A recent survey by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed that 12,000 businesses have difficulty accessing this policy.— Photo vtv.vn

 HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed the Government amend the regulations on temporary suspension of contributions to the retirement and survivorship fund for enterprises affected by the pandemic.

The ministry said due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have suspended operations or reduced production. The suspension of contributions to the retirement and survivorship fund would help enterprises ease financial difficulties and maintain their operations during the pandemic.

Under the current regulations, enterprises who have been forced to reduce at least 20 per cent of their employees since the COVID-19 outbreak in April would be allowed to suspend their payment for the retirement and survivorship fund.

Enterprises would be allowed to suspend payments for no longer than three months. 

A recent survey by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed that 12,000 businesses have difficulty accessing this policy.

The ministry said the regulations needed to be amended so that more enterprises would be eligible .

According to the ministry, enterprises who have had to reduce 10 per cent of their employees can suspend the payment for the retirement and survivorship fund, and the time of suspension should be six months instead of the current three months.

The Vietnam Social Security, the unit in charge of managing the two funds, agreed. But deputy director Trần Đình Liệu proposed adding some conditions to the beneficiary group. 

The policy would only apply to businesses operating in the areas of transport, hotels, restaurants, tourism, education, culture, sports or businesses in isolated industrial zones, clusters or export processing zones.

In addition, enterprises must fully pay social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance until the end of this April.

The ministry estimates that about 39,000 businesses with 1.15 million employees will be temporarily suspended from paying the retirement and survivorship fund with a total amount of VNĐ8.45 trillion (US$365 million) if the amendment of the policy is applied.

According to the Vietnam Social Insurance, after a year of implementing the Government’s Resolution 42, more than 1,800 enterprises have temporarily suspended their payments to the retirement and survivorship fund with the amount of VNĐ786 billion ($34 million). —VNS