Expanding maternity benefits for men paying social insurance from July 1

Men who pay compulsory social insurance are entitled to maternity leave within 60 days from the date their wife gives birth instead of 30 days as before.

The couple welcomed their son on January 1, 2023 at Tu Du Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City.

The revised Law on Social Insurance, effective from July 1, expands maternity benefits to male workers who pay both compulsory and voluntary social insurance.

In the compulsory social insurance area, the policy extends the maternity leave period for male employees to 60 days from the date of birth of the child instead of 30 days as before. Employees can take multiple days off as long as the total number of days off does not exceed the regulations and the last leave is within the first 60 days after the birth of the child.

The number of days off remains the same, specifically: 5 working days if the wife gives birth naturally; 7 working days if the wife has a caesarean section or gives birth before 32 weeks; 10 working days if the wife gives birth to twins, in case of triplets or more, an additional 3 working days off for each child from the third child onwards; 14 days if the wife gives birth to twins by caesarean section. In case of triplets or more having caesarean section, the man is entitled to an additional 3 working days off for each child from the third child onwards.

The amended law doubles the time off from work for prenatal check-ups for female employees participating in compulsory social insurance to two days each time instead of one day as currently, regardless of geographical location or the health status of the fetus. Previously, only special cases were allowed two days off for each check-up. Female employees who have abortions due to illness or unwanted pregnancy are entitled to maternity benefits, which currently only apply to cases of medical abortion.

The new policy increases the number of weeks of pregnancy to calculate the number of days off for female workers in case of unfortunate problems. Specifically, female workers are entitled to 40 days off if the pregnancy is from 13 to under 22 weeks old; 50 days off if the pregnancy is 22 weeks old or older. Meanwhile, the current law stipulates that the above time off applies to pregnancies under 25 weeks old.

The amended law adds many groups to the list of mandatory social insurance contributions and employees who are entitled to maternity benefits. These include employees working under contracts of one month or more, including cases where the two parties agree on a different name but the content shows the work, wages, and management, operation, and supervision of one party.

In addition, there are also business owners of households with business registration; management positions at state-owned enterprises and cooperatives; part-time workers at commune, village and residential group levels; part-time workers; foreign citizens working in Vietnam who are in the group of compulsory social insurance payment when working under indefinite-term contracts of 12 months or more.

The contribution to the Sickness and Maternity Fund for the group of business owners of registered business households; enterprise managers, inspectors, representatives of state capital, and elected management positions of cooperatives is 3% of the salary used as the basis for participating in social insurance each month. The remaining groups are contributed by the employer at the same rate.

With voluntary social insurance, for the first time, maternity allowance is applied to female workers giving birth and male workers whose wives give birth. The condition is that the person pays voluntary social insurance or has participated in both compulsory and voluntary sectors for at least 6 months within 12 months before giving birth.

The maternity allowance is 2 million VND for each child born, paid by the state budget. Depending on the period, the Government adjusts the maternity allowance in accordance with socio-economic conditions and budget capacity.

In case only the mother pays social insurance and unfortunately passes away after giving birth, the father or the person directly raising the child will receive this allowance. If both the father and mother pay social insurance, only one of them will receive maternity allowance.

In case an employee is eligible for maternity benefits in the voluntary sector and is also eligible for maternity benefits under compulsory social insurance, he/she will be entitled to benefits in the compulsory sector.

If the mother is eligible for compulsory social insurance maternity benefits and the father is eligible for voluntary social insurance maternity benefits, whoever participates in which area will enjoy the policy of that area and vice versa.

By the end of 2024, the number of workers participating in social insurance will reach 20 million, equivalent to 42.7% of the working-age workforce. Of which, 17.7 million will be in the compulsory sector and 2.3 million will be in the voluntary sector.

TH (according to VnExpress)

Source: https://baohaiphongplus.vn/mo-rong-che-do-thai-san-voi-nam-gioi-dong-bao-hiem-xa-hoi-tu-1-7-415353.html