Deputy General Director of Việt Nam Social Insurance Lê Hùng Sơn.

The Government has just issued Resolution No. 116/NQ-CP on policies to support employees and employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic from the Unemployment Insurance Fund, according to which the unemployment insurance fund will spend US$1.3 million on supporting employees and employers. Deputy General Director of Việt Nam Social Insurance Lê Hùng Sơn talks to the media about the meaning, beneficiaries and necessary procedures of this support package.

What is the meaning and difference of this support package compared to those that have been deployed before?

Both these policies to support employees and employers are not specified in the Employment Law 2013. Therefore, before the Government issued Resolution No.116, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution No.03/2021/UBTVQH15 on policies to support employees and employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic from the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Previously, Resolution No.30/2021/QH15 of the National Assembly had a mechanism to allow, in urgent and necessary situations, the proposal of policies that are not yet stated in current regulations but deemed necessary in the pandemic situation and for people's interests. Therefore, when the authorities proposed support for employees and employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the recommendations were addressed very quickly.

This support package for employees and employers who are participating in unemployment insurance shows the Party and State's attention to the lives of employees who are facing difficulties. This support policy also shows the principle of risk sharing, the principle of participating and benefiting combined with the principle of fairness.

As many as 386,000 businesses have the insurance amount for employees reduced from 1 per cent to zero to the UI Fund for 12 months, with total expected amount being VNĐ8 trillion. With this reduced amount, businesses will have more investment capital for production and business, contributing to creating jobs and stable income for employees. 

Can you tell us more about the beneficiaries of this support package, how many employees and employers are expected to receive support?

For employees, beneficiaries are those who are in unemployment insurance as of September 30, 2021, and those who have deferred the time to participate in unemployment insurance from January 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.

For employers, beneficiaries are enterprises participating in paying unemployment insurance for employees.

Currently, there are nearly 13 million people and 386,000 employers eligible for the support policies, in which, the number of employees who have temporarily suspended or suspended their labour contracts and have deferred their time participating in unemployment insurance is about 2.5 million people.

What are the procedures and payment methods of this support package?

Under the direction of the National Assembly, the Government and relevant ministries, Việt Nam Social Security has planned the procedures to implement the support package in a simple, convenient, quick and accurate way.

For 386,000 employers mentioned above, the reduction for the UI fund will be reduced from 1 per cent to 0 per cent over a period of 12 months (from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022), and there will be no extra administrative procedures. The social insurance agency shall base on the data on the management software of monthly social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance collection to exclude the amount of unemployment insurance in the final payment. 

For nearly 13 million employees, the social insurance agency will rely on existing data to determine the beneficiaries of the support package by ID numbers. All of this information is available in the information technology data system of the Việt Nam Social Insurance industry.

Regarding the payment method for these employees, we will pay through personal bank accounts. 

Accordingly, employees working at enterprises only need to provide enterprises with personal bank account numbers and information related to personal identity, such as identity card number and time of participation in the UI. In some special cases, if the employee cannot open a personal account, the social insurance agency will pay through the enterprise. However, in order to ensure timeliness and transparency, Việt Nam Social Security recommends that employees should quickly open personal bank accounts. 

For employees who defer their time to participate in unemployment insurance from January 1, 2020 to present, those employees who have stopped working, suspended labour contracts and have returned to their hometowns, will be covered by the provincial/local social insurance agency.

It can be seen that for a support policy that covers a large number of beneficiaries (nearly 13 million employees, 386,000 enterprises), without an information technology database, it is difficult to ensure progress and quality. The information technology platform of Việt Nam Social Security is an effective tool to ensure the progress, quality, publicity and transparency in the payment of these support policies.

Resolution 116 of the Government requires the implementation of this support package in three months (from October 1 to December 31, 2021). Recently, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has determined to complete the implementation of the support package in one month and a half. Is this goal feasible?

Immediately after the Government's Resolution No. 116 was issued, with the industry's information technology background, the General Director of Việt Nam Social Insurance directed functional units, as well as local social insurance units to be ready in data sources to identify beneficiaries and levels of benefits; in human resources and financial resources to serve the implementation and payment of support policies. I think the expected progress in implementing the support policies of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is feasible.

For our part, the implementation is ready and can be completed sooner if enterprises and employees actively coordinate with the social insurance agency. Currently, there is only one difficulty, which is the fact that about 2.5 million employees who deferred unemployment insurance are staying in different localities. Therefore, the participation of media agencies, local authorities to disseminate the information to employees who are eligible for support provided by provincial and district social insurance agencies is very important. — VNS