Coordination programme launched to support employees and employers, develop labour market and ensure social security
11/05/2022 03:33 PM
HANOI — The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, Vietnam Social Security, Vietnam Confederation of Trade and Industry, and Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises have issued a programme of coordination to support employees and employers, develop the labour market and ensure social security.
The move follows the Prime Minister's direction on strengthening measures to support the connection of labour supply and demand, speed up the recovery of the labour market, and provide enough labour for enterprises and business organisations.
Leaders of five agencies signed a programme on support for employees and employers, developing the labour market and ensuring social security.
The programme aims to implement tasks and solutions of the Programme on socio-economic recovery and development according to Resolution No 11/NQ-CP dated 30 January 2022 of the Government.
It is also expected to help develop progressive, harmonious and stable industrial relations in the new situation. As a result, it will connect labour supply and demand and develop a sustainable labour market for sufficient supply.
The programme will continue to effectively implement social security and social welfare policies, especially social insurance policies, to ensure sustainable social security for employees.
The agencies identified key contents of coordination.
Firstly, they will coordinate in implementing and evaluating the results of policies to support employees and employers, especially summarizing and evaluating policies to support people, employees and employers, according to Government’s Resolution No 68/NQ-CP dated July 1, 2021 and Resolution No 116/NQ-CP dated September 24, 2021. They will then study and propose competent authorities to consider policies on further support if needed.
Second, the agencies will focus on coordinating and effectively implementing the programme to support labour market development until 2030 according to the Prime Minister's Decision No 176/QD-TTg dated February 5, 2021, in which priority will be given to solutions to support the development of labour supply and demand, create better jobs for employees, ensure a safe working environment for employees, and increase the proportion of employees participating in social insurance to 45 per cent by 2025 and 60 per cent by 2030.
Thirdly, they agreed to further implement the policy of housing rental support for employees according to Decision No 08/2022/QD-TTg dated March 28, 2022 of the Prime Minister in a timely and accurate manner, focusing on helping employees to understand the policy and help businesses be better aware of policies and their responsibilities in policy implementation.
The agencies will coordinate with localities in reviewing and identifying a list of enterprises within the scope of policy implementation, creating favourable conditions for employers and employees in accessing policies and closely monitoring the implementation through trade unions.
Fourth, the Vietnam Federation of Trade and Industry and the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises focus on disseminating and guiding enterprises to implement the training programme, fostering vocational skills for employees.
They will carry out activities to improve the quality of human resources, restoring and stabilising the labour market from the Unemployment Insurance Fund according to the provisions of Resolution No 68/NQ-CP dated July 1, 2021 of the Government.
Fifth, the Department of Labor Relations and Wage under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is assigned to assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with specialised units of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the Vietnam Federation of Trade and Industry and the Association of small and medium-sized enterprises in studying international experiences on the "Flexible salary payment" model.
They then advise the Labour Relations Committee to consider recommendations, and report and propose competent authorities for policies before implementing the "Flexible salary payment" model, ensuring compliance with labour laws, and creating favorable conditions for employees and employers to build progressive and harmonious labour relations.
Sixth, the five agencies agreed to promote the completion and implementation of policies and laws on social insurance.
The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and advise the Government, to submit to the National Assembly the draft amended law on Social Insurance.
Vietnam Social Security will drastically implement Decision No 1676/QD-TTg dated November 21, 2019 of the Prime Minister on the comprehensive renovation of contents, forms and methods of promoting social insurance.
The agency will further promote the reform of administrative procedures, strengthen digital transformation to improve the quality of social insurance service provision, ensuring friendliness, publicity and transparency for people and businesses.
It will advise the authorities and localities to strictly handle those who take advantage of social insurance policies.
Agencies coordinate to develop plans, invest resources, and focus on mass media campaigns so that employees understand the necessity, benefits, role and meaning of social insurance policies on social security.
They will also coordinate in the implementation of Resolution No 17/2022/UBTVQH15 dated March 23, 2022 of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the number of overtime hours worked in a year and a month of employees in the context of prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic and socio-economic recovery and development.
With many positive signals regarding the gradual relaxation of social distancing measures and the development of a roadmap for the recovery of business operations, businesses have prepared the conditions to quickly restore production. However, the major issue currently facing many businesses is the difficulty in attracting workers back to work. Regarding this issue, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, Nguyễn Bá Hoan, stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected 9.1 million people aged 15 and above in the first quarter of 2021, rising to 12.8 million people in the second quarter of 2021, and over 28.2 million people in the third quarter of 2021. In the third quarter of 2021, 4.7 million people lost their jobs; 14.7 million people had to temporarily stop or suspend production and business activities; 12.0 million people had their working hours reduced or were forced to take a break or alternate shifts; 18.9 million workers experienced income reductions...
The reduction in employed workers and the limited labor mobility between regions have led to a fragmented labor market, with a risk of labor shortages in certain areas and industries when production is restored. To bring workers back to work, the following are needed:
First, ensure social security for workers who are currently employed at businesses and production establishments. This involves promoting the benefits of long-term commitment to businesses and sharing the burden with businesses during these difficult times. Encourage businesses to implement policies that support workers in terms of wages, insurance benefits, meal allowances, and social benefits (insurance, holiday leave, etc.) to retain workers. Continue providing support for housing, accommodations, food, and essential supplies to ensure workers feel secure in their work. Accelerate the vaccination process for workers.
Second, support efforts to attract workers back to the workforce by organizing various forms of communication to provide workers with accurate information, which will serve as the basis for their decision to return to the labor market. Prioritize vaccine distribution for workers, support medical costs (health checkups, COVID tests, quarantine, etc.), and facilitate travel for workers participating in the labor market. Provide training, skill development, career counseling, and job placement services for workers. Encourage businesses to stay in touch with workers who have returned to their hometowns, offering support policies for travel to bring them back when businesses gradually resume operations.
Third, connect and regulate the supply and demand of labor by closely monitoring the supply and demand situation in different regions to plan solutions for connecting labor supply and demand, addressing labor shortages in key production areas. Gather detailed information about labor needs in terms of quantity, industry, and skill levels, and review and collect data on the labor force’s employment status and skill levels to help regulate and connect labor supply and demand. Organize convenient, timely, and feasible labor matching activities such as increasing the frequency of job fairs, diversifying the formats and topics of these fairs, and offering direct support policies for workers.
Particularly, focus on providing basic vocational training for workers to promptly supply businesses, minimizing the shortage of skilled labor for production recovery. Initially, prioritize training and skill development in key economic regions, selecting industries with the highest risk of labor shortages. Additionally, prepare plans to mobilize and develop labor sources from reserves, such as students from vocational schools, demobilized soldiers, and police officers who have completed their service.
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