However, the majority of manual workers have yet to receive benefits through the social security system even though they have joined the formal labour force.

Participants spoke at a seminar on voluntary social insurance and informal workers' access opportunities held on December 21 in Ha Noi by Oxfam in Viet Nam and the Action Network for Migrant Workers (M.net).

According to the participants, the number of employers paying compulsory social insurance for their employees only reached about 3-17 per cent so far. The participation in compulsory social insurance also depends on the form of employees’ labour contract.

Employees, working under short-term contracts from three months to less than 1 year or less than 3 months, are usually not entitled to the compulsory social insurance policy as prescribed.

In the meantime, the number of people participating in voluntary social insurance only accounts for about 6 per cent of the total number of people participating in social insurance.

The rate of participation in voluntary social insurance of informal workers is very low although their income is believed to be higher than the poverty line.

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Besides, social insurance policies’ shortcomings have caused employees to hesitate to participate in social insurance, especially voluntary social insurance.

For example, the social insurance premiums based on the average monthly salary tended to increase since 2007 and sharply rise since 2016, however, the benefits from compulsory social insurance, which participants gained, decreased gradually, especially for the retirement-survival fund in general and the monthly pension in particular.

It shows that the benefits have not been adjusted in line with inflation.

Therefore, the participants suggested some advice to increase the coverage of social insurance in the future.

The participants said it needs to reduce or eliminate regulations on the minimum number of years that employees have to make payment of social insurance to receive a monthly pension.

For both the compulsory and voluntary social insurance types, the monthly payment should be increased to suit inflation, the participants said.

Illustrative image (internet)

Besides, it should deploy flexible and short-term social insurance packages such as sickness, maternity and family allowances, the participants said.

A change in the regulations on payment and enjoyment of social insurance is needed for different groups of workers to suit the characteristics of work that relate to income and family.

It is necessary to issue more support policies such as support for opportunities to access capital for self-employed workers and establishment owners.

Speaking at the seminar, Pham Quang Tu, Deputy Director of Oxfam in Viet Nam, said the social insurance system has been gradually improved while the coverage of social insurance has increased.

According to the 2006 Law on Social Insurance, employees in the informal sector are entitled to participate in voluntary social insurance to receive benefits in pension and survivorship policies, he said.

The introduction of Resolution 28 is an important step towards social insurance coverage in the informal economy and Viet Nam Social Security has achieved many positive results, he said.

Specifically, the social insurance coverage was expanded while the people participating in voluntary social insurance increased dramatically to nearly 1.2 million people, he added.

Therefore, Viet Nam needs to develop a diversified, multi-layered and modern social security system following the principles of universality, equality, fairness, sharing and sustainability for all employees, he said.

Social insurance policy orientations need to gradually add more benefits for voluntary social insurance participants to narrow the gap between voluntary social insurance and compulsory social insurance.

In the process of amending and supplementing the social insurance policies, the voice of employees should be considered and applied appropriately by policymakers, he said.

In December last year, Viet Nam Social Security won a recognition award from the ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) for sustainable innovation in expanding voluntary social insurance coverage. The awards were presented to ASEAN social security agencies at the 37th Boarding Meeting of the ASSA held as a teleconference.

Viet Nam Social Security became a member of ASSA in September 1998 and is the only official Vietnamese representative at the regional social security forum.

ASSA’s membership has helped Việt Nam access international knowledge and experience to improve and develop the social insurance policy implementation system towards professionalism, modernity, efficiency and international integration.