Comments (2nd time) on the revised Social Insurance Law Project

Continuing the 26th Session of the National Assembly Standing Committee, on the morning of September 20, at the National Assembly House, under the direction of Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man , the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions (for the second time) on the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended).

26th session of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on the morning of September 20

Continue to assess the impact and carefully consider the revised content.

At the meeting, on behalf of the agency reviewing the draft Law, Chairwoman of the Social Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh affirmed that the Law on Social Insurance (amended) is a very important law, with subjects affected by a very large and long-term impact, with a backbone, core and guarantee nature for social insurance to be a main pillar of the social security system in a socialist-oriented market economy . Many provisions amended in the draft Law need to continue to assess the socio-economic impact, widely consult the subjects of application and subjects affected to ensure consensus and feasibility.

One of the important contents in the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended) that is of great interest is the regulation on one-time withdrawal of social insurance.

Examining the above content, Chairwoman of the Social Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh said that there was a proposal to combine the two options submitted by the Government into a unified option and study the roadmap to reduce the percentage of benefits when receiving one-time social insurance.

"This is to both promote and apply preferential credit policies to retain social insurance participants. If we immediately reduce the benefit level to 50%, it could cause a policy reaction," said Ms. Thuy Anh.

Along with that, the Standing Committee of the Social Committee assessed that this is a complex and sensitive issue, affecting the rights of workers and long-term social security issues, with a certain impact on social psychology and workers. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to assess the impact, carefully consider and comprehensively consider the content of the amendment and supplement of the regulations on receiving one-time social insurance, and consult the public more widely on the proposed amendments and supplements. According to the Standing Committee of the Social Committee, it is necessary to "be stricter in the regulations on receiving one-time social insurance benefits" as determined in Resolution No. 28, aiming to minimize the number of workers receiving one-time social insurance benefits in order to achieve the goal of expanding the coverage of social insurance policies, ensuring long-term social security for people after working age.

In addition to the above content, the Standing Committee of the Social Affairs Committee also requested the Government to explain why it has not added a family allowance regime in this law amendment. According to the examining agency, up to now, family allowance is the only social insurance regime that Vietnam has not implemented compared to Convention No. 102 of the International Labor Organization.

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung explains at the meeting

Encourage employees to reserve their participation in social insurance

After listening to the report of the Standing Committee of the Social Affairs Committee, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung explained and accepted opinions related to the draft Law.

According to Minister Dao Ngoc Dung, one of the important contents in the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended) is the regulation on one-time withdrawal of social insurance. Regarding this content, the Government proposed two options.

- Option 1 : Regulations on one-time social insurance benefits for two different groups of employees:

+ Group 1: For employees who participated in social insurance before the Law on Social Insurance (amended) took effect, after 12 months of unemployment, if needed, they will receive a one-time social insurance payment.

+ Group 2: For employees who start participating in social insurance from the effective date of the Social Insurance Law (amended) (expected July 1, 2025), they will not receive one-time social insurance (except in the following cases: reaching retirement age but not having enough years of contribution to receive pension; going abroad to settle down or suffering from one of the life-threatening diseases as prescribed in Article 60 of the current Social Insurance Law).

- Option 2 : "After 12 months of not participating in compulsory social insurance, not participating in voluntary social insurance and having paid social insurance for less than 20 years, if the employee requests, a part of the payment will be resolved but not more than 50% of the total time paid into the pension and death fund. The remaining social insurance payment time will be reserved for the employee to continue participating and enjoying social insurance benefits.".

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung emphasized that withdrawing social insurance at one time is a serious issue, ending it immediately can cause public opinion, especially for people who are enjoying benefits under Resolution 93. Therefore, the Government evaluates and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of each plan and reports to the National Assembly for comments. Accepting the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee at this session, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung said that he will report back to the Government on the proposal to integrate the two plans to find a more optimal plan, but still ensuring the principle of encouraging workers to reserve the process of participating in social insurance, reducing the benefit level for those who withdraw social insurance at one time in the spirit of Resolution 28.

Regarding the issue of supplementing family insurance, the Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that Vietnam has currently implemented 8/9 types of social insurance, family insurance mainly focuses on supporting children and the elderly.

After reviewing and discussing with the Ministry of Finance, the Government said that if this policy is added to the draft law, many more issues and related contents will arise, especially regarding budgetary finance.

"In fact, although this policy has not been implemented, issues related to children and families have been covered by other policies," Minister Dao Ngoc Dung informed.

Government members attending the meeting

Another issue also mentioned by the Commander of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is about the subjects of compulsory social insurance participants. According to the Minister, the employment sector and the current labor market are very dynamic and flexible. If we "rigidly" stipulate that all these subjects must be considered and decided by the National Assembly, then when there are practical problems (such as the recent case of individual business households), waiting for the National Assembly to amend the Law will be very difficult. Therefore, to be more flexible, the Minister suggested that in addition to the subjects that the National Assembly has "rigidly" stipulated, when other feasible subjects arise, the National Assembly can assign the National Assembly Standing Committee to consider and decide based on the Government's proposal.

Regarding the impact assessment of the bill, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung affirmed that the Government will ensure its completion before the National Assembly session next October.

*According to the Government's Submission, the objective of developing the Social Insurance Law project is to: (i) Ensure social security according to the provisions of the Constitution and institutionalize the viewpoints, guidelines, and reform contents in Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW and related documents and resolutions; (ii) Fundamentally amend practical difficulties and shortcomings; ensure constitutionality, legality, consistency, uniformity, feasibility, compliance with international standards, and ensure gender equality; (iii) Expand and increase rights and benefits, creating attractiveness to attract employees to participate in social insurance.

The draft Law on Social Insurance (amended) has closely followed the 5 policies approved by the National Assembly, including: (i) Building a multi-layered and flexible social insurance system (hereinafter referred to as social insurance); (ii) Expanding the coverage of social insurance participants; (iii) Expanding the coverage of social insurance beneficiaries (pensions, monthly social insurance and social retirement benefits); (iv) Supplementing the content of regulations on the management of social insurance collection and payment; (v) Diversifying the portfolio and investment structure of social insurance funds according to the principles of safety, sustainability and efficiency.

Based on the above policies, the draft Law specifies 11 major contents including: (1) Supplementing social pension benefits to form a multi-layered social insurance system; (2) Expanding the subjects participating in compulsory social insurance; (3) Supplementing the right to enjoy sickness and maternity benefits for non-professional workers in communes, wards and towns; (4) Supplementing maternity benefits to the voluntary social insurance policy; (5) Reducing the condition on the minimum number of years of social insurance contributions to receive a monthly pension from 20 years to 15 years; (6) Regarding the regulations on receiving one-time social insurance; (7) Supplementing regulations on management of social insurance collection and payment to handle the situation of social insurance evasion; (8) Regarding the basis for compulsory social insurance payment; (9) Amending regulations related to public sector salaries in line with the orientation of Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW; (10) Amendments and supplements to diversify the portfolio and investment structure of the Social Insurance Fund according to the principles of safety, sustainability and efficiency; (11) Regarding Social Insurance management costs.

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