On the early morning of April 8, nearly a hundred people queued outside the Social Security Agency of Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc city, some of them even showed up from 4a.m. They were waiting for their turn to file requests for lump-sum withdrawal payment from the social insurance fund.

Employees may either request to be entitled to lump-sum social insurance allowance just after having ceased working for one year and stopping payment of social insurance premiums or wait until they reach the retirement age. For each option, they would receive different allowance levels.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) has proposed reducing the minimum period of social insurance premium payment for participants to enjoy pension from 20 years to 15 years, eventually 10 years, as from 2024.

As per Article 2 of Government Decree 143/2018/ND-CP, when being employed in the country, a foreigner is required to participate in social insurance if he (i) possesses a work permit, practice certificate or practice license granted by a Vietnamese authority; and (ii) has entered into a labor contract of an indefinite term or of a term of at least full one year with a Vietnam-based employer.

The new Labor Code was passed last November with major amendments and will take effect from the beginning of next year. Compared to the Labor Code which was enacted for the first time in 1994 and revised four times in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2012, the 2019 Labor Code (the Code) has fundamental and comprehensive revisions and becomes a new legal framework facilitating the building of harmonious, stable and progressive industrial relations in the context of a socialist-oriented market economy and making Vietnam’s labor law better match international labor standards and serve the international integration process of the country.

The United Nations Population Fund Country Office in Vietnam has recently rendered technical support to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in preparing a review report of 10 years of implementing the Law on Gender Equality of Vietnam. On this occasion, Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam, grants Vietnam Law & Legal Forum magazine an interview on the results achieved in Vietnam’s gender equality work as well as things that should be improved in the future.

Coming into force from the beginning of 2021, the Labor Code prescribes labor standards; rights, obligations and responsibilities of employees, employers, grassroots-level employees’ representative organizations, and employers’ representative organizations in industrial relations and other relations directly associated with industrial relations; and state management of labor.

Social insurance is a main pillar of the social security system in Vietnam’s socialist-oriented market economy. Proper implementation of social insurance is the duty of the entire political system and responsibility of Party organizations and administrations, socio-political organizations, businesses and people. One of the key factors for proper implementation of social insurance is policies and laws governing this social service. This article examines limitations in the current legal system on social insurance and puts forward solutions for improvement of this important system.

Available on Official Gazette issues Nos 125-129 of 2019, the revised Labor Code, with 220 articles arranged in 17 chapters, contains several significant changes compared to its 2012 version.