According to the 2024 Social Insurance Law, employers who delay or evade mandatory social insurance (SI) and unemployment insurance (UI) contributions face severe penalties. Beyond paying the overdue amounts and a 0.03% daily interest on the arrears, they are subject to administrative fines. In cases of SI evasion, employers may also face criminal prosecution under Vietnamese law.
Specifically, Article 216 of the Penal Code stipulates that employers who fraudulently avoid or underpay SI, health insurance, or UI for six months or more, after being administratively sanctioned for the same offense, may incur fines up to VND 1 billion and imprisonment up to 7 years. Corporate entities may face fines up to VND 3 billion.
Hundreds of workers at Vinh Thông Trading-Service-Production Co., Ltd. suffered due to the company’s SI, health insurance, and UI arrears.
In practice, both delayed and evaded payments constitute SI and UI debt. Authorities determine the violation type based on the duration of arrears as per regulations.
Under Decree No. 274/2025/NĐ-CP (effective November 30, 2025), delayed SI payments are reclassified as evasion if employers fail to rectify within 60 days of the payment deadline or after receiving an SI agency’s formal reminder.
The transition from delayed to evaded SI and UI payments is determined as follows:
– For unregistered employers: If registration for SI and UI is not completed within 60 days of the legal deadline, delayed payments are reclassified as evasion from day 61.
– For employers declaring wages below the legal threshold: Evasion is deemed to start from the last day of the month following the month in which the underdeclared wages were recorded.
For semi-annual or quarterly payers: Evasion begins from the last day of the month following the registered payment cycle.
– For employers reminded by SI agencies within 45 days of the payment deadline, non-payment after 60 days results in reclassification as evasion from day 61.
For employers reminded after 45 days, evasion is deemed to start 15 days from the reminder’s issuance.
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