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Recently, the drafting agency for the proposed amendment to the Social Insurance Law in Vietnam, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, has stirred controversy with a proposal stating that part-time workers in Vietnam should also participate in social insurance alongside employers if they meet certain criteria.
The proposal, included in the draft amendment to the Social Insurance Law submitted to the National Assembly for consideration, suggests that part-time workers, those employed hourly and receiving a monthly salary equivalent to half of the minimum wage in Zone 1, will be required to participate in compulsory social insurance.
Both employees and employers would contribute, although the specific contribution rates have not been specified yet. It is likely that the contribution rates will be similar to the current rates of official employees in Vietnam, where employees contribute 10.5% of their monthly salary, and employers contribute 21.5% of the monthly salary.
According to the Ministry of Labor, the group of part-time workers without specific labor contracts and social insurance coverage has been gradually increasing in society, especially among student workers, part-time student employees, and recent graduates. In many cases, hourly workers express the desire to participate in social insurance but lack the legal basis to support their contributions or claim benefits from their employers.
To address the needs of this labor group and ensure their social insurance coverage, the Ministry of Labor proposes to add part-time workers to the mandatory social insurance coverage if their income equals at least half of the minimum wage in Zone 1, the highest wage level in Vietnam. With the current minimum wage in Zone 1 being 4.68 million VND per month, the minimum income for part-time workers to participate in social insurance would be 2.34 million VND per month.
Part-time workers, under the proposed contribution scheme similar to formal employees, would be entitled to social insurance benefits such as retirement pensions, sickness allowances, maternity benefits, unemployment benefits, and health insurance when necessary.
Expanding the mandatory social insurance coverage to include part-time workers aims to increase social insurance coverage, boost fund revenues, and ensure the integrity of the fund against unforeseeable events. However, the proposal has raised concerns among part-time workers and the general public, given that many formal employees in Vietnam negotiate exemptions from social insurance contributions to avoid deductions from their monthly salaries.
For part-time workers, whose income is only half of the minimum wage compared to formal employees in Zone 1, the possibility of a significant reduction in their monthly income is a major concern. Many of these individuals are students living away from home, facing unstable incomes, and already struggling to make ends meet.
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