Vietnam clarifies social insurance enrollment of expatriate workers 

Recently published government guidance (Vietnamese) aims to clarify which categories of non-Vietnamese expatriate workers must be enrolled in the compulsory social insurance scheme that covers pension, death, sickness and maternity, and occupational accident or diseases. Decree No. 143/2018 (Vietnamese) published in October 2018 stipulated that expatriate workers must be enrolled, subject to meeting certain criteria, but didn’t identify which categories of expatriate workers are covered.

Covered workers. The new guidance clarifies that non-Vietnamese expatriate workers must be enrolled if they are issued work permits and practicing certificates or licenses and are employed on indefinite employment contracts for at least one year by a Vietnamese-based employer. Workers not subject to the requirement include intracompany transfers — such as managers, executive directors, experts and other workers — who have been employed by an overseas organization for at least 12 months and who are assigned temporarily to the organization’s operation in Vietnam. Other Expatriate workers who don’t have to register with the scheme include those nearing retirement age (currently, the retirement ages are 60 years for men and 55 for women).

Required contributions. Employers should have begun partial contributions from 1 Dec 2018, but employees don’t have to contribute until 1 Jan 2022. The contribution rate is calculated on a capped salary — currently VND 27,800,000 per month, increasing to VND 29,800,000 from 1 Jul 2019. The contribution rates for expatriate workers earning more than the capped amount will be calculated on a percentage of salary. The current contribution payable by employers is 3.5% but increases to 17.5% from 1 Jan 2022. Employees will contribute 8% from 1 Jan 2022.

Related Resources

• Official Letter No. 1064 (Vietnamese) (MOLISA, 18 Mar 2019)