How to value labor in agricultural production: A case study in the Red River delta Vietnam

During the employed period, hired laborers can receive two forms of payment: daily wage for seasonal workers and monthly for long-term workers. Apart from wage, hired laborers also receive other benefits from employers such as drink, lunch, travel allowance for far distant laborers, assistance in sickness and Lunar New Year bonuses. In rice households, employees are directly trained by the head of households. 100% of the hired laborers are satisfied with the forms of remuneration from employers, but they also think that the remuneration is not high compared to non-agricultural workers.
A common problem which we observed is that there are no labor contracts signed between hired laborers and the household heads, even for long-term hired laborers. Labor relations between hired laborers and the head of household are totally by oral agreement based on their trust. However, both hired laborers and head of households report that the employment contract is unnecessary.