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Sickness regime

- Regarding eligibility conditions: According to the provisions of Article 25 of the Law on Social Insurance 2014, employees who have to take leave for caring for sick children aged under 7 years, with the certification of a competent health establishment. This regime is currently applied to pay employees who are infected with Covid-19 and quit their jobs to take care of their children under 7 years old who are infected with Covid-19.

- Regarding the dossiers for entitlement: According to the provisions of the Law on Social Insurance 2014, the Minister of Health shall stipulate the form, order and competence to issue the certificate of leave of absence from the hospital enjoying social insurance, hospital discharge certificate and other papers as a basis for enjoying social insurance benefits. The Ministry of Health has issued Official Letters No. 1492/KCB-PHCN&GD dated November 19, 2021, Official Dispatch No. 238/BYT-KCB dated January 14, 2022, according to which, dossiers of entitlement to sickness benefits for employees are sickness shall comply with the provisions of Clauses 1 and 2, Article 100 of the Law on Social Insurance 2014; Clauses 1 and 2, Article 21 of Circular No. 56/2017/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health. Specifically, the application file for benefits (for F0 employees or those who take care of children under 7 years old, who are F0) includes the following documents:

+ For employees who are F0 under inpatient treatment: Hospital discharge paper.

+ For employees who are F0 under outpatient treatment: Certificate of leave for social insurance benefits or Certificate of discharge from the hospital with the appointment of a physician or treating doctor for additional leave after the inpatient treatment period.

- Regarding the period of enjoyment: Circular No. 56/2017/TT-BYT stipulates, for each time of receiving treatment, a patient is granted a certificate of leave to enjoy social insurance for a maximum of 30 days. In case the F0 needs to take a leave of absence longer than 30 days, once the leave period stated on the issued certificate of leave for social insurance benefits expires, he/she must conduct a follow-up examination for the practitioner to consider and decide.

- Regarding the enjoyment level: Clause 1, Article 28 of the Law on Social Insurance 2014, stipulates, employees are entitled to a monthly allowance equal to 75% of the salary of the month preceding their leave on which social insurance premiums are based.

- Regarding the application process:

+ To enjoy sickness benefits after being cured of Covid-19, the employee needs to return to the employer a copy of the hospital discharge certificate (for inpatient treatment); Certificate of leave to enjoy social insurance or hospital discharge certificate designated by the treating physician, the treating doctor gives additional leave after the treatment period (for outpatient treatment) within 45 days from the date of return to work for the unit to complete the dossier and send it to the social security agency.

+ The social security agency shall resolve benefits for employees within 6 working days from the date of receipt of complete dossiers as prescribed.

+ Employees can receive money through one of the following methods: Through personal accounts or through the employer.

Convalescence and health rehabilitation after sickness

Pursuant to Article 29 of the Law on Social Insurance 2014, after being treated for other diseases or Covid-19, if the employee has taken a leave of absence to enjoy the sickness benefits for a period of one year as prescribed, but within 30 days he/she returns to work with health not yet recovered, he/she will be entitled to convalescence and health rehabilitation. The number of days of a leave for convalescence and health rehabilitation shall be jointly decided by the employer and grassroots Trade Union Executive Committee, or by the employer in case the grassroots Trade Union has not yet been set up, specifically as follows: 10 days at most, for employees whose health has not yet recovered after suffering a disease requiring long-term treatment; 7 days at most, for employees whose health has not yet recovered after undergoing an operation; 5 days, in other cases.

- The amount of money to be enjoyed during convalescence is 30% of the base salary, ie 447,000 VND/day.

In the face of complicated developments of the Covid 19 pandemic, although the number of people infected with Covid-19 being treated at home has increased, Circular No. 56/2017/TT-BYT above has no regulations on the issuance of documents and dossiers as a basis for enjoying social insurance benefits for F0s who are treated at home, at treatment facilities, 3 on-site facilities, etc. as well as employees who have to quit their jobs to take care of their children under 7 years of age, who are F0 being treated at home. Vietnam Social Security promptly issued Official Letters: No. 1638/BHXH-CSXH dated June 11, 2021; No. 2321/BHXH-CSXH dated August 3, 2021; No. 2793/BHXH-CSXH dated September 6, 2021, No. 2989/BHXH-CSXH dated September 24, 2021 and No. 10/BHXH-CSXH dated January 5, 2022 to report and propose to the Ministry of Health on the current situation.

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Recently, on January 14, 2022, the Ministry of Health issued Official Letter No. 238/BYT-KCB; Point 2 and 3 states: “Currently, the legal documents do not have regulations on using other papers to replace certificates of leave to enjoy social insurance. Also, there is no regulation to accept papers issued not in accordance with the provisions of the law stay valid for the social security agency as a basis for deciding to enjoy the social insurance benefits for employees. The Ministry of Health is studying and proposing contents not yet specified in the Law documents to report and propose to the Government or the National Assembly Standing Committee to issue a resolution to solve the above issues.

With the motto of ensuring the best benefits for participants, Vietnam's social insurance industry is always ready to fully and promptly settle social insurance benefits for employees with Covid-19 who have qualified dossiers in accordance with the law. In case an employee infected with Covid-19 has difficulty in providing documents as a basis for receiving social insurance benefits, they shall contact the local health agency for guidance./.