The 2024 Law on Social Insurance will take effect on July 1, 2025. This legislation represents a significant reform initiative aimed at expanding regulatory scope, enhancing entitlements for employees and reinforcing a sustainable social security framework. This article, prepared by TNTP, outlines the key changes introduced in comparison with the 2014 Law on Social Insurance.
1. Expanding the subjects participating in compulsory insurance
Article 2 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance expands the scope of subjects participating in compulsory social insurance and voluntary social insurance compared to the Law on Social Insurance 2014 as follows:
• Business household owners (with business registration);
• Part-time workers in villages and residential groups similar to part-time workers at the commune;
• Enterprise managers, controllers, representatives of state capital, representatives of enterprise capital at companies and parent companies, managers and operators of cooperatives who do not receive salaries;
• Non-fulltime workers (workers working under flexible working regimes);
• The case of not entering into a labour contract, or an agreement with another name but with an explicit expression showing paid work, salary, and management, operation, and supervision of one party, in accordance with the Labor Code 2019. This regulation aims to prevent evasion of social insurance contributions by clarifying that the existence of an employment relationship is the determining factor, regardless of contractual form.
2. New regulations on social pension allowance scheme
The social pension allowance is a form of state-funded support for elderly individuals who are not entitled to periodic pensions or social insurance benefits. It reflects the government’s welfare responsibility to safeguard vulnerable populations in the context of Vietnam’s rapidly ageing society.
Eligibility conditions include: (i) From 75 years old or older (From 70 to under 75 years old for poverty households and near-poverty households); (ii) Not receiving monthly pension or social insurance benefits, except for other cases as prescribed by the Government; (iii) Submission of a formal request to the competent authority for access to the allowance.
The monthly allowance level will be regulated by the Government, meeting the conditions appropriate to the socio-economic development conditions and the capacity of the state budget in each period. In case a person receiving social pension benefits is also eligible for monthly social allowances, he/she shall receive a higher allowance to avoid duplicate support while preserving optimal benefits.
A person receiving monthly social pension benefits shall have his/her health insurance paid by the state budget in accordance with the provisions of the law on health insurance. When he/she dies, the organization or individual in charge of the funeral shall receive support for funeral expenses in accordance with the provisions of the law on the elderly. This provision highlights not only the economic role of social protection but also its humanitarian dimension.
3. Reduce the period of social insurance payment to receive a pension
According to the provisions of Article 64 and Article 98 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, individuals participating in compulsory or voluntary social insurance who have paid social insurance for 15 years or more are entitled to receive a pension. 2024 Law on Social Insurance has reduced the period of social insurance payment to 15 years from 20 years as prescribed in the 2014 Law on Social Insurance. This provision aims to create favorable conditions for participating in social insurance to receive a pension, contributing to encouraging participants to choose to receive a pension instead of receiving social insurance one time.
4. Maternity allowance for voluntary insurance
While in the 2014 Law on Social Insurance, voluntary insurance participants only have pension and death insurance, the 2024 Law on Social Insurance has added maternity allowance for this type of insurance. This will provide some support for female voluntary insurance participants during their maternity period. Maternity allowance is regulated from Article 94 to Article 97 with the following main contents:
• Subjects eligible for maternity allowance include (i) Female workers giving birth; and (ii) Male workers whose wives give birth.
• Conditions for receiving maternity allowance: Individuals who have paid voluntary social insurance or have paid both compulsory social insurance and voluntary social insurance for at least 06 months within 12 months before giving birth; (ii) The father or the direct caregiver in the case where only the mother participates in social insurance and the mother dies after giving birth.
• Regarding the type of insurance benefits in some cases:
– In case both the father and mother participate in voluntary social insurance and are eligible for maternity benefits, only the father or mother is eligible.
– In case both the conditions for maternity benefits in voluntary social insurance and the conditions for maternity benefits in compulsory social insurance are met, the maternity benefits in compulsory social insurance are only enjoyed.
– In case the mother is eligible for maternity benefits in compulsory social insurance and the father is eligible for maternity benefits in voluntary social insurance, the mother is entitled to maternity benefits in compulsory social insurance, and the father is entitled to maternity benefits in voluntary social insurance.
– In case the father is eligible for maternity benefits in compulsory social insurance and the mother is eligible for maternity benefits in voluntary social insurance, the father is entitled to maternity benefits in compulsory social insurance, and the mother is entitled to maternity benefits in voluntary social insurance.
• Maternity benefit level: Article 95 stipulates that the maternity benefit level is 2,000,000 dong for each child born and each fetus from 22 weeks old or older who dies in the uterus or dies during labor. If the female worker is an ethnic minority or a Kinh person whose husband is an ethnic minority in a poverty household when giving birth, she will be entitled to other support policies.
• The application for maternity benefits is one of the following documents:
– A copy of the child’s birth certificate or birth extract or a copy of the birth certificate witness;
– In case of fetal death in the uterus, fetal death during labor or child death after birth without being issued a birth certificate, the file must be one of the following documents: (i) Original or copy of the summary of the medical record showing information about the child’s death; (ii) Original or copy of the hospital discharge paper of the female employee giving birth showing information about the child’s death; (iii) Copy of the child’s death certificate; (iv) Confirmation document of the People’s Committee at the commune level in case the child dies within 24 hours after birth.
– Within 60 days from the date of birth, the employee is responsible for submitting the file to the social insurance agency. Within 05 working days from the date of receiving the complete file as prescribed, the social insurance agency is responsible for resolving it; in case of non-resolution, a written response must be given stating the reason.
The provisions of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance aim to expand insurance regimes for participants, and supplement subsidy regimes for specific subjects to ensure social security for special subjects, in line with the motto “no one is left behind”. On the other hand, the provisions of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance also contribute to encouraging social insurance participants to choose to enjoy retirement benefits instead of paying off social insurance at once, contributing to balance and stability in the social insurance system.
Best regards,
