Foreign employees in Vietnam to pay social insurance premiums from 2018

Hanoi, February 19 (VNA) – Foreign employees in Vietnam with work permits or practice certificates or practice licences granted by competent Vietnamese agencies will be covered by compulsory social insurance as from January 1, 2018, according to the 2014 Law on Social Insurance . From that date, foreign employees are required to participate in compulsory social insurance, and pay insurance premiums based on their wage, allowances and other additional amounts stated in their labour contract. Specifically, the foreign employee will have to pay eight percent of his/her monthly wage while his/her employer will have to pay 18 percent of the employee’s full pensionable wage, making a total contribution of 26 percent to the social insurance fund. Under the Vietnamese law, the employees are allowed to manage their social insurance book during the period of social insurance premium payment in order to monitor the payment of social insurance premiums and enjoyment of social insurance sums. Additionally, they will also be provided by their employer with information on the annual payment of social insurance premiums once every six months, and have their annual social insurance premium payment certified by the social insurance agency annually. This will provide an important ground for the employees to compare and supervise the responsibility of their employers to pay social insurance premiums. As per the social insurance law, employees and employers that shirk or delay the payment of, or appropriate, social insurance or unemployment insurance premiums for more than 30 days will be sanctioned. From 2020, social insurance books will be replaced with social insurance cards./.