Continue to present to the National Assembly two options for withdrawing insurance at once

On the morning of May 27, the National Assembly held a plenary session in the hall to discuss a number of controversial contents of the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended).

Member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Chairwoman of the Social Committee of the National Assembly Nguyen Thuy Anh presented the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended).

Reporting at the meeting on conditions for receiving one-time social insurance benefits for those who are not old enough to receive pension, do not continue to pay social insurance, have not paid social insurance for twenty years and have a request to receive one-time social insurance benefits, Chairwoman of the Social Affairs Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh said that at the 6th session, the Government presented two options to the National Assembly.

Option 1, workers are divided into two groups. Group 1, workers participating in social insurance before the Law takes effect (expected July 1, 2025), after 12 months are not subject to compulsory social insurance, do not participate in voluntary social insurance and have less than 20 years of social insurance payment and have a request, they are entitled to receive one-time social insurance according to current regulations (Resolution No. 93/2015/QH13).

Group 2, employees who start participating in social insurance from the effective date of the Law onwards, are not subject to the provisions on conditions for receiving one-time social insurance benefits as stipulated in Resolution No. 93/2015/QH13.

Option 2, the employee will be partially resolved but not more than 50% of the total time contributed to the pension and death fund. The remaining time of social insurance payment is reserved so that the employee can continue to participate and enjoy social insurance benefits.

Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Social Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh said that on this issue, the National Assembly Standing Committee sees that the context and requirements when developing plans for one-time social insurance must ensure dual goals, both institutionalizing the goals of Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW on reforming social insurance policies and harmonizing the rights of workers, in accordance with the practice and principles of social insurance.

"Although the two options proposed by the Government are not optimal, may not completely resolve the situation of receiving social insurance benefits at one time, and are not expected to prevent collective reactions from workers, these are the dominant options, especially Option 1. In addition, there are opinions agreeing with Option 2 so as not to create a "cut" between the participants before and after the Law takes effect. Other opinions suggest integrating Option 2 into group 2 of Option 1, accordingly, for workers who start participating in social insurance from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2030, they will still receive one-time social insurance benefits according to a gradually decreasing roadmap," said Nguyen Thuy Anh, Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Social Committee.

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Anh added that the majority of opinions in the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed with Option 1 proposed by the Government and was also the opinion of the majority of workers in a number of localities that were consulted by the agency in charge of the review. However, to ensure social security for workers and minimize the need for workers to choose to receive social insurance benefits at a time, regardless of the option chosen, the Government needs to soon have a support plan and issue appropriate regulations so that workers participating in social insurance can borrow credit capital according to specific mechanisms and policies when facing difficulties; continue to review, supplement and perfect legal policies on labor and employment to maintain jobs and stable income for workers.

At the same time, it is necessary to promote communication work so that workers understand the benefits of receiving monthly pensions instead of choosing to receive social insurance benefits at a one-time payment.

In addition, Vietnam Trade Union needs to increase responsibility and innovate propaganda work to help workers better understand the limitations of receiving one-time social insurance benefits.

"The Standing Committee of the National Assembly finds that this is a difficult issue with many different opinions and is directly related to the rights of many workers at present and when they reach retirement age. Therefore, in order to institutionalize the Party's viewpoints, ensure democracy, prudence, responsibility and promote the collective intelligence of National Assembly deputies in handling the issue of receiving one-time social insurance benefits, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly respectfully requests that National Assembly deputies continue to discuss and give further opinions on this issue as well as specific options to create consensus when submitting it to the National Assembly for approval," emphasized Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Social Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh.

Regarding the replacement of "base salary" with "reference level", Ms. Nguyen Thuy Anh said that Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW stipulates the abolition of "base salary" when implementing salary policy reform. Thus, according to the implementation roadmap, from July 1, 2024, there will no longer be a "base salary" as a basis for adjusting social insurance contributions to calculate pensions and calculate benefits for some social insurance regimes.

This content was not fully anticipated when the Government submitted it to the National Assembly at the 6th session, so in the process of receiving and revising, after many requests, on May 15, 2024, in Report No. 234/BC-CP, the Government proposed to replace "basic salary" with "reference level" in the draft Law. Accordingly, the draft Law has been supplemented with an explanation of the term "Reference level" in Clause 12, Article 4 and amended and supplemented in 14 other articles and clauses.

Since this is a newly raised content, the National Assembly Standing Committee recommends that the Government pay attention to assessing the impact and studying to supplement some contents in the draft Law on specific principles to determine the reference level in the draft Law, in the direction of ensuring compliance with the guiding viewpoint of Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW.

At the same time, the regulation assigns the Government to annually report to the National Assembly on the development and implementation of this reference level for social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance policies.

Along with that, the regulation on the basis of social insurance contributions of the enterprise sector is at least 70% of the total salary and other incomes of a salary nature of employees in accordance with the spirit of Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW to harmonize with the State sector after salary reform, ensuring that all employees when they retire have a pension sufficient to live on, not lower than the minimum living standard;

The Government needs to direct the review and supplementation of full transitional provisions in policies and laws related to "basic salary" to promulgate or submit for promulgation new regulations.

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