On November 16, 2023, at the A1002 Auditorium, Nguyen Tat Thanh Campus, the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law organized a scientific conference with the theme: "Feedback on the Draft Law on Social Insurance (Amendment)." The conference aimed to provide a forum for scholars, researchers, lawyers, legal experts, regulatory agencies in the field of social insurance, enterprises, judicial bodies, and practitioners in the Southern region to exchange, share, and propose suggestions to improve the content of the Draft Law on Social Insurance (Amendment).
Overview of the University-level Scientific Conference "Comments on the Draft Amended Social Insurance Law" at Conference Hall A.1002, Nguyễn Tất Thành Campus.
The conference welcomed the participation of various guests, including Mr. Tran Hai Nam - Deputy Director of the Social Insurance Department, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; Ms. Dinh Thi Thu Hien - Deputy Head of the Social Insurance Policy Implementation Board, Vietnam Social Security Agency; Mr. Pham Dinh Cuc - Deputy Director of the High People's Procuracy in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Tran Dung Ha - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance Agency; Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Hoa - Director of the Social Insurance Agency in Thu Duc District; Ms. Tran Thi Ut - Director of the Social Insurance Agency in District 12; Ms. Doan Thi My Hiep - Director of the Social Insurance Agency in Hoc Mon District; Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Thao - Director of the Social Insurance Agency in District 3; Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Dung - Director of the Social Insurance Agency in District 4; Ms. Do Thi Thu - Director of the Social Insurance Agency in District 6; Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Trinh - Director of the Social Insurance Agency in District 10; Mr. Tran Van Trieu - Director of the Legal Advisory Center, Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation; Mr. Tran Ngoc Van - Vice Chairman of the Trade Union of Industrial Zones in Binh Duong Province; Mr. Nguyen Tat Nam - Former Head of the Salary Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; Mr. Phan Van Canh - Judge of the People's Court of District 1; Judge Pham Thi Thanh Truc - Judge of the Labor Court - People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City; Judge Le Thi Dao - People's Court of Binh Thanh District; representatives from the Lawyers Association of Go Vap District, Lawyers Association of District 12, businesses, Tax Department of District 3, along with experts, practitioners, lecturers from local law training institutions in Ho Chi Minh City.
Representing the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, there were: Associate Professor Vu Van Nhiem - Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the School Council; Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quang - Head of the Civil Law Department; Mrs. Le Thi Thuy Huong - Head of the Research Management and International Cooperation Office; Mr. Nguyen Van Tien - Deputy Head of the Civil Law Department; Mr. Le Vinh Chau - Deputy Head of the Civil Law Department; Mrs. Nguyen Thi Bich - Head of the Labor Law Department of the Civil Law Department, along with lecturers, researchers, doctoral students, and students interested in the conference.
Associate Professor Dr. Vu Van Nhiem – Party Secretary and Chairman of the University Council, delivered the opening speech at the conference.
In his opening speech, Associate Professor Vu Van Nhiem - Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the School Council, emphasized that social security is considered one of the important components for sustainable employment development in all countries. The University's leadership shared: "After more than seven years of implementation, some mandatory social insurance participation regulations have revealed many shortcomings and obstacles. In the context of Vietnam being a member of the new-generation free trade agreements, it is necessary to domesticate labor legal documents to comply with international labor standards." Associate Professor Vu Van Nhiem expressed hope that through the conference, discussions, and suggestions could be made to help the drafting committee further improve the provisions in the Draft Law on Social Insurance (Amendment).
Speaking at the conference, Mr. Tran Hai Nam - Deputy Head of the Social Insurance Department, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, expressed his gratitude to the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law for choosing a current topic that has garnered much attention in the sessions of the National Assembly. In line with the spirit of Resolution 28-NQ/TW that has been issued, the social insurance system needs to be built to ensure sustainable development and aim towards universal social insurance with the implication that all people of working age should participate, and when reaching retirement age, they will be ensured social security. From there, Vietnam needs to have policies amended and supplemented to meet the needs of social security, especially in the context of international integration and in accordance with the agreements and organizations that Vietnam has signed and joined as a member.
Mr. Tran Hai Nam – Deputy Director of the Social Insurance Department, Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, gave a speech at the conference.
From left to right: Mrs. Dinh Thi Thu Hien – Deputy Head of the Social Insurance Policy Implementation Department, Vietnam Social Security Agency; Associate Professor Dr. Vu Van Nhiem – Party Secretary and Chairman of the University Council; and Dr. Le Thi Thuy Huong – Head of the Department of Research and International Cooperation, co-chaired the first conference session.
The conference received numerous papers from various authors and groups of authors covering diverse topics revolving around the conference theme. Consequently, the Technical Committee reviewed, edited, and selected 4 papers to be presented at the two sessions of the conference.
