Older workers have more worries

The draft Law on Employment (amended) proposes that employees who are dismissed or dismissed due to disciplinary action will not be entitled to unemployment benefits, a proposal that is causing much debate.

Impact on social welfare

According to the draft amended Employment Law, employees are not entitled to unemployment benefits when they unilaterally terminate their employment contract illegally according to the Labor Code; unilaterally terminate their employment contract in violation of the Law on Public Employees; are dismissed according to labor law or are disciplined with forced termination of employment according to the law on public employees; are pensioners; or are eligible for a pension but have not yet received one when their employment contract or work contract is terminated.

The proposal that laid-off or dismissed workers should not be entitled to unemployment benefits is sparking much debate. (Photo: Khanh Tran)

Compared to the 2013 Employment Law, the amended Employment Law adds a new category of ineligible individuals for unemployment benefits: workers who have been dismissed or subjected to disciplinary action resulting in termination of employment. This proposal is sparking much debate, particularly among older workers.

Recently, a significant number of workers aged 35 to over 40 have been laid off or lost their jobs. Many reasons can lead to dismissal, such as companies wanting to cut staff to reduce costs, mistakes made, or even excessively high work demands that workers cannot meet… resulting in termination.

In such a situation, workers are at a disadvantage because finding new jobs is very difficult for those aged 35 to over 40, while they are not yet old enough or have not contributed enough years to social insurance to receive a pension. In this context, unemployment insurance is a source of income that helps workers alleviate temporary difficulties.

Sharing her thoughts on this issue, Ms. Hoang Nhung, who works at a company in the Bac Ninh Industrial Park, said that no one wants to be unemployed to receive unemployment benefits, but for various reasons, workers may lose their jobs or be laid off. Not allowing them to receive unemployment benefits would not only disadvantage workers but could also create opportunities for employers to make things difficult, leading to workers being easily dismissed.

Returning to the events of the early months of 2023, amidst the wave of layoffs of older workers, representatives of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor spoke out, stating that the policy of dismissing older workers has been in place for quite some time and is alarming, as it will further complicate the issue of social security.

Ensuring the principle of "contribution-based benefits"

Many argue that, in the context of a labor market facing numerous challenges, unemployment insurance is one of the important policies of the social security system, aiming to support workers in maintaining their jobs and compensating for a portion of their income if they unfortunately lose their jobs. Therefore, according to the new proposal, the exclusion of laid-off workers from unemployment benefits seems to contradict the fundamental purpose of unemployment insurance, which is to share the financial burden with workers while they are still searching for new employment.

Therefore, regarding the unemployment insurance issue in the Draft Law on Employment (amended), the Social Affairs Committee noted that it is necessary to consider, calculate, and clarify further the regulation on the maximum unemployment insurance contribution rate of 1% of monthly salary in Article 58 and the regulation that dismissed or disciplined employees are not entitled to unemployment benefits in point b, clause 1, Article 64; at the same time, it requested the drafting agency to continue to supplement the impact assessment of the new regulations and to have solutions to ensure feasibility and overcome current limitations in implementation.

In line with the Social Affairs Committee, many opinions emphasized the importance of unemployment insurance, whose primary purpose is to compensate workers for lost income, support vocational training, help them find suitable new jobs, and quickly return them to the labor market. Therefore, the drafting agency should research and consider removing this regulation to allow the aforementioned workers to receive unemployment benefits based on the "contribution-benefit" principle.

Sharing concerns regarding Article 64 of the Draft Law on Employment (amended), which stipulates that employees who are dismissed under labor law or dismissed under civil servant law are not eligible for unemployment benefits, Mr. Nguyen Tran Phuong Tran, a member of the National Assembly delegation from Ho Chi Minh City, argued that this regulation is inconsistent with the current unemployment insurance system. This regulation limits and narrows the scope of those eligible for unemployment benefits compared to the current law. The drafting agency needs to differentiate between cases where employees are dismissed under civil servant law and those eligible for unemployment insurance benefits to ensure the rights of workers.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/de-xuat-nguoi-bi-sa-thai-khong-duoc-tro-cap-that-nghiep-cong-nhan-lon-tuoi-them-noi-lo-358443.html