LAW

ON SOCIAL INSURANCE

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law on Social Insurance.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law provides for social insurance regimes and policies; the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers; agencies, organizations and individuals involved in social insurance, representative organizations of employee collectives and employers’ representative organizations; social insurance agencies; social insurance funds; and procedures for social insurance implementation, and state management of social insurance.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Employees being Vietnamese citizens shall be covered by compulsory social insurance, including:

a/ Persons working under indefinite-term labor contracts, definite-term labor contracts, seasonal labor contracts or contracts for given jobs with a term of between full 3 months and under 12 months, including also labor contracts signed between employers and at-law representatives of persons aged under 15 years in accordance with the labor law;

b/ Persons working under labor contracts with a term of between full 1 month and under 3 months;

c/ Cadres, civil servants and public employees;

d/ Defense workers, public security workers and persons doing other jobs in cipher organizations;

dd/ Officers and professional army men of the people's army; officers and professional non-commissioned officers and officers and technical non- commissioned officers of the people's public security; and persons engaged in cipher work and enjoying salaries like army men;

e/ Non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the people’s army; non- commissioned officers and soldiers on definite-term service in the people’s public security; army, public security and cipher cadets who are entitled to cost- of-living allowance;

g/ Vietnamese guest workers defined in the Law on Vietnamese Guest Workers;

h/ Salaried managers of enterprises and cooperatives;

i/ Part-time staffs in communes, wards and townships.

2. Employees who are foreign citizens working in Vietnam with work permits or practice certificates or practice licences granted by competent Vietnamese agencies shall be covered by compulsory social insurance under the Government’s regulations.

3. Employers covered by compulsory social insurance include state agencies, non-business units and people's armed forces units; political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-politico-professional organizations, socio-professional organizations and other social organizations; foreign agencies and organizations, and international organizations operating in the Vietnamese territory; enterprises, cooperatives, individual business households, cooperative groups, and other organizations and individuals that hire or employ employees under labor contracts.

4. Persons covered by voluntary social insurance are Vietnamese citizens aged full 15 years or older and not defined in Clause 1 of this Article.

5. Agencies, organizations and individuals involved in social insurance.

The subjects defined in Clauses 1, 2 and 4 of this Article are below collectively referred to as employees.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Social insurance means the guarantee to fully or partially offset an employee’s income that is reduced or lost due to his/her sickness, maternity, labor accident, occupational disease, retirement or death, on the basis of his/her contributions to the social insurance fund.

2. Compulsory social insurance means a form of social insurance organized by the State in which employees and employers are required to participate.

3. Voluntary social insurance means a form of social insurance organized by the State in which a participant may select a premium rate and a method of premium payment suitable to his/her income and the State supports his/her payment of social insurance premiums for him/her to enjoy retirement and survivorship allowance regimes.

4. Social insurance fund is a financial fund which is independent from the state budget and set up by contributions from employees and employers and with the State's support.

5. Period of social insurance premium payment means a period counted from the time an employee starts paying social insurance premiums to the time he/she stops such payment. In case an employee pays social insurance premiums in interrupted periods, his/her period of social insurance premium payment is the total of such periods.

6. Relative means an insured’s natural child, adopted child, spouse, natural father, natural mother, adoptive father, adoptive mother, father-in-law or mother- in-law, or another family member whom the insured is obliged to nurture in accordance with the law on marriage and family.

7. Supplementary retirement scheme is a voluntary social insurance policy aiming to supplement the retirement regime under compulsory social insurance, which is formed by contributions from employees and employers in the form of personal savings accounts, and preserved and accumulated through investment activities in accordance with law.

Article 4. Social insurance regimes

1. Compulsory social insurance covers the following regimes:

a/ Sickness;

b/ Maternity;

c/ Labor accident and occupational disease;

d/ Retirement;

dd/ Survivorship allowance.

2. Voluntary social insurance covers the following regimes:

a/ Retirement;

b/ Survivorship allowance.

3. The supplementary retirement scheme shall be stipulated by the Government.

Article 5. Social insurance principles

1. Levels of social insurance allowances shall be calculated based on the social insurance premium rate, the premium payment period and the sharing among the insured.

2. The compulsory social insurance premium rate shall be calculated based on an employee’s monthly salary. The voluntary social insurance premium rate shall be calculated based on the monthly income selected by employees.

3. Employees who pay both compulsory and voluntary social insurance premiums are entitled to the retirement regime and survivorship allowance regime based on their period of social insurance premium payment. The period of social insurance premium payment already calculated for enjoying a lump-sum social insurance allowance shall not be included in the period used to calculate social insurance regimes.

4. The social insurance fund shall be managed in a centralized, uniform, public and transparent manner; used for proper purposes and independently accounted by component funds and groups of the insured subject to the state- prescribed salary regime and the employer-decided salary regime.

5. Social insurance shall be implemented in a simple, easy and convenient manner, promptly and fully ensuring the interests of the insured.

Article 6. State policies on social insurance