Contract employees and foreigners authorised to work in Vietnam would beincluded in the Government's social insurance programme, under a newdraft revision to the Law on Social Insurance, compiled by the Ministryof of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs.
The draft law wasdiscussed at a meeting on February 27 held on the management of thesocial insurance fund. At the meeting, head of the ministry's SocialInsurance Department Tran Thuy Nga said that currently employees onlabour contracts of at least three months can benefit from thegovernment's social insurance programme.
Under the draft, from2018 the programme will cover all contracted employees, includingforeigners permitted to work in Vietnam.
By the end of lastyear, around 10.8 million people (about 20 percent of the labour force)joined the compulsory social insurance scheme, with 173,000 also optingfor voluntary social insurance.
The low percentage meant thatmillions of people would not be able to receive the retirement pensionin future at their retirement age, placing an astronomical burden on theGovernment to ensure an adequate safety net for elderly citizens.
In2011 alone, the Government spent nearly 3 trillion VND (142.85 millionUSD) to support people over 80 years-old who did not join socialinsurance, Thoi bao kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) reportedlast week.
Labour Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen said that it wasimperative to make more people eligible to join social insurance.Presently, Vietnam is aiming to have around 29 percent of its populationor half of its workforce join social insurance by 2020.
The revised Law on Social Insurance is expected to be in the National Assembly's agenda for approval this year.-VNA
The draft law wasdiscussed at a meeting on February 27 held on the management of thesocial insurance fund. At the meeting, head of the ministry's SocialInsurance Department Tran Thuy Nga said that currently employees onlabour contracts of at least three months can benefit from thegovernment's social insurance programme.
Under the draft, from2018 the programme will cover all contracted employees, includingforeigners permitted to work in Vietnam.
By the end of lastyear, around 10.8 million people (about 20 percent of the labour force)joined the compulsory social insurance scheme, with 173,000 also optingfor voluntary social insurance.
The low percentage meant thatmillions of people would not be able to receive the retirement pensionin future at their retirement age, placing an astronomical burden on theGovernment to ensure an adequate safety net for elderly citizens.
In2011 alone, the Government spent nearly 3 trillion VND (142.85 millionUSD) to support people over 80 years-old who did not join socialinsurance, Thoi bao kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) reportedlast week.
Labour Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen said that it wasimperative to make more people eligible to join social insurance.Presently, Vietnam is aiming to have around 29 percent of its populationor half of its workforce join social insurance by 2020.
The revised Law on Social Insurance is expected to be in the National Assembly's agenda for approval this year.-VNA
