Proposed Benefits for Unemployment Insurance Contributions of Over 12 Years for Workers
In a recent proposal to the draft Labor Law, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) has put forward two options for benefits for workers who have contributed to unemployment insurance for over 12 years.
Option 1: Workers who have contributed to unemployment insurance for over 144 months (12 years) without claiming unemployment benefits will be exempt from further contributions. The additional unemployment insurance contributions will be transferred to another social insurance scheme to enhance retirement benefits for these workers.
Option 2: Workers who have overpaid their contributions may be eligible for preferential loans from the Unemployment Insurance Fund to sustain their livelihood and receive support for their dependents in case of job loss.
Workers registering for unemployment benefits at the Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance Agency
Currently, if a worker contributes to unemployment insurance for over 12 years, they are only eligible to receive a maximum of 12 months of unemployment benefits, and any excess contribution period is not considered or carried forward.
Specifically, according to Clause 2, Article 50 of the Labor Law No. 38/2013/QH13, the duration of unemployment benefit entitlement is calculated based on the number of months of unemployment insurance contributions. Accordingly, for every 12 to 36 months of contributions, the worker is entitled to 3 months of unemployment benefits. For each additional 12 months of contributions, the worker receives an additional month of benefits, up to a maximum of 12 months.
Clause 7, Article 18 of Decree No. 28/2015/ND-CP stipulates that in case of contributions exceeding 36 months, the remaining months will be carried forward and considered for the next period of unemployment benefit entitlement when the worker meets the conditions for receiving benefits.
Consequently, even if a worker contributes to unemployment insurance for more than 12 years, the maximum duration of unemployment benefits they can receive is still limited to 12 months.
Moreover, according to Point a, Clause 1, Article 111 of the draft Labor Law, workers who unilaterally terminate their labor contracts will not be eligible for unemployment benefits. This provision has sparked much debate and criticism from workers.
It is common for businesses to employ various tactics to dismiss workers for arbitrary reasons, often resulting in workers being forced to unilaterally terminate their labor contracts.
In light of this, the VGCL has proposed that workers who are dismissed, even if not accepted by the employer, should still be entitled to receive unemployment benefits.
The VGCL proposes that dismissed workers should still be eligible for unemployment benefits even if not accepted by the employer.
Additionally, the VGCL has suggested that employers must pay unemployment insurance for their workers within 30 days from the date of concluding the labor contract. In the case of contracts shorter than three months, employers must pay unemployment insurance for their workers on the first day of work.
However, workers who refuse job offers from the employment center twice without valid reasons will not be considered for the carry-forward of their unemployment insurance contribution period.
Guidelines for Calculating Unemployment Benefit Entitlement
According to Clause 1, Article 50 of the 2013 Labor Law, the unemployment benefit entitlement is determined as follows:
The monthly unemployment benefit amount is equal to 60% of the average monthly salary of the last six months before unemployment, subject to a maximum of five times the basic salary for workers under the State salary scheme or five times the regional minimum wage as per the Labor Code for workers under the employer-determined salary scheme at the time of labor contract termination.
The formula for calculating the unemployment benefit amount is as follows:
Monthly unemployment benefit amount = 60% x average monthly salary of the last 6 months before unemployment.
According to Article 3 of Decree No. 38/2022/ND-CP, the maximum monthly unemployment benefit entitlement is as follows:
|
Minimum Monthly Wage (VND) |
Maximum Unemployment Benefit (VND) |
|
|
Region I |
4,680,000 |
23,400,000 |
|
Region II |
4,160,000 |
20,800,000 |
|
Region III |
3,640,000 |
18,200,000 |
|
Region IV |
3,250,000 |
16,250,000 |
The above is an update on Vietnam’s Law on Proposed Benefits for Unemployment Insurance Contributions of Over 12 Years for Workers.
