Slogging away: ​HCMC workers ignore overtime limits to make ends meet

To afford the expenses in the city, some even work up to 1,000 hours a year extra.

It is 7 a.m. and the bell for the morning shift rings. Le Thi Thuy, 33, starts a new working day at an electronics company in the hi-tech park in Thu Duc City where she has been working for more than 10 years.

She only leaves after 7 p.m., after finishing three hours of overtime. She goes home, makes dinner and cleans up, and only gets to spend some time with her son at around midnight.

Her company works in two shifts, the first ending at 4:30 p.m., but employees can work until 7 p.m if they want to.

The night shift ends at 4:30 a.m. and overtime until 7 a.m. is permitted.

After working for four days, employees can take two days off, but Thuy and many of her colleagues hardly do so.

Thuy estimates her total overtime hours in a year at around 1,000.

The Labor Code caps overtime at 40 hours a month and 200 a year, and 300 in certain industries like textile and garment, leather, seafood processing, telecommunications, and water and power distribution.

For people like Thuy, low salaries and high cost of living mean they have no choice but to exceed the overtime limit.

Her family rents a small house on Le Van Viet Street in Thu Duc City for VND4 million ($174) a month and there are expenses for food, milk, diapers, and medical bills.

Her salary is VND7 million a month and her husband's is lower.

After working around 100 hours overtime a month, she gets around VND13 million in all, and she only stops working overtime when the company runs out of materials.

"I don't know how long I can continue working overtime, but I need money to raise my family," she says.

Nguyen Thanh Luan and Hoang Kim Quan, both 24, have not met for nearly a week though they share a room on Lo Lu Street in Thu Duc City. The men from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak work in different companies.

Hoang Kim Quan (L) and Nguyen Thanh Luan at their rented room in Thu Duc, HCMC, in May 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tuyet.

Last week Luan worked the night shift and Quan the morning shift.

They work 12 hours straight and eat all three meals in office, and have not spent much on anything other than necessities so they can save as much money as possible.

Luan says he logs nearly 100 hours' overtime every month and earns a total salary of around VND15 million. After covering his expenses, he sends VND10 million home to help his parents repay debts and raise his two children.

Quan works at a printing company warehouse and does 100 hours of overtime a month to earn VND10 million.

"It's a pity no girl wants to fall in love with me," he says. He used to have a girlfriend but they broke up because he did not have time to go out with her to drink coffee or watch movies.

Health risks and limited personal time

Huynh Van Tuan, chairman of the trade union affiliated to the HCMC Export Processing Zone and Industrial Park Authority (HEPZA), says working nearly 1,000 hours' a year overtime is not uncommon since low incomes otherwise make it difficult for workers to cover their expenses in Saigon.

Overtime work also helps reduce costs since they eat in their factory and only return to their rented rooms to sleep, he points out.

Many workers even risk their health working overtime and do not have time to take care of their families, he says.

He plans to make a list of businesses where the overtime limits are exceeded by 100 hours a month and submit it to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for inspection.

Vu Ngoc Ha, director of the Dong Nai Trade Union Legal Consultancy Center, says though the law caps overtime work at 300 hours a year, most businesses pay based on minimum wages, making incomes too low.

In Dong Nai, for instance, businesses that allow overtime find it easy to recruit workers, he says. In some places, workers even go on strike demanding that businesses should increase the maximum overtime hours permitted, he says.

"Since workers break the overtime limit on their own volition, it is difficult for authorities to penalize businesses."

To ensure workers do not have to work thousands of hours’ overtime a year, the government should adjust the minimum wage, control prices and have favorable health, education and housing policies for workers, he adds.

Vietnam’s three major cities, HCMC, Da Nang and Hanoi, are among Southeast Asia's 20 most expensive cities, according to data released earlier this year by user-contributed database Numbeo.

It estimates the average monthly expense in HCMC for a single person, excluding rent, at $469.