Logistics technology company Ninja Van is halting operations at a Vietnam unit, as it seeks to settle matters over delayed salary and social insurance payments to employees there.

According to an announcement to the Vietnamese press, as of Friday, Ninja Van has completed the payment of overdue salaries to the bank accounts of employees at ECRM Nobita, its wholly owned subsidiary in Vietnam. 

ECRM Nobita, with offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Vinh City in the north-central Vietnamese province of Nghe An, develops software solutions for customer relationship management in online businesses.

“We’ve decided to pause operations until the most pressing issues—delayed salary and social insurance payments—are resolved,” said Ninja Van co-founder Tan Boxian in response to queries from The Straits Times. 

He added that the company aims to address these issues by the end of next week.

Four employees from human resources, customer service, and technical roles in the Vinh City office informed The Straits Times on Tuesday that they have yet to receive their August salaries and are owed half a month’s pay for July.

“This has severely affected the lives of all employees in Vietnam, especially those in the Hanoi office whose families were impacted by Typhoon Yagi,” said a customer service employee.

Typhoon Yagi struck northern Vietnam on September 7, leaving behind devastating scenes in its aftermath.

A 31-year-old mother earning VND7 million (US$284.5) per month mentioned she had to borrow VND5 million ($203.2) from a colleague to cover living expenses and school fees. 

Over 100 employees across various departments have been affected, according to a team leader overseeing technical operations at ECRM Nobita.

In an email to The Straits Times on September 18, he shared that he had to sell his family car to pay overdue bank loans and cover his children’s school fees. 

“September marks the start of the school year in Vietnam, meaning tuition fees and other school-related expenses are piling up,” he added.

Earlier, some ECRM Nobita employees staged a protest on September 12 regarding their unpaid wages. 

Prior to that, a virtual announcement addressing all employees took place on September 10. 

Boxian stated that Ninja Van is reviewing the overall situation with ECRM Nobita’s management and will take necessary actions to prevent similar issues in the future.

He emphasized 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,” he told The Straits Times. 

“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.”

Ninja Van declined to answer The Straits Times’ questions about the total amount owed to affected workers and whether the company plans to close its offices in Vietnam. 

The Straits Times’ efforts to contact ECRM Nobita via email and social media channels have been unsuccessful.

Launched in 2014, Ninja Van began its delivery and logistics operations in Singapore and has since expanded its network across six Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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