The contract salary of 10 million, the enterprise only pays 6.5 million social insurance is in accordance with the law?

Ms. Nguyen T.T., who is working at a company with an official labor contract and participating in compulsory social insurance, sent a question to the Ministry of Finance.

In the labor contract, her main salary is stated at 10 million VND/month, but the company only pays social insurance over 6.5 million VND. In addition, the contract also refers to other allowances or supports such as lunch break, fuel support, phone allowance, clothing allowance, etc.

From this reality, she wondered whether paying social insurance lower than the main salary was in accordance with regulations, whether the support items had to be included in social insurance contributions, and whether the law required the salary for social insurance contributions to be equal to or close to the contract salary.

Responding to Ms. T.'s question, Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance said that according to Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 158/2025/ND-CP of the Government guiding the implementation of the Social Insurance Law 2024, the salary used as the basis for compulsory social insurance contributions is monthly salary, including salary according to work or position, salary allowances and other supplements that can be determined at a specific level, paid regularly and stably in each salary payment period.

Thus, the enterprise only pays social insurance to employees over 6.5 million VND while the main salary stated in the contract is 10 million VND, which is not in accordance with current regulations.

Other allowances or supplements, if clearly stated in the contract, paid regularly and have a specific level, must be included in the social insurance payment basis. On the contrary, fees that are volatile, dependent on work performance and work quality are not included.

For items such as mid-shift meals, fuel support, phones, housing, etc., there is currently no specific document regulating the mandatory payment of social insurance. Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance has sent a petition to Vietnam Social Insurance for guidance and will deploy it to businesses and employees as soon as there are official regulations.

The Social Insurance Law 2024 and guiding documents also do not have a strict regulation that the salary level for compulsory social insurance contributions must be equal to or close to the salary level stated in the labor contract. The important thing is to determine whether it is necessary to comply with the principles stipulated in Decree 158/2025/ND-CP, ensuring correctness and completeness of the rights of employees.

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