and actively participate in the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control, and apply advanced and modern technical regulations and management systems as well as advanced, modern and environment-friendly technologies in their production and business operations in order to improve working conditions and ensure occupational safety and health.

b/ To intensify negotiations and dialogues among parties at enterprises.

c/ To coordinate with related ministries and sectors in organizing movements and activities such as the Program on Benchmarking and Announcing Sustainable Companies (the CSI program) and the “Outstanding Enterprises for Employees” award.

13. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees and related agencies and units shall strictly implement this Directive.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall monitor, urge and examine the implementation of this Directive.-

For the Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

VU DUC DAM