Security guards work 12 hours/day, income just over 6 million VND

Recently, Lao Dong Newspaper has received many feedbacks from readers who work as security guards, delivery staff... having to work for a long time but with low incomes. In addition, they are not enrolled in social insurance and are often cited by businesses for errors to deduct salaries.

The case of Mr. Vu Hoang Tu is an example. Mr. Tu worked for 6 months at a transport service company in Dong Anh district (Hanoi), but the company only paid salaries for 2 months of work, and still owed salaries for 4 months with a total amount of 16 million VND.

Investigating at some security service providers in Hanoi, reporters recorded many cases of workers working for a long time, with low incomes and not participating in social insurance.

Mr. Nguyen Duy Thang (from Thanh Hoa province), working as a security guard at an apartment building in Tu Liem ward (Hanoi), said that he works 12 hours a day (from 7 am to 7 pm), with an income of about 6 - 6.5 million VND/month.

In the countryside, farming is hard, but the income is low, so my father and I went to Hanoi to work as security guards. The income is only enough to cover living expenses, there is no insurance or any additional benefits, but it is still better than farming," Mr. Thang shared.

According to Mr. Thang, to save costs, his father and son and some fellow workers rented a shared room of more than 20m2 in the Dinh Thon area to live in.

Mr. Nguyen Dac Hung (another security guard) said that work pressure comes not only from prolonged working hours but also from internal penalty regulations.

“We work 12 hours a day, calculated income is about 210,000 VND/cong. Just taking a nap for a few minutes during the shift, if detected, a record can be made and fined up to 500,000 VND,” Mr. Hung said.

According to some security guards, after paying for food and living expenses of at least about 2 million VND/month, the remaining amount to send back to their hometown or save for old age is insignificant.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Nam Long - Director of a security service provider in Hanoi said that the unit usually signs contracts according to work with a remuneration of 16,000 VND/hour.

Most of the workers are people from localities coming to Hanoi to work seasonally, working if they like, or quitting if they don't like, so they only want to receive money directly without participating in social insurance or related procedures," Mr. Long said.

From a legal perspective, lawyer Diep Nang Binh - Tinh Thong Law Company (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association), said that this explanation shows signs of evading the obligations of employers.

According to lawyer Diep Nang Binh, Article 13 of the 2019 Labor Code stipulates that labor contracts are determined based on the nature of labor relations, regardless of name. It is only necessary to have a job agreement with remuneration, wages and management, administration, and supervision to be determined as labor relations.

Employees working for a full month or more under the management of enterprises are subject to compulsory social insurance," lawyer Binh said.

Lawyer Diep Nang Binh said that taking advantage of difficult circumstances to not sign labor contracts, late pay or arbitrarily terminate jobs not only affects immediate income but also infringes on the right to long-term social security assurance of workers.

According to current regulations, violations of labor contracts may be fined up to 25 million VND. Wages violations may be fined up to 75 million VND. Enterprises that violate social insurance obligations must also retroactively pay late payment interest and interest arising.

In addition to strengthening inspection and examination by functional agencies, workers also need to improve their legal understanding, proactively complain, denounce or sue when their legitimate rights and interests are violated.

Read the original here.