1. Conditions for foreign workers working in Vietnam to pay social insurance?

1.1. Conditions for foreign workers working in Vietnam to pay compulsory social insurance:

Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 2, Decree 143/2018/ND-CP, employees who are foreign citizens working in Vietnam are subject to compulsory social insurance participation when meet all of the following conditions:

– Employees have a work permit or practice certificate or practice license issued by a competent Vietnamese agency;

– Working under an indefinite-term labor contract or a definite-term labor contract signed with an employer in Vietnam with a term of 1 year or more;

– Employees who are foreign citizens working in Vietnam are not subject to compulsory social insurance participation in one of two cases: Moving within the enterprise; Enough retirement age according to regulations.

When all of the above signs are present, both foreign workers and businesses employing these workers in Vietnam must pay mandatory social insurance contributions monthly according to regulations.

1.2. Conditions for foreign workers working in Vietnam to pay voluntary social insurance:

Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 2, the 2014 Law on Social Insurance stipulates that subjects participating in voluntary social insurance are regulated as follows: Vietnamese citizens aged 15 years or older and not If you are a Vietnamese citizen and subject to compulsory social insurance, employees have the right to participate in voluntary social insurance.

Accordingly, based on the above regulations, foreign workers working in Vietnam are not eligible to participate in voluntary social insurance.

2. Do foreign workers working in Vietnam receive pensions?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree 143/2018/ND-CP stipulates that employees who are foreign citizens working in Vietnam and are subject to compulsory social insurance are entitled to pension when meeting Pension eligibility conditions are as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 54 of the Law on Social Insurance and Article 6 of Decree No. 115/2015/ND-CP. Accordingly, the conditions for foreign workers participating in compulsory social insurance to receive pensions according to the provisions of the Social Insurance Law are specifically as follows:

Firstly, when you leave your job, you have paid social insurance for 20 years or more.

Second, reach the retirement age according to the provisions of the Labor Code.

According to Article 169 of the current 2019 Labor Code, the retirement age of foreign workers is also determined as for Vietnamese workers. Specifically:

– In the case of employees working in normal working conditions: The retirement age of employees in normal working conditions is adjusted according to the roadmap for male employees until reaching the age of 62 in 2028 and for female workers reaching 60 years old by 2035.

+ Retirement in 2023: Male working conditions must be 60 years and 9 months old; Female workers must be 56 years old;

+ The prescribed age when retiring in the following years: Each year the retirement age for men increases by 03 months/year, the retirement age for women increases by 04 months/year.

The retirement age of employees under normal working conditions is adjusted according to the roadmap until reaching 62 years old for male employees in 2028 and reaching 60 years old for female employees in 2035.

– In case of having worked for 15 years in a profession, a job that is heavy, toxic, or dangerous, or a particularly heavy, toxic, or dangerous working environment on the list issued by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs or the employee has worked for 15 years in an area with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions, including working time in a place with a regional allowance coefficient of 0.7 or more before January 1. 2021: Retire up to 5 years earlier than in the case of working under normal conditions.

– In case an employee has 15 years of working in coal mining in an underground mine, he or she can retire up to 10 years earlier than in the case of working under normal working conditions.

– In case an employee is infected with HIV due to an occupational accident while performing assigned tasks, the retirement age is not considered.

According to Article 17 of Decree 143/2018/ND-CP, the pension benefits of foreign workers working in Vietnam who participate in mandatory social insurance are entitled to retirement and death benefits. from January 1, 2022. Conditions for receiving pension when employees participate in compulsory social insurance or voluntary social insurance, but for foreign workers working in Vietnam who want to enjoy pension are subject to compulsory social insurance. Previously, foreign workers who paid compulsory social insurance in Vietnam did not receive pensions and were only entitled to benefits for sickness, maternity, labor accidents and occupational diseases).

3. Pension benefits for foreign workers working in Vietnam:

Pension levels for foreign workers are specified in Point a, Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree 143/2018/ND-CP as follows: Monthly pension levels comply with the provisions of Clause 2, Article 56 of the Law social insurance and Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 7 of Decree No. 115/2015/ND-CP.

Accordingly, the formula to calculate the prescribed pension level for overseas workers is determined according to the following formula:

Pension = Benefit rate x Average monthly salary paid for social insurance

In there:

– The pension rate of a foreign worker is determined according to the time that person participates in social insurance as follows:

+ Male workers who pay social insurance for 20 years are calculated to enjoy a rate of 45%, then for each additional year of social insurance payment, an additional 2% is calculated but not exceeding 75%.

+ Female employees who pay social insurance for 15 years are calculated to enjoy a rate of 45%, then for each additional year of social insurance payment, an additional 2% is calculated but not exceeding 75%.

– Average monthly salary paid for social insurance = Total monthly salary paid for social insurance : Total number of months paid for social insurance

Before calculating the average monthly salary paid for social insurance, the salary paid for social insurance will be multiplied by the price inflation coefficient.

For example, Mr. Alex has Canadian citizenship, works in Vietnam and has paid compulsory social insurance for 25 years. His average monthly salary paid for social insurance is 20 million VND/month.

Upon retirement, Mr. A will receive a monthly pension as follows:

– Regarding benefit rate:

20 years of social insurance payment = 45%

Remaining 5 years of social insurance payment = 5 x 2% = 10%

=> Mr. A is entitled to a retirement rate = 45% + 10% = 55%.

– Pension benefit = 55% x 20 million VND = 11 million VND.

4. In case of temporary suspension and continued enjoyment of pension:

4.1 Cases of temporary suspension of pension benefits:

Cases of foreign workers working in Vietnam temporarily suspending pension benefits are specified in Clause 1, Article 10 of Decree 143/2018/ND-CP, Clause 1, Article 64 of the 2014 Law on Social Insurance including:

– Illegally leaving the country;

– Declared missing by the Court;

– There are grounds to determine that social insurance benefits are not in accordance with the law and must be notified in writing and clearly state the reason.

4.2 In case of continuing to enjoy pension:

Pensions paid to foreign workers working in Vietnam will continue to be paid when the departing person returns and resides in Vietnam. In case there is a legally effective decision of the Court to annul the decision to declare missing, in addition to continuing to enjoy the pension, the pension will also be paid back from the time the pension is stopped.

Legal documents used in the article:

– Labor Code 2019;

– Social Insurance Law 2014;

– Decree 115/2015/ND-CP guiding the Social Insurance Law on compulsory social insurance;

– Decree 143/2018/ND-CP guiding the Law on Social Insurance and the Law on Occupational Safety and Hygiene on compulsory social insurance for employees who are foreign citizens working in Vietnam.