Ensuring equal pension rates between men and women

At the consultation sessions of the trade union on the Law on Social Insurance (SI), representatives of the grassroots trade union suggested ensuring equality in pension rates between men and women when proposing to reduce the number of years of social insurance contributions to 15 years. At the same time, trade unions at all levels also proposed to swap the years of social insurance contributions for early retirement.

Reduce social insurance payment time for men when enjoying 45%

Mr. Le Anh Duong, Chairman of the Long Bien District Social Insurance Union (Long Bien District Labor Federation - Long Bien District Labor Federation) when giving comments on the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended) said: Regarding the time of social insurance payment to calculate the monthly pension, according to the provisions of Point a, Clause 1, Article 64 of the draft, the retirement age for men is 2 years higher than that of women (men is 62 years old and women is 60 years old).

Male workers in the garment industry do heavy work.

Meanwhile, Clause 1, Article 66 of the draft stipulates that the social insurance payment period for calculating monthly pension for men is 5 years higher than that for women (20 years for male workers, 15 years for female workers), which is unreasonable and does not ensure fairness for male workers. Therefore, it is recommended to consider amending the regulation to reduce the social insurance payment period for men to 17 or 18 years to ensure reasonableness.

Mr. Vu Hoang Hong, Air Traffic Management Center (Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation, Long Bien District Labor Union) said: Towards the retirement of men at 62 years old and women at 60 years old, the benefit level should be adjusted so that men who have paid for 17 years and women who have paid for 15 years will receive 45% of their salary; men who have paid for 32 years will receive the full 75% of their salary. This aims at fairness and gender equality between men and women.

Proposal to swap social insurance payment years for early retirement

In addition, many opinions from union officials and workers suggested exchanging the number of years of excess social insurance contributions to be able to retire early.

According to current regulations, male workers who want to receive a maximum pension of 75% must pay social insurance for 35 years, and female workers must pay social insurance for 30 years. If they retire early, 2% will be deducted per year. If they pay too much time, the employee will receive a subsidy equal to 0.5 times the average monthly salary for each extra year of social insurance payment.

Working since the age of 20, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, a worker at Noi Bai Industrial Park (Hanoi), has participated in social insurance for 27 years. If he follows the retirement age schedule, Mr. Hung will have to continue working for another 14 years. He shared: "From the age of 45 onwards, the health of workers gradually declines, their flexibility and ability to complete work, and the output of products assigned by the enterprise are very limited. For workers in the production sector, to pay for 35 years is already exhausted, let alone having to continue working until the age of 62 to retire. When workers have paid social insurance for 35 years and are no longer interested in their jobs, there should be policies to create conditions for workers to participate in social insurance to retire early, also to create opportunities for young people to have jobs."

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Chairman of the Trade Union of Dong Anh Chain Joint Stock Company, said: Regarding the retirement age, the Law currently stipulates an increase in the retirement age according to the roadmap until men are 62 years old and women are 60 years old. However, according to the opinion of employees and enterprises, this age is only suitable for indirect workers, while most direct workers have to retire before the age of % deduction due to poor health to work until retirement age, which will be very disadvantageous for workers. It is proposed that the National Assembly study and adjust the retirement age for both direct and indirect subjects accordingly.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Ha, Vice President of the Vinh Phuc Provincial Labor Federation, proposed that employees be allowed to exchange the years of excess social insurance contributions for the years of retirement they are missing. This is the third time in the past year that the Vice President of the Vinh Phuc Provincial Labor Federation has mentioned this issue.

"Many workers started working at a very young age, and now have enough years of social insurance contributions to receive 75%, but they are short of retirement age, so when they retire early they have to receive a low pension. For many years, workers have expressed their most earnest request to be compensated for the years of social insurance contributions for the years of retirement age."

According to Ms. Ha, the law drafting committee needs to carefully calculate so that employees are not disadvantaged. If passed, the number of people withdrawing social insurance at one time will also decrease.

Source