From April 16 to May 10, more than 440,000 people in Hanoi will receive both their April and May monthly pension and social insurance allowance one time at home.

If the regulation on compulsory social insurance for foreign workers in Vietnam is implemented, Vietnam would have the highest labour cost for foreign workers in the region, foreign experts warn.

 VietNamNet Bridge – As many as 815 enterprises in HCM City owe more than six months of social insurance payments, while thousands of enterprises owe two months.

Foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) complain that regulations related to the use of laborers are creating difficulties for their operations.

 The first working day of the 7th plenary session of the 12th Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) took place in Hanoi on May 7.

Doan Mau Diep, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, talks to Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper about solutions to ease the burden of the social insurance fund for retirees

New policies on compulsory social insurance, region-based minimum wages and multidimensional poverty standards are among those that will take effect in January 2016.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Just five per cent of informal labourers across Viet Nam are covered by social insurance, posing a potential risk that millions of workers will be without any pension to support their later years.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi People's Council has received 257 questions from municipal voters, mostly reflecting hot issues, ahead of its three day meeting this week.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) is drafting a decree to create a State subsidy for people joining the voluntary social insurance programme.

Viet Nam would struggle to pay millions of its retirees pensions soon in the future as only about 20 per cent of the workforce are currently contributing to the social insurance fund.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has admitted to violations in an examination to choose civil servants last year, saying its officials had leaked answers of the test to certain candidates.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Businesses that evade paying social insurance premiums for workers should be punished more harshly, the deputy general-director of Viet Nam Social Insurance, Do Van Sinh, said at a meeting on Wednesday.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The national voluntary social insurance programme aims to provide insurance to society's most vulnerable groups, but many intended beneficiaries are uninformed or unable to participate.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Workers are showing apathy toward the Vietnam National Wage Council’s effort to seek public opinion on how much the minimum wage should be increased by in 2015 due to it likely having little impact on their socio-economic status.

 4,000 children suffering violence every year; First southern IP has police station; East-West Highway continues to subside; Transport ministry told to push clampdown on overloading

 VietNamNet Bridge – Up to half of the 300,000 businesses currently operating failed to pay social insurance premiums for their workers, according to the Viet Nam Social Insurance Collection Board.

VietNamNet Bridge – As part of the revised draft Law on Social Insurance, Viet Nam is considering gradually raising the retirement age to 62 years for men and 60 for women starting in 2016.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Amendments to the Law on Enterprises would create favourable conditions for setting up businesses, Minister of Investment and Planning Bui Quang Vinh said at the 13th National Assembly's 7th working session on May 26.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Social Insurance Bureau of Binh Duong Province plans to spend VND700 billion (nearly $35 million) to support the tens of thousands of workers affected in the recent disturbances at its industrial zones.