Participants at a seminar hosted by the central city of Da Nang all emphasised the need to make amendments and supplements to the regulations regarding female workers set out in the Labour Code.

The two-day seminar, which was held on Jan. 28-29 by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), drew the attendance of representatives of labour federations and trade unions from industrial and export processing zones in 30 cities and provinces nationwide.

Tran Van Tu, a delegate from the VGCL, said employers always prioritise recruiting male workers, while signing short-term labour contracts with female employees to make it easy to terminate them after the female workers go on maternity leave.

On the other hand, providing standby vocational training for female workers is not a prioritised policy because they find it easier to seek suitable training establishments when all economic sectors are permitted to participate in this field, Tu said.

Many other delegates applauded the extension of maternity leave for female workers to between five and seven months compared with just four months at present.

They cited the fact that most of female workers want to take unpaid vacations following their maternity leave but they do not ask because they are afraid of losing their jobs.

During the seminar, ILO experts also shared experiences related to gender equality in line with Vietnamese and international laws./.