The Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs is seeking feedback from ministries and sectors on a proposal to have nine days off for the Lunar New Year holiday in 2025. Every year, the Ministry consults with relevant agencies and advises the Prime Minister on the Lunar New Year holiday schedule. The annual holiday schedule is not fixed as the Labour Law stipulates only five days off for the Lunar New Year.
Some ministries and sectors, such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, agree with this proposal. However, many foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) have already planned for their employees to have up to eleven days off with full pay for the Lunar New Year holiday in 2025.
Speaking to Tien Phong journalists, a representative of NISSEI ELECTRIC Hanoi Co., Ltd. shared that the Lunar New Year holds special significance for Vietnamese people but often coincides with peak travel periods. Therefore, to allow employees to have an extended break and avoid peak congestion, the company offers a longer holiday than the standard schedule.
“To give our employees quality time with their families and loved ones, our company usually plans for a longer Lunar New Year holiday than the state-mandated duration,” the representative of NISSEI ELECTRIC Hanoi Co., Ltd. said. “From the middle of the year, the company starts crafting the work schedule for the following year to proactively manage production and meet delivery deadlines, as well as finalize the holiday schedule for our employees,” they added.
Enterprises offer up to eleven days off for the Lunar New Year holiday in 2025. Illustrative image: ST.
According to Tien Phong journalists’ findings, many FIEs from countries like Japan and South Korea tend to offer their employees a longer Lunar New Year holiday than what is mandated by the state. During the recent National Day holiday on September 2nd, some enterprises in the Bac Thang Long Industrial Park (Hanoi) gave their employees seven days off.
A leader of a Japanese electronic FIE in Hanoi shared that when offering extended holidays, the company would arrange orders and source materials accordingly. If there are urgent orders that need to be completed, the company will arrange for employees to work overtime before and after the holiday.
Enterprises also pointed out that the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs often finalizes the holiday schedule too late. For the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday in 2025 (January), they only sought feedback in September 2024. Therefore, enterprises proposed that the authorities should finalize and announce the holiday schedule earlier, preferably at the beginning of the year, to allow enterprises to plan their production accordingly.
“Enterprises have to guess the holiday schedule to plan their production. However, if we guess wrong, it becomes very challenging to adjust our production plans. We propose that the authorities finalize and announce the holiday schedule earlier, preferably at the beginning of the year, to help enterprises plan their production more effectively,” said a representative of an FIE in the Bac Thang Long Industrial Park.
Previously, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs proposed a five-day holiday for the 2025 Lunar New Year, as per regulations, including two days before and three days after the New Year.
Specifically, civil servants and public employees would have off from Saturday, January 25, 2025, to Sunday, February 2, 2025, in the solar calendar (corresponding to the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, the year of the Rabbit, to the 5th day of the first lunar month, the year of the Dragon).
With this proposal, civil servants and public employees will have nine days off for the 2025 Lunar New Year holiday, including five days off for the Lunar New Year per the lunar calendar and four days off for the weekend.
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