Do foreign workers and short-term workers have to pay social insurance?

At a dialogue with functional agencies recently organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Center, a representative of a business reflected on problems related to foreign workers moving within the business. According to current regulations, after the working period expires, the business must carry out procedures to apply for a new work permit for the employee.

However, businesses believe that issuing new work permits does not change the nature of workers because they are still subject to internal relocation in the same business system. Therefore, businesses are concerned whether issuing new work permits will give rise to compulsory social insurance obligations or not.

Answering this question, a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance agency said that Clause 2, Article 2 of the 2024 Social Insurance Law stipulates that employees who are foreign citizens working in Vietnam are subject to compulsory social insurance when they have a labor contract of 12 months or more, except for cases excluded by law.

Cases not subject to compulsory social insurance include employees moving within the enterprise; employees who have reached retirement age at the time of concluding labor contracts and other cases under international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.

According to the Social Insurance agency, if after the working period expires, the enterprise still arranges for employees to move internally, then employees continue to be excluded from compulsory social insurance participants. The need to apply for a new work permit does not change the nature of labor relations and does not change the basis for determining social insurance participants.

In addition, many businesses also proposed specific guidance on social insurance participation obligations for short-term workers, seasonal workers or cases of experts and speakers hired for each event with high remuneration but short working hours.

Regarding subjects participating in compulsory social insurance, representatives of Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance said that the 2024 Law on Social Insurance has expanded its coverage. According to Clause 1, Article 2 of the law, employees working under fixed-term or indefinite-term labor contracts from one month or more are eligible for compulsory social insurance participation, even in cases of working part-time.

Therefore, in case a worker only actually works for 1-3 days but has a labor contract of one month or more and has a salary subject to social insurance contributions, they must still participate in compulsory social insurance according to regulations.

Another content that businesses are particularly interested in is the determination of salary as a basis for social insurance contributions. Currently, the income of employees at many businesses not only includes basic salary but also supports such as food, telephone, and gasoline.

According to reflections, some businesses have been required to retroactively pay social insurance for support amounts paid fixed monthly. Meanwhile, businesses believe that these are support amounts serving the actual work arising and are specifically regulated in the unit's salary policy.

Regarding this issue, representatives of Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance cited Clause 1, Article 31 of the 2024 Social Insurance Law, according to which the salary used as a basis for compulsory social insurance contributions includes salary according to work or title and other additional amounts specifically determined, paid regularly and stably in each payroll period.

Therefore, allowances or supports paid fixed monthly may be considered for inclusion in the basis for social insurance contributions. Determining whether they are subject to contribution depends on the nature of the payment as well as the content agreed upon in the labor contract.

The Social Insurance Agency recommends that businesses carefully review the salary structure, allowances and supplements being applied to compare with the provisions of the 2024 Social Insurance Law, thereby properly implementing social insurance contribution obligations, avoiding arising arrears or disputes during implementation.

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