To make unemployment insurance truly a "lifesaver"

In a time of great fluctuations in the labor market, job loss is no longer a rare occurrence. Therefore, unemployment insurance is considered a “lifesaver” for workers.

However, in reality, this subsidy does not meet the basic living needs of workers after losing their jobs.

Resolving unemployment insurance procedures for workers at the Hanoi Employment Service Center. Photo: Quang Thai

Subsidies are not enough to cover living expenses.

For more than 3 months now, Mr. Vo Van Hai has lost his job because Toan Cau Construction Joint Stock Company (located in Khuong Trung Ward, Thanh Xuan District) has cut staff. He has not found a new job yet so he has applied for unemployment insurance.

Mr. Vo Van Hai shared: “I pay insurance at the rate of 8 million VND/month and have paid for 12 years and 3 months. Therefore, each month I receive 4.8 million VND in unemployment insurance, with a maximum benefit period of 12 months. However, this amount is not enough for me to cover my living expenses.”

Ms. Hoang Thi Thuy, a worker at a private company in Mai Dinh commune (Soc Son district), shared after quitting her job: "According to regulations, the unemployment insurance benefit is 60%, but the company I used to work for only paid according to the regional minimum wage, so when I quit my job, I received about 3 million VND per month."

In a similar situation, Ms. Le Thi My Lan, a garment worker in Kim Chung commune (Hoai Duc district), shared: “The company paid unemployment insurance for workers, but because business was difficult, by the time I quit my job, the company still owed insurance and had not closed the book. That means I did not receive unemployment insurance benefits.”

According to regulations, employees are entitled to a subsidy equal to 60% of the average monthly salary for unemployment insurance contributions in the 6 consecutive months before leaving work, but not exceeding 5 times the basic salary or regional minimum wage.

Explaining this issue, Head of the Unemployment Insurance Department (Department of Employment, Ministry of Home Affairs ) Tran Tuan Tu said: "One of the reasons why unemployment insurance is not really a "lifesaver" for workers is because the contribution level does not accurately reflect actual income.

For example, a garment worker may earn more than VND10 million per month, but the company only declares the unemployment insurance premium at VND6 million. Thus, even though the benefit rate is 60%, the actual amount received is only about VND3.6 million per month. This paradox has existed for a long time, causing workers to suffer when they lose their jobs, and the unemployment insurance benefits are not enough to ensure a minimum living standard.

Need to raise subsidy level

After 16 years of implementation (since 2009), the unemployment insurance policy is showing many shortcomings. The urgent requirement is to upgrade the policy so that unemployment insurance can truly become a “lifesaver” for workers instead of simply receiving temporary support.

“Unemployment benefits must help workers maintain their lives while looking for work or learning a trade when they lose their jobs. If the contribution policy is not commensurate, it will be very difficult to attract workers to participate,” said Ho Thi Kim Ngan, Deputy Head of the Labor Relations Department ( Vietnam General Confederation of Labor ).

Sharing the same view, Deputy Director of the Employment Service Center (Hanoi Department of Home Affairs) Nguyen Thi Thanh Lieu said: "Resolving unemployment benefits is only a part of the superiority of unemployment insurance, the important long-term goal is the policy to support workers to quickly find jobs and return to the labor market".

To overcome the above limitations, at the ninth session of the 15th National Assembly, during the discussion on the Draft Law on Employment (amended), National Assembly deputies mentioned many new contents to promote the superiority of this policy. That is, closely linking unemployment insurance with vocational retraining, job search support, expanding the scope of participation and applying digital technology in handling records...

Delegate Thach Phuoc Binh (Tra Vinh Delegation) said: “The law stipulates that the unemployment benefit level is 60% of the average monthly salary, which is too low and difficult to ensure the standard of living in the case of workers losing their jobs and having no income. It is necessary to adjust the unemployment benefit level to increase to about 65% of the average salary for unemployment insurance. In case of economic crisis, epidemic... the Government is allowed to increase the benefit level for workers to a maximum of 75%”.

In addition, unemployment insurance is currently only mandatory for workers with contracts, while tens of millions of informal workers do not have access to the policy. National Assembly delegate Ha Sy Dong (Quang Tri delegation) commented: “The contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees are also workers, and can also become unemployed when streamlining the apparatus and reducing staff. The employment policy stipulated in the draft law needs to pay attention to this contingent, to ensure social security and ensure fairness among the labor forces in society.”

The Draft Law on Employment (amended) is expected to be passed by the National Assembly on June 11. This is an opportunity to upgrade unemployment insurance policy from passive relief to active support, from short-term security to long-term recovery lever, helping workers feel confident and have conditions to stabilize their lives.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/de-bao-hiem-that-nghiep-thuc-su-la-phao-cuu-sinh-704078.html