Vietnam Social Security must be responsible for debts and prolonged evasion of social insurance payments

Receive many incentives, sometimes the salary is up to 180%

As Lao Dong has reflected, the current situation of social insurance debts of enterprises is still prolonged. However, the salary regime of social insurance officers is always preferential.

Since 2016, the Government issued Decision No. 15/2016/QD-TTg on the management costs of social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance for the period 2016 - 2018. On September 22, 2022, the Government continued to issue Decision No. 19/2022/QD-TTg stipulating the cost of managing social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance for the period 2022 - 2024.

A noteworthy point is that the salary payment for cadres, civil servants, public employees and workers in the social insurance sector is equal to 1.8 times the salary of cadres, civil servants and public employees prescribed by the State, applied within the approved staffing quota or job position.

This additional salary increase of 0.8 is not used to calculate social insurance, unemployment insurance, health insurance, etc. This policy will be maintained until salary reform is implemented according to Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW.

By July 2025, social insurance officers will continue to enjoy many new incentives according to Resolution No. 89/2025/UBTVQH15 on the level of social insurance and unemployment insurance organization and operation for the period 2025 - 2027.

Accordingly, in addition to salary, there is also a public service allowance for social insurance's personnel (salary coefficient 1 and 0.25 public service allowances).

In Ho Chi Minh City, social insurance officials have just received additional payments. The City People's Council has passed Resolution 27/2025/NQ-HDND in 2025 on subjects eligible for additional income payment. Accordingly, social insurance officers are entitled to an additional income of up to 3 million VND per month.

High salary, responsibility must be commensurate

Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Tran Ngoc Vinh - a delegate of the 13th National Assembly - said that the activities of the social insurance sector do not really have specific factors to the extent that they have to enjoy higher benefits than other sectors. All management costs are deducted from people's contributions, and profits from fund investment activities are also people's contributions. Therefore, if social insurance officers enjoy higher benefits, they must be associated with corresponding responsibilities.

According to Mr. Vinh, the current law has very clear sanctions for late payment and evasion of social insurance, and there are even criminal sanctions for enterprises that intentionally owe. The important thing is to strengthen control of the responsibility of enforcement agencies to avoid prolonged debt arrears.

He said that allowing businesses to be slow and evade social insurance payments for a long time will create "lawlessness". In the end, the most disadvantaged people are still workers. When sick, when retired, who will protect their rights if the fund loses or is not fully paid? he asked.

Regarding responsibility, Mr. Vinh emphasized: "Workers who violate the process must be held responsible. Therefore, social insurance officers who perform their duties and have long-term social insurance arrears must also bear the same responsibility".

He also said that in the context of streamlining the payroll today, the social insurance sector needs a clear evaluation mechanism. "Cadres who do well are recognized but must at least complete their tasks. Those who do not meet the requirements should be removed from the system".

Sharing about this issue, Mr. Le Dinh Quang - former Deputy Head of the Labor Relations Department, Vietnam General Confederation of Labor - said that current laws have created a full corridor for collecting and handling businesses that are late and evading social insurance payments. However, in reality, the number of violations is still high, showing that it is necessary to reconsider the responsibilities of organizations and individuals assigned to collect.

According to Mr. Quang, the Social Insurance agency has been given many additional legal tools for management, but if the situation of debt and evasion continues, not only the violating enterprise but also the enforcement agency must take responsibility.

Mr. Le Dinh Quang proposed to clearly qualify the responsibilities of individuals and social insurance collection units. The rate of late payment and evasion of insurance can be considered one of the criteria for evaluating emulation, reward, and even associated with the income of cadres doing this work.

The responsibility of the Social Insurance agency does not stop at urging and publicizing, but must resolutely handle cases of lax management and failure to complete the collection task.

"To improve efficiency, we must increase sanctions for both violators and enforcement. When social insurance collection officers are considered for responsibility, linked to income, and rewarded, industry discipline will truly take effect" - Mr. Quang emphasized.

Expressing his opinion to Lao Dong Newspaper, Lawyer Nguyen Thu Trang - Deputy Director of He Va Law Firm - said that the social insurance policy can be compared to the tax policy. Even the situation of late and evasion of social insurance payment is directly affecting and reaching the brink of workers, so it is necessary to be more determined in action.

Currently, the tax sector has issued documents directly regulating the handling and urging process, clearly stating the responsibility of officials in tax debt.

Looking at the social insurance sector, the Social Insurance Law No. 41/2024/QH15, effective from July 1, 2025, has added many new regulations on urging and handling acts of late payment and evasion of compulsory social insurance payment.

The Social Insurance Agency is responsible for detecting and urging in writing employers who are late in paying or evade paying insurance. At the same time, the list of violating units must be made public on the electronic information portal and sent to state management agencies and relevant inspection agencies for consideration and handling according to their authority.

Along with that, the law gives many sanctions to social insurance. However, currently, there are no separate regulations linking the responsibility of social insurance officers in late payment and evasion of social insurance for a long time.

Previously, in an interview with Lao Dong Newspaper, a leader of Vietnam Social Insurance proposed many solutions to collect social insurance but did not propose solutions to handle the responsibility of officials in the industry.

The question is: When the situation of late and evasion of social insurance payment continues, how will the responsibilities of each level and each officer in the social insurance system be determined and handled? The social insurance industry is not only an "accrual" agency, but must be an address with final responsibility before employees and society.

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