Expanding unemployment insurance coverage: Strengthening the safety net

After more than 16 years of implementation, unemployment insurance has truly become one of the important pillars of social security.

According to Ms. Le Thi Chi (Buon Ma Thuot ward), she worked for a company in the province for over 8 years. At the beginning of 2025, she decided to quit her job and went to the Provincial Employment Service Center to complete the procedures for receiving unemployment benefits. After about 20 days, she completed her application and began receiving unemployment benefits. To date, she has received benefits for 5 months, amounting to nearly 3 million VND per month. Thanks to this money, her life has become less difficult while she searches for a new job.

Social insurance officials at the Ea Kar local office process benefits for participants.

Mr. Nguyen Van Trung (from Ea Kao ward) had also worked at a construction company for over 7 years, so when he lost his job, he applied for unemployment benefits, receiving nearly 2.5 million VND per month. Mr. Trung expressed: “During this period of unemployment, receiving unemployment benefits, although not much, is practical and meaningful to me. Furthermore, during these months of unemployment, I still receive support for health insurance, so I feel very secure.”

According to the Social Insurance Department of Dak Lak province, as of July 31st, the province had 160,748 people participating in unemployment insurance. In the first seven months of the year, the provincial Social Insurance Department paid unemployment benefits to 9,682 people, an 11% increase compared to the same period in 2024; and provided vocational training support to 691 people, a 26% increase compared to the same period in 2024.

According to the 2013 Employment Law, unemployment insurance policies include: unemployment benefits; support for job counseling and placement; support for vocational training; and support for training, retraining, and upgrading vocational skills to maintain employment for workers.

The monthly unemployment benefit is equal to 60% of the average monthly salary on which unemployment insurance contributions were paid during the six consecutive months prior to unemployment. The number of months a worker is eligible for unemployment benefits is determined by the number of months they have contributed to unemployment insurance.

Specifically, those who have contributed to unemployment insurance for 12-36 months are entitled to 3 months of benefits; after that, for every additional 12 months of contributions, they are entitled to an additional month of benefits. The maximum benefit period is 12 months.

However, the current reality is that informal workers, despite accounting for over 60% of the national workforce, still lack access to this policy. Meanwhile, informal workers often have unstable jobs, precarious incomes, and are outside the "boundaries" of businesses.

Therefore, in order for unemployment insurance policies to cover informal workers, the Employment Law 2025 (effective from January 1, 2026), with many new provisions related to unemployment insurance policies, contributes to affirming its humane nature and encouraging workers to participate.

The workers are employed at a garment factory in the province.

Specifically, the scope of unemployment insurance coverage is expanded to include: Workers employed under fixed-term labor contracts of 1 month to less than 3 months; and workers employed under part-time labor contracts whose monthly salary is equal to or higher than the minimum salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions according to the 2024 Social Insurance Law. Unemployment insurance coverage also extends to cases where agreements are made under different names but the content reflects paid work and management, operation, and supervision by one party and other salaried individuals...

Thus, compared to the old regulations which only covered contracts longer than 3 months, the new law has shortened the minimum contract duration required to participate to 1 month and expanded to include other salaried jobs. This means that a large number of short-term contract workers or those working outside of formal employment will be required to contribute to unemployment insurance from 2026, significantly increasing the number of participants compared to before and aiming to alleviate difficulties for the unemployed.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/chinh-sach-xa-hoi/chinh-sach-bhxh-bhyt/202509/mo-rong-doi-tuong-tham-gia-bao-hiem-that-nghiep-tang-cuong-luoi-an-sinh-75d1588/