Thousands of foreign employees in Vietnam have been inducted into the mandatory social insurance programme, according to Vietnam Social Insurance (VSS).

Dinh Duy Hung, deputy director of the Contribution Collection Department under the VSS

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and Vietnam Social Security (VSS) have worked with other countries on bilateral agreements to issue social insurance to foreign employees in Vietnam. According to the regulations, foreign employees with a work permit or practice certificate granted by Vietnamese authorities and under non-fixed-term contracts or contracts with a one-year term and above have been subjected to mandatory social insurance from December 1, 2018.

According to Dinh Duy Hung, deputy director of the Contribution Collection Department under the VSS, from December 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021, the employers have to contribute 3% of the employee’s monthly salary to the sickness and maternity funds and 0.5% into workplace accidents and hazards fund.

From January 1, 2022, the employees and employers will contribute 25.5% to social insurance together. The employers will have to contribute 17.5% into the sickness, maternity, workplace accident, retirement fund, and survivorship allowance. The employees will contribute 8%, the same rate as Vietnamese employees.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs announced that Vietnam has over 80,000 foreign employees and the majority of them have licenses. Statistics from the VSS show that as of February 28, the total amount of collection from social insurance reached VND100bn (USD4.3m). About 8,730 firms with 51,524 employees have joined the programme, accounting to 64% of the total licensed foreign employees in Vietnam.

"After three months, this is a very positive result," Hung said. "In the coming time, we will continue working with social insurance agencies in localities to get more accurate numbers of foreign employees in the areas and issue guidance to firms."

He went on to say that the programme is a necessary move to ensure foreign workers enjoy benefits and equal rights in Vietnam. The better working environment is also a draw to attract skilled employees. However, Hung said there were several problems with the new programme such as the language barrier. Since the employees come from different countries, some difficulties while communicating and doing the procedures have been reported.

Hung said, "In some cases, the employees may accidentally pay insurance twice, both in their home countries and in Vietnam. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is still working with other countries over this problem."

Dan Viet/Dtinews