The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is working on a draft amended Law on Employment, focusing on four groups of policies i.e., developing a synchronous, modern and unified labor market managed, controlled and regulated by the State; improving unemployment insurance policy to become a tool for administering the labor market; developing occupational skills and raising quality of human resources; and promoting job creation toward sustainability.
Under the draft, employees of state and non-state sectors would be obliged to participate in unemployment insurance when entering into indefinite labor contracts or labor contracts with a term of one month or more. Employees who neither work nor receive wages for 14 or more working days in a month would not be required to pay unemployment insurance premiums for that month.
Regarding conditions for entitlement to unemployment benefits, the draft additionally provides that laborers would not be entitled to unemployment benefits in case of unilaterally terminating their labor contracts, being disciplined in the form of forced resignation, or being on monthly pension or working capacity decrease allowance.
As for supports related to unemployment insurance, according to the draft, employers that employ people with disabilities, ethnic minority people and the elderly would be entitled to financial support for paying social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance premiums provided that they currently participate in unemployment insurance and have plans to recruit, assist and maintain jobs for such vulnerable persons.
Employers would also be provided with financial support to cover expenses for training, further training and improvement of occupational skills and qualifications for employees in case they encounter difficulties due to changes in organizational structure or technology, economic reasons like economic crisis or recession, or realization of commitments for energy transformation. Meanwhile, laborers who are covered by unemployment insurance would be provided with free-of-charge employment counseling and placement services and entitled to financial support to join occupational training and further training courses. Such support would cover not only tuition fees but also travel and living expenses as prescribed by the Prime Minister.
In order to encourage laborers to participate in tests for grant of certificates of national occupational skills, the draft says that those possessing such certificates would be entitled to priorities in terms of recruitment, payment and job placement. Employees with excellent occupational skills would be honored and awarded.- (VLLF)
