I have a Vietnamese-Australian dual citizenship and am married to a Vietnamese. My husband and I are living and working in Vietnam, and I am two-month pregnant. How does the Vietnamese law prescribe the maternity leave for female employees? Can my husband take a leave to take care of me when I give birth?
Despite having a foreign citizenship, you are also regarded as a Vietnamese citizen for having the Vietnamese citizenship. Therefore, you may enjoy the maternity regime provided for Vietnamese citizens.
According to Vietnam’s regulations on social insurance, you may enjoy the maternity regime in accordance with law if you have paid compulsory social insurance premiums in Vietnam for at least full six months within 12 months before giving birth.
Specifically, you are entitled to a six-month maternity leave before and after childbirth. In case you give birth to twins or more infants, you will be entitled to an additional leave of one month for each infant from the second on. However, the period of maternity leave before childbirth must not exceed two months.
If your husband is working for an enterprise under a labor contract and paying social insurance premiums, he may have five working days off for your giving birth.
In case you have to undergo a cesarean or very preterm (under 32 weeks of pregnancy) delivery, your husband may leave for seven working days.
He will be entitled to a paternity leave of 10 working days if you give birth to twins, or additional three working days for each infant from the second on. If you give birth to twins or more infants by cesarean section, your husband will have 14 working days off.
His leave must be taken within 30 days after you give birth.
The period of maternity leave includes public holidays, New Year holiday and weekends.
 |
Medical doctors give health checks to female workers of Hoa Hiep industrial park (Phu Yen province)__Photo: The Lap/VNA |
What are the prescribed levels of maternity allowance? Can I take a longer maternity leave as I need more time to recover after the childbirth?
According to the Vietnamese law on social insurance, your monthly maternity allowance is equal to your average monthly salary, on which social insurance premiums are based, in six months before you take the maternity leave.
Meanwhile, the allowance for each of your husband’s days off equals the monthly maternity allowance divided by 24 days. If he has paid social insurance premiums for less than six months, his allowance level is his average monthly salary in the months for which social insurance premiums have been paid.
The maternity leave of 14 working days or more in a month is regarded as a period of social insurance premium payment. During this period, the employee and employer are not required to pay social insurance premiums.
In case your health cannot fully recover within 30 working days following the maternity leave, you may ask for an additional leave of between five and ten days.
The period of leave for health recovery includes public holidays, New Year holiday and weekends. If such period lasts from the end of a year to the next year, it will be counted for the previous year.
The number of days off for health recovery must be jointly decided by the employer and grassroots Trade Union executive committee, specifically:
- Ten days for female employees who give birth to twins or more infants;
- Seven days for female employees who have a cesarean birth;
- Five days for other cases.
The per-diem allowance for health recovery after the maternity leave is equal to 30 percent of the basic salary level.-
