The Social Insurance Law 2024, effective from July 1, stipulates that employees who have participated in social insurance for 15 years at retirement age will receive a pension; voluntary social insurance participants who have participated for 15 years will also receive a pension.

The new Social Insurance Law stipulates that the social insurance payment period must be reduced from 20 years to 15 years to receive a pension, not only creating conditions for those who pay compulsory social insurance but also for those who participate in voluntary social insurance to receive a pension.

Pay voluntary social insurance once for 15 years?

In particular, the Social Insurance Law 2024 stipulates that voluntary social insurance participants can pay one time for many years to come and one time for the remaining payment period to be eligible for pension.

The above regulation is good news for workers, especially the elderly who have not participated in social insurance and are about to reach retirement age, can voluntarily pay social insurance to receive pension.

Social Insurance photo.jpg
Voluntary social insurance helps freelance workers have the opportunity to receive pensions when they retire.
Illustration: Social Insurance

Mr. Vu Van Lu (59 years old, in Trieu Son, Thanh Hoa) shared that through research, he learned that from July 1, when the new Social Insurance Law takes effect, the minimum number of years of social insurance contributions to receive pension will be reduced to 15 years; voluntary social insurance participants can pay one time for many years to be eligible for pension.

From then on, Mr. Lu plans to participate in voluntary social insurance, paying "in one lump sum" for 15 years so that when he reaches retirement age according to regulations, he will receive a monthly pension.

Regarding the above issue, Vietnam Social Security said that the Social Security Law 2024 stipulates that employees who reach retirement age and have contributed to social insurance for 15 years are eligible for pension.

In Clause 2, Article 36 of the Social Insurance Law 2024, it is stipulated that voluntary social insurance participants can pay one time for many years to come and one time for the remaining social insurance payment period to be eligible for pension.

However, Article 36 also clearly states that the Government shall specify the above content in detail for implementation.

Because at present, the Government has not issued a document guiding the implementation of this content, Vietnam Social Security has no basis for implementation.

According to Vietnam Social Security, based on current regulations in Decree 134/2015 of the Government, participants can flexibly choose the following payment methods: Monthly payment; payment every 3 months; payment every 6 months; payment every 12 months; payment for many years in the future but not more than 5 years at a time;

One-time payment for the missing years for social insurance participants who have met the age requirement to receive pension according to regulations but the remaining social insurance payment period is not more than 10 years (120 months), they can pay for the full 20 years to receive pension.

Thus, in Mr. Lu's case, we need to wait until the Social Insurance Law 2024 takes effect and the Government has specific instructions. At this time, Mr. Lu can choose the payment methods according to Decree 134 as above.

Encourage people to participate in voluntary social insurance

Voluntary social insurance is practical for freelance workers because everyone wants to receive a pension when they are old. However, the current contribution rate is still high compared to low-income people, so the State needs more support.

According to current regulations, the State supports voluntary social insurance contributors at a percentage of the monthly contribution. Specifically, poor households are supported 30%, near-poor households 25% and 10% for other cases.

To attract workers to participate in voluntary social insurance, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is drafting a decree regulating the increase in the level of State support for voluntary social insurance participants.

The Ministry has proposed two options to increase the percentage of monthly social insurance contributions according to the poverty line in rural areas.

Option 1, the State supports 50% for voluntary social insurance participants from poor households, 40% for near-poor households, 30% for social insurance participants from ethnic minorities, and 20% for other subjects.

Option 2, the State supports 30% for poor households, 25% for near-poor households, 20% for ethnic minorities and 10% for other subjects.

Voluntary social insurance participants who are eligible for different levels of support will be supported at the highest level.

According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, poor and near-poor households are vulnerable to society, facing real difficulties, and need priority support to ensure social security.

A labor expert said that choosing a plan with a higher level of support than the current regulations will have an impact on attracting people to participate in voluntary social insurance in the coming time. The State increasing the level of support so that the poor can participate in voluntary social insurance, and when they retire, they will have a pension, which will help reduce the burden of social security in the future.