Hanoi (VNA) – Theimplementation of the labour contract law has fallen far short of hopes, asmany workers still lack contracts and are vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment.

The country has required a legal labour contract between the employers andtheir domestic workers since 2014.

Up to 90 percent of domestic helpers in Vietnam report not having a legalcontract with the families they worked for. No labour contract also means nosocial insurance, while their extra allowances or bonuses are dependent on theemployers’ kindness only.

Hoang Thi Suu’s hometown is in Phu Tho province, about 80kilometres to the northwest of Hanoi. She struggled to make a living anddecided to leave for Hanoi for a job. Suu found a job as a domestic worker fora family in Hai Ba Trung district.

“My monthly salary is 5 million VND (220 USD). It helps to cover my children’sstudy costs,” Suu said.

Suu did not have a legal labour contract with her family employer. Her salaryand bonus for Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday were set in a verbalagreement prior to or during her working time at the house. The middle-agedwoman had neither health nor social insurances.

The rising living standard of middle-class families in big cities has led to arocketing in demand for domestic helpers over the last decade, which isunlikely to slow down in the near future. The great demand has drawn an influxof women from their rural hometowns to cities like HCM City andHanoi seeking an in-house job instead of hard labour in the fields.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Vietnam isprojected to have about 350,000 people employed as domestic workers by 2020.

Up to 75 percent of migrant female workers choose domestic worker as their job.

Their daily work could range from taking care of the elderly and children inthe family to cleaning and cooking. They may live with their employers or workon an hourly basis.

Nguyen Thi Mai is a veteran domestic worker in Hanoi. It has been seven yearssince the middle-aged woman left her rural hometown of Thanh Chuong in thenorth-central province of Nghe An. Not once during her timein Hanoi, Mai said, did she and her employer say a word about a labourcontract. Every deal was verbal, she added.

The non-governmental organisation Research Centre for Gender, Family andCommunity Director Ngo Thi Ngoc Anh said that only three per cent of domestichelpers have social insurance. Most of them did not join the insurance duringtheir time as domestic helpers but while they were working at their previousjobs.

The reason for the lack of labour contracts among domestic workers was not hardto figure out, Anh said.

A majority of domestic workers have low levels of education, she said, and fewof them are familiar with the laws and regulations regarding labour rights.

A 2014 governmental decree states that the domestic workers and their employersmust establish a labour contract including agreements on salary, bonus orovertime payment, among other issues.

Tong Thi Minh, Director of the Department of Labour Relations and Wages underthe Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that the labourcontract matter was currently deemed a nuisance by both sides.

“Most of them think that it (domestic help) is a simple job and a labourcontract will be unnecessary,” Minh said.

Regulations also require that young domestic workers aged from 15 to 18 musthave a legal representative, or a guardian, to sign a contract with theemployers. Its administrative procedure is thought to be complicated and soboth employers and employees often dismiss it, Minh said.

Another key reason comes from the domestic workers themselves. They just do notwant to spend their already meagre income on the insurances.

“If I join social insurance, my wage will be cut. My daily life is already hardenough and I need all the money I have,” Suu said.-VNA