Continue to propose exchanging the number of years of excess social insurance contributions

The grassroots trade union continues to propose that employees who have paid social insurance for more than 30-35 years can exchange their surplus time for their missing age to retire early without being deducted 2%.

Giving her opinion on the draft revised Law on Social Insurance at the discussion on March 27, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Ha, Vice President of the Vinh Phuc Provincial Labor Federation, made the above proposal. Over the past year, she has mentioned this issue at least three times.

"The drafting team always said they would accept it, but no additions were made in the updated versions of the bill," she said, arguing that lawmakers need to carefully calculate so that workers are not disadvantaged. If the proposal is implemented, the number of people withdrawing their social insurance (SI) at one time will decrease. Even if they quit their jobs, they will consider paying voluntary SI to wait for retirement.

Shift time of May 10 workers in Hanoi, February 2024. Photo: Ngoc Thanh — Shift time of May 10 workers in Hanoi, February 2024. Photo: *Ngoc Thanh*

The current law and the draft amendment stipulate that male workers must pay social insurance for 35 years, female workers must pay 30 years, and reach retirement age to receive a maximum of 75% of their salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions. Workers who retire before the prescribed age will have 2% deducted each year, while those who pay more than the maximum limit will only receive a subsidy equal to 0.5 times the average salary for each excess year.

In reality, many workers started working in their twenties, now have more than enough years of social insurance contributions to receive the maximum 75% pension, but are too young; or retire early and have a 2% deduction, making the benefit very low. The retirement age is increasing according to the roadmap, making many people exhausted when pursuing the maximum pension of 75%.

The National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education previously proposed that the Government supplement the assessment of the impact of the one-time subsidy for workers who have paid the maximum number of years of social insurance in order to encourage them to stay with the social security system for a long time. However, the revised bill still maintains the same level of benefits.

Statistics from 2016-2021 show that 435,000 retirees nationwide will receive a one-time benefit due to exceeding the maximum number of years of social insurance contributions, accounting for nearly 66% of the total number of retirees. On average, out of 3 retirees, 2 will receive the maximum 75%.

Vinh Phuc Labor Union also proposed amending some regulations to increase maternity benefits for female workers. The current law and the proposed amendments stipulate that workers must submit maternity records to their employers within 45 days of returning to work. The union believes that 45 days is too long, causing workers to be disadvantaged when they cannot make up for their income during the time off.

"Raising a child requires hundreds of expenses: diapers, milk, everything in the world. Where will the money come from if you don't get benefits early?" she wondered, suggesting amending the regulation requiring workers to submit their applications for benefits immediately after giving birth instead of waiting 45 days.

The revised Social Insurance Law Project was discussed by the National Assembly at its October 2023 session, expected to be approved at its May session and take effect from July 1, 2025.

Hong Chieu

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