Labor ministry calls for Vietnamese in Romania to get their acts together

In a document recently sent to businesses who have workers in Romania, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has called for behaviors like drinking, gambling and the illegal residence of Vietnamese workers in Romania to stop. Romania is a potential market with high demand for foreign workers, including Vietnamese, the ministry added.

Previously on Jan. 20, upon a visit to the Vietnamese Embassy in Romania as part of his trip in Europe, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked for a check-up on companies sending workers overseas after hearing about issues from the Vietnamese community abroad.

Certain Vietnamese group representatives said many workers had illegally quit their jobs or fled to a third country after they were sent to Romania, adding that certain companies which sent them in the first place did not fulfill their duties and abandoned their workers.

The ministry has requested businesses and employers to create more effective measures to monitor their workers, restrict them from drinking and gambling, and prevent bad actors from luring them to third countries.

Businesses must report issues to the Department of Overseas Labor and the Vietnamese Embassy in Romania in order to protect workers' rights, according to the ministry. Areas with many Vietnamese workers must be managed in teams, the ministry has plans, and news of workers breaching their contracts will be sent to both their families and local authorities.

Companies must cull undisciplined workers before sending them abroad, and review the list of workers currently staying abroad illegally. Areas with many illegal workers must also have appropriate recruitment measures in the future, according to the ministry.

Businesses that do not fulfill their duties, causing workers to breach their contracts and work illegally, may be suspended or have their licenses for sending workers abroad revoked.

Since 2018, Vietnam has sent around 11,000 workers to Romania for manual jobs like mechanics and woodwork. Their basic salaries for the 2017-2018 period were at around $600-1,200 per month, with contracts lasting two years with the option to extend.

Vietnam and Romania established diplomatic relations in 1950. The two countries' bilateral trade turnover has been increasing consistently, from over $200 million in 2018 to over $400 million in 2022.