Workers at ECRM Nobita protesting outside a company office on Sept 12, saying they were owed wages and social insurance contributions. - ST READER
SINGAPORE: Logistics technology company Ninja Van is suspending the operations of a subsidiary firm in Vietnam as it works to resolve issues over delayed salary and social insurance payments to employees there.
The subsidiary firm ECRM Nobita, which has three offices based in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Vinh city, develops software solutions in the field of customer relationship management for online businesses.
Singapore-headquartered Ninja Van co-founder Tan Boxian said in response to queries from The Straits Times: “We’ve decided to pause operations until the most pressing issues – delayed salary and social insurance payments – are resolved.” The firm is looking to fix the issue by the end of next week, he added.
Four employees in human resource, customer service and technical roles based in the Vinh city office told ST on Sept 17 that they have yet to be paid for August and are owed half a month’s salary for July.
“It has severely affected the life of all employees in Vietnam, in particular, many employees in the Hanoi office, whose families were affected by Typhoon Yagi,” said an employee who works in customer service.
The 31-year-old mother of one, whose pay is seven million Vietnamese dong (S$369) a month, said she had to borrow five million dong from a colleague to pay for life expenses and school fees.
Another employee said she had to borrow money from her sister to cover living expenses.
Over 100 employees across all departments and positions have been impacted, said a team leader overseeing all technical and technological aspects of ECRM Nobita. Speaking to ST via e-mail on Sept 18, he said he had to sell the family car to cover part of his overdue bank loans and pay for his children’s school fees.
“September is the start of the school year in Vietnam, which means tuition fees and school-related expenses have piled up,” he added.
Tan confirmed that a virtual announcement addressing all ECRM Nobita employees in Vietnam was held on Sept 10.
“We explained the situation and are committed to holding in-person meetings with each employee to address any concerns and questions privately,” he said.
Some ECRM Nobita employees staged a protest on Sept 12 over the payments owed to them.
Tan said Ninja Van is reviewing the overall situation with ECRM Nobita’s management and will take the necessary actions to prevent it from happening again.
He added that ECRM Nobita’s situation is separate from Ninja Van’s operations.
“As the owners of ECRM Nobita, we will honour our obligations and do right by the employees. When we were told by ECRM Nobita’s employees that they had not been paid, we immediately stepped in. The employees have worked hard and deserve to be paid on time in full,” he said.
Ninja Van declined to respond to queries on how much is owed to the impacted workers and whether the company intends to close its offices in Vietnam. Efforts to contact ECRM Nobita via its company e-mail and social media channels have been unsuccessful.
Ninja Van currently operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. - The Straits Times/ANN
