The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has just completed the draft Law on Employment after consulting with ministries and sectors and receiving comments from the National Assembly's Social Committee. The drafting agency proposed expanding the scope of unemployment insurance participants and adjusting a number of related policies.

The current Employment Law has only one provision to support employers. That is to support employers in training, fostering, and improving vocational skills. However, after 5 years of implementation, no business has received support because the conditions for enjoying the regime are too strict.

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Unemployment insurance needs to support businesses. Photo: MC.

When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2021, the Government issued a policy to support employees and employers, and the above policy was promoted, 66 enterprises were supported with an amount of 38.87 billion VND.

Based on the above reality, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs proposed to amend the draft law on employment in the direction of using the unemployment insurance fund to support business owners for economic reasons, changes in structure and technology as prescribed in the Labor Code; natural disasters, fires, enemy attacks or dangerous epidemics; implementing decisions of competent State agencies on relocation or reduction of production and business locations.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs also said that currently, the support regime for participating in training and improving vocational skills for workers mainly addresses the vocational training needs of unemployed people, and there is no support for working workers to improve their skills.

Therefore, the drafting agency proposed to supplement regulations in the direction of supporting training, fostering, and improving vocational skills for both working workers and adding expenses to support food expenses for workers (not receiving unemployment benefits) during the study period.

Add more subjects to pay unemployment insurance

Resolution 28 of the Central Executive Committee on reforming social insurance policies sets a target of 45% of the working-age workforce participating in unemployment insurance by 2030. However, current laws do not cover salaried workers who participate in social insurance and are required to pay unemployment insurance.

Therefore, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs proposed to add to the draft Law on Employment (amended) many groups of subjects that must participate in unemployment insurance. Specifically, people who sign labor contracts for 1 month or more; business managers, controllers, representatives of state capital, and representatives of enterprise capital as prescribed by law.

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The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed that employees who sign contracts for one month or more must pay unemployment insurance. Illustration photo: Le Anh Dung.

In addition, members of the board of directors, general directors, directors, members of the board of supervisors or supervisors and other elected management positions of cooperatives and cooperative unions as prescribed by the Law on Cooperatives who receive salaries must also pay unemployment insurance.

A representative of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that with the above regulation, the number of people participating in unemployment insurance is expected to increase by 60,000 people, helping to increase revenue for the unemployment insurance fund.

The policy also helps workers feel more secure about the future when they face the risk of losing their jobs or having their income reduced. Employers do not have to pay unemployment benefits when workers quit their jobs.