Kicking off the session, Dr. Nguyen Thi Bich presented her paper titled: "International Legal Experience and Some Countries' Policies on One-time Social Insurance - Proposals to Improve the Draft Law on Social Insurance (Amended) for Vietnam". According to the author, the implementation of the current Social Insurance Law in 2014 reveals many shortcomings, especially in the one-time social insurance policy, leading to a high withdrawal rate and a reluctance to return to the relatively intact system. Based on this, the author proposed several suggestions to improve the draft law on social insurance and one-time social insurance. These include referencing Germany's experience in limiting employee benefits when receiving one-time social insurance; referencing Singapore's addition of policies to address immediate issues for employees when unemployed; reducing the retirement age to broaden the scope of access to this policy; enhancing communication efforts to change public perceptions of social insurance policies in line with the goals of the Party and the State...
Dr. Nguyen Thi Bich, with the paper "International Legal Experiences and the Social Insurance One-Time Payment Policy in Some Countries – Proposals for Improving the Draft Amended Social Insurance Law for Vietnam."
The paper "Voluntary Social Insurance for Farmers According to the Laws of Some Countries - Suggestions for the Draft Law on Social Insurance (Amended)" by authors MSc. Nguyen Tan Hoang Hai and BSc. Tran Bao Khanh from Saigon Group Consulting Joint Stock Company focuses on rural laborers, as the number of rural laborers still accounts for a large proportion but the participation rate in social insurance remains limited. Despite Vietnam's current economic growth achievements, the proportion of laborers without labor contracts and without full social insurance coverage remains relatively high. Jobs in agriculture still pose health risks, yet farmers lack healthcare services and social insurance benefits. In this paper, the authors compare social insurance policies for farmers in Poland and France with those in Vietnam, offering suggestions for the Draft Law on Social Insurance regarding this group of people.
Master Nguyen Tan Hoang Hai proposed social insurance policies for farmers and workers without official labor contracts.
The conference continued with the second session, chaired by Dr. Nguyen Xuan Quang – Head of the Civil Law Department; Mr. Tran Hai Nam – Deputy Director of the Social Insurance Department, Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs; and Dr. Nguyen Thi Bich – Head of the Labour Law Department (from left to right).
In the second session, the presentations and research focused on highlighting various shortcomings and limitations in the Draft Law on Social Insurance, offering recommendations and proposals for amendments and supplements from different perspectives:
"Some Suggestions for the Draft Law on Social Insurance (Amended) Regarding Social Pension Benefits" by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Thi Thuy Huong - Head of the Research Management and International Cooperation Department, emphasized the special feature of social pension benefits, which aim to provide assistance to elderly individuals without retirement pay, social insurance benefits, or other monthly social allowances, with funding for these benefits coming from the state budget rather than contributions from social insurance participants.
"Supplementing the Mechanism for Dealing with Evasion of Mandatory Social Insurance Contributions in the Draft Law on Social Insurance (Amended) - Ensuring the Enforcement of Social Insurance Law" by the authors MSc. Ngo Khanh Tung - Lecturer at the University of Law, and MSc. Nguyen Thi Thu Suong - Deputy Head of the Legal Department, Ta Pha Law Company, analyzed the new points in the Draft Law on Social Insurance (Amended) regarding the mechanism for handling evasion of social insurance contributions compared to the 2014 Social Insurance Law. The authors provided comments on the rationality of evading mandatory social insurance contributions, contributing to ensuring the rights of employees and effectively enforcing social insurance regulations.
The authors, Master Ngo Khanh Tung and Master Nguyen Thi Thu Suong, presented the paper at the conference titled "Adding Mechanisms to Address Evasion of Mandatory Social Insurance Contributions in the Draft Amended Social Insurance Law – Solutions to Ensure the Enforceability of Social Insurance Laws."
The distinguished delegates actively provided feedback to contribute to the improvement and refinement of the Draft Amended Social Insurance Law.
The distinguished delegates actively offered their opinions to help shape and improve the Draft Amended Social Insurance Law to make it more suitable and complete.
The distinguished delegates actively provided suggestions to contribute to the development of the Draft Amended Social Insurance Law, making it more appropriate and comprehensive.
The provisions regarding Social Insurance are among the focal points being considered for amendment in the project to amend the Law on Social Insurance. This is a significant issue of paramount importance in finding optimal solutions to address challenges and ensure long-term social security for workers. The amended Law on Social Insurance represents a great expectation, a new breakthrough with many solutions aimed at realizing the reform roadmap, transforming social insurance into a cornerstone of the social security system, gradually expanding comprehensively and covering the entire population.
Through the conference, the feedback and proposals from speakers and invited guests will serve as valuable references sent to the National Assembly delegations and the drafting authorities for consultation during the process of finalizing the content of the Draft Law on Social Insurance (amended).
The conference provided a legal forum to gather many constructive and innovative opinions aimed at improving the legal framework to better align with practical realities.
Content: Mai Chi, Thuc Quyen
Images: Thanh Hoang, Hua Thao
Ulaw Media Team