Many labor groups are not formalized and are disadvantaged because they are outside the policy.

Building a labor market must be closely linked to building a social security policy for workers to create stability for the market. When employment risks occur, workers need timely support to overcome difficult times and quickly return to the market and continue working.

However, previously, Resolution 28 on reforming social insurance policies pointed out that unemployment insurance policies were not really linked to the labor market, only focused on the formal sector, did not have appropriate policies for the informal sector (where workers are vulnerable), still focused on resolving unemployment benefits, and did not pay adequate attention to preventive solutions according to international practices.

Speaking at the seminar "The role of unemployment insurance in building a flexible and sustainable job market in Vietnam" jointly organized by Dan Tri newspaper and the Department of Employment, Mr. Tran Tuan Tu said that after 5 years of implementing Resolution 28, many policies have been issued to better support workers, putting unemployment insurance tools into practice.

"The Government has also issued an action program to implement Resolution 28. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has also submitted to the Prime Minister a project to improve the capacity of agencies implementing unemployment insurance. Recently, the conditions for beneficiaries, regulations on paperwork and implementation processes have also been relaxed, overcoming limitations, increasing vocational training support for the unemployed, and making vocational training courses more flexible. Within its authority, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has also made efforts to create the best conditions for workers in difficulty, especially during the Covid-19 period," said Mr. Tu.

Nhiều nhóm lao động chưa được chính thức hóa, thiệt thòi vì nằm ngoài chính sách - 1 — Mr. Tran Tuan Tu, Head of Unemployment Insurance Department, Department of Employment (Photo: Huu Nghi).

However, according to Mr. Tu, in current regulations, employees must have labor relations, that is, must belong to an official group, to be subject to unemployment insurance policy. But in reality in the market, some groups that actually have labor relations (with basic agreements between employees and employers on wages, working hours, location, management and operations...) have not been formalized, have not signed contracts and thus are outside the subject of the policy.

"There are some cases of law evasion such as switching to collaborator contracts, or people working in the sharing economy , even though they have a labor relationship but it is not officially counted. Therefore, we need to increase propaganda and inspection so that those who are eligible to participate will be able to participate, increase coverage, increase protection, and reduce risks to workers," Mr. Tran Tuan Tu shared.

Nhiều nhóm lao động chưa được chính thức hóa, thiệt thòi vì nằm ngoài chính sách - 2 — Most partners in businesses in the sharing economy sector are still in the informal labor group (Photo: Tien Dung).

Also according to the target of Resolution 28, by 2025, about 35% of the working-age workforce will participate in unemployment insurance and by 2030, the figure will be about 45%. According to data up to May 2023, there are currently only about 14.3 million people participating in unemployment insurance, reaching only 31.18%.

"But from 30 to 35%, and from 35% to 45%, the gap is assessed as very difficult, especially when we have just overcome the pandemic with its long-lasting consequences. The goal by 2025 to achieve will require outstanding efforts from agencies, through very fundamental and very specific solutions," said Mr. Tu.

He also pointed out that the application of strong enough sanctions to handle violations in unemployment insurance has not been fully implemented, which is also the reason why the policy has not been effectively implemented on a market-wide scale. Currently, Vietnam has both administrative and criminal sanctions for cases of unemployment insurance evasion, and the unemployment insurance agency has also transferred many files to the police agency to request prosecution, but to date, no criminal case has been prosecuted.

Source link