Question:
Our company has some employees who do not sign labor contracts (daily employees with variable working days within a month), but we contribute the equivalent of 21% of their daily wage * the number of working days in the month for their Social Insurance, Health Insurance, and Unemployment Insurance. Is our company’s practice compliant with the Social Insurance law?
Answer:
Based on the Social Insurance Law of 2014 and relevant regulations, as well as Decision No. 959/QD-BHXH dated September 9, 2015 by the Vietnam Social Security, individuals subject to participating in the Social Insurance include those working under indefinite labor contracts, fixed-term labor contracts, seasonal labor contracts, or specific job-based contracts with durations ranging from 3 months to less than 12 months, including contracts signed between entities and individuals below 15 years old as representatives according to labor law.
Employing individuals without signing labor contracts violates the law. For labor contracts with durations less than 3 months, as there are no contributions to Social Insurance and Health Insurance, employers are required to pay additional amounts (beyond wages) equivalent to the Social Insurance and Health Insurance contributions that employees should make, allowing employees to manage these matters themselves.
Question:
In the case where a company mistakenly transfers money to Social Insurance twice, can the company write a letter requesting a refund of this amount, or do they have to wait until the company ceases operations to retrieve the money?
Answer:
According to the regulations in Clause 3, Article 55 of Decision No. 1111/QD-BHXH dated October 25, 2011, of the Vietnam Social Insurance, the cases for refunding money are as follows:
Entities that dissolve, go bankrupt, or terminate their operations according to legal regulations or move their registered participation location and have overpaid or double-paid money for social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance.
Entities that transfer money to a dedicated collection account but are not entities participating in social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance as regulated by the Social Insurance authority.
The amount that entities or individuals have transferred to the dedicated collection account that is not social insurance, health insurance, or unemployment insurance contributions.
The treasury or bank mistakenly transfers money to the dedicated collection account.
Based on the above regulations, in the case where the company mistakenly transfers money twice to the Social Insurance agency, it can be offset against the social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance contributions for the consecutive months.
Question:
Our company has been requesting the Hoc Mon District Social Insurance for a monthly form 08-TBH – Notification of Health Insurance, Social Insurance, and Unemployment Insurance Contribution Results. However, the Hoc Mon District Social Insurance has been refusing and stating that they only provide it once every 3 months. This affects our accounting reconciliation. However, we have acquaintances at the Tien Giang Social Insurance who are willing to provide it monthly. Could you clarify if this is the regulation in Ho Chi Minh City or if it’s specific to the Hoc Mon District Social Insurance?
Answer:
According to Official Letter No. 555/BHXH-THU dated February 17, 2012, from the Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance, no later than the 10th day of each month, the Social Insurance agency will send the “Notification of Health Insurance, Social Insurance” for the previous month to the entity through the electronic transaction software (iBHXH) (previously known as the IMS system) for verification and reconciliation.
For the last month of each quarter, in addition to the notification sent via iBHXH, the Social Insurance agency will issue a written “Notification” for that quarter. Entities can contact the front desk (section 01) of the Social Insurance agency to receive it on the 20th day of the following quarter.
Question:
On July 31, 2015, which was the last working day of Employee A at our company (Employee A resigned), Employee A returned the Health Insurance card as they no longer needed it, and the company created a list to retrieve Employee A’s Health Insurance card for the labor reduction process. On August 1, 2015, which was a Saturday, the district Social Insurance office was not open. Therefore, on August 3, 2015, which was the next working day after July 31, 2015, the company submitted the labor reduction application for Employee A’s participation in Health Insurance, Social Insurance, and Unemployment Insurance (Employee A’s reduction), along with the valid Health Insurance card (valid until December 2015), to the officer receiving the documents. When the company received the response from the Social Insurance agency, they found that the agency was claiming Health Insurance fees for August 2015 from Employee A. When the company inquired with the Social Insurance officer, they were informed that it was because the company returned the card after August 1, 2015. Can you please explain if, in this case, our company has to pay the Health Insurance fees for August? Why are we being charged when we notified the Social Insurance agency immediately upon the employee’s resignation and couldn’t have done it earlier? Shouldn’t we be able to retrieve the Health Insurance card before the employee’s employment contract with the company ends?
Answer:
According to Official Letter No. 1492/BHXH-THU dated May 27, 2015, from the Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance, for employees who cease working, resign, or move to another unit, if the Health Insurance card has been issued and is still valid, the employer is responsible for retrieving the Health Insurance card from the employee and submitting it to the Social Insurance agency before the first day of the month when the employee’s participation in Health Insurance and Social Insurance ends. Additionally, the instructions state that the employer and employee can personally bring the Health Insurance card to the Records Department at the Social Insurance agency where they are participating to have the expiration date of the card updated (to be able to return the card later without paying).
Based on the above regulations, if the Health Insurance card was returned in August 2015 and not updated before the end of July, you would be required to pay the Health Insurance fees for August 2015.
