The draft revised Law on Employment proposes that employees who are fired or disciplined and forced to quit their jobs will not be entitled to unemployment benefits, causing much debate.
Impact on social security
According to the draft Law on Employment (amended), employees are not entitled to unemployment benefits when unilaterally terminating their labor contracts illegally according to the provisions of the Labor Code; unilaterally terminating their labor contracts not in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Civil Servants; being dismissed according to the law on labor or being disciplined by being forced to quit their jobs according to the law on civil servants; employees receiving pensions; and people who are eligible for pensions but have not yet received pensions upon termination of their labor contracts or work contracts.
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| The proposal that workers who are fired or disciplined and forced to quit their jobs will not be entitled to unemployment benefits is causing much debate. Photo: Khanh Tran |
Compared to the 2013 Employment Law, the conditions for unemployment benefits in the amended Employment Law add that those who are not eligible for benefits are workers who have been fired or disciplined and forced to quit their jobs. This proposal is causing much debate, especially among older workers.
Recently, many workers in the age group of 35 to over 40 have been fired or lost their jobs. There are many reasons why workers have to quit their jobs, it could be because the company wants to cut down on workers to reduce costs, it could be because of some mistake, or even because the work pressure is too high that the workers cannot meet the requirements... leading to being fired.
In such a situation, workers are disadvantaged, because the opportunity to find a new job for the working age group from 35 to over 40 is very difficult, while they are not old enough or have enough years of social insurance contributions to receive a pension. In this context, unemployment insurance is the source of income that helps workers temporarily reduce difficulties.
Sharing about this issue, Ms. Hoang Nhung - working at a company in Bac Ninh Industrial Park - said that no one wants to be unemployed to receive benefits, but for many different reasons, workers can lose their jobs or quit. If they are not given unemployment benefits, not only will workers be at a disadvantage, but this proposal will also create opportunities for employers to make things difficult, making it easy for workers to be fired.
Returning to the story of the first months of 2023, facing the wave of layoffs of older workers, a representative of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor spoke out, stating that the policy of dismissing older workers has been a long-standing situation and is alarming, because this situation will make the social security problem even more difficult.
Ensure the principle of "contribution - enjoyment"
Many opinions expressed that, in the context of the labor market facing many challenges, unemployment insurance is one of the important policies of the social security system, with the goal of supporting workers to maintain their jobs, partially compensating for their income if they unfortunately lose their jobs. Thus, according to the new proposal, the fact that laid-off workers are not entitled to unemployment benefits seems to go against the nature and important meaning of unemployment insurance, which is to share the financial burden with workers while they are unable to find jobs.
Therefore, commenting on the issue of unemployment insurance in the Draft Law on Employment (amended), the Social Committee noted that it is necessary to consider, calculate, and clarify the regulations on the maximum unemployment insurance contribution rate of 1% of monthly salary in Article 58 and the regulation that employees who are fired or disciplined and forced to quit are not entitled to unemployment benefits in Point b, Clause 1, Article 64; at the same time, it is recommended that the drafting agency continue to supplement and assess the impact of the new regulations and have solutions to ensure feasibility and overcome current limitations in implementation.
Sharing the same view with the Social Committee, many opinions emphasized the importance of unemployment insurance, with the most important purpose being to compensate for the income of workers when they lose their jobs, support vocational training, find new suitable jobs, and bring workers back to the labor market soon. Therefore, the drafting agency researched and considered removing this provision to create conditions for the above-mentioned workers to receive unemployment benefits based on the principle of "contribution - enjoyment".
Sharing the same concerns in Article 64 of the Draft Law on Employment (amended) regulating the cases of not being entitled to unemployment benefits, which are employees who are fired under the labor law or disciplined to quit their jobs under the law on civil servants, Mr. Nguyen Tran Phuong Tran - Delegation of National Assembly of Ho Chi Minh City - said that this regulation is not suitable with the current unemployment insurance regime. This regulation limits and narrows the subjects entitled to unemployment benefits more than the current Law. The drafting agency needs to separate the cases where employees are disciplined to quit their jobs under the law on civil servants from the cases where employees are entitled to unemployment insurance to ensure the rights of employees.
Source: https://congthuong.vn/de-xuat-nguoi-bi-sa-thai-khong-duoc-tro-cap-that-nghiep-cong-nhan-lon-tuoi-them-noi-lo-358443.html
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