Social insurance payments owed for 2.7 million Vietnamese workers

The number of people who have yet to have their social insurance paid in full by their companies amounts to around 17.4% of all workers eligible for social insurance schemes.

Hanoi's companies have yet to pay VND3.66 trillion (US$154 million) worth of social insurance for workers, followed by HCMC at VND3.4 trillion, Hai Phong VND591 billion, Ca Mau VND86 billion and Dak Nong VND44 billion.

Duong Van Hao, head of the Department of Contribution Collection – Book and Insurance Card, said the amount of social insurance payments that the department has yet to collect has been pooling since 1995.

"Workers cannot wait until their companies resume operations or gather enough money to pay for their social insurance, so they simply switch jobs or companies to continue their personal social insurance scheme," Hao said. He added that Vietnam Social Security would update the worker social insurance payment scheme once businesses have earned enough money to pay for the social insurance.

Hao said there have been proposals to punish businesses which fail to pay their workers' social insurance on time, including fines and the freezing of accounts. However, businesses should also be allowed the opportunity to right their wrongs, he added.

Vietnam Social Security has already proposed to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs a way to resolve issues for the 213,400 workers whose social insurance has not been paid by their companies.

Current Vietnamese regulations dictate that once a worker's labor contract expires, their companies have the responsibility to work with the Vietnam Social Security to confirm the amount of time in which social insurance was paid, and to return the social insurance books to workers.