Conditions for employees to receive a 13th month salary.

Reply:

1. What is the 13th-month salary?

Currently, neither the 2019 Labor Code nor other related guiding legal documents contain a definition of "What is the 13th-month salary?".

According to the guidelines in Circular 560/LĐTBXH-BHXH of 2018 issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs on determining the salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions, the 13th-month salary is understood as an additional bonus paid by the enterprise to employees for the purpose of supporting and encouraging them to work. Enterprises usually pay the 13th-month salary to employees during the Lunar New Year or the beginning of the new year.

The 13th-month salary can be paid based on the regular monthly salary, the employee's average income for the year, or a fixed amount.

In addition, Article 104 of the 2019 Labor Code mentions bonuses for employees as follows:

1. Bonuses are sums of money, assets, or other forms of reward that employers give to employees based on production and business results and the level of job performance of the employees.

2. The bonus regulations are decided by the employer and publicly announced at the workplace after consulting with the employee representative organization at the workplace, if such an organization exists.

According to the regulations mentioned above, a bonus is a sum of money, property, or other forms of reward that an employer gives to an employee based on production and business results and the employee's level of job performance.

2. What are the conditions for employees to receive a 13th month salary?

To find out if an employee is entitled to a 13th-month salary, they can check the benefit clauses in their employment contract or the support policies of the company where they work.

The 13th-month salary is not a mandatory bonus that businesses are required to pay to employees. Businesses are only obligated to pay the 13th-month salary (Tet bonus) to employees when all three of the following conditions are met:

- The company has issued a legally valid bonus policy and has publicly announced the bonus policy at the workplace;

- The employee has met all the conditions for Tet bonus as stated in the published bonus regulations.

- Employees are still working for the company at the time the 13th month salary is calculated.

If a business incurs losses or employees do not meet the conditions for Tet bonuses, the business may not pay the 13th-month salary to the employees.

3. Is the 13th-month salary of employees subject to mandatory social insurance contributions?

The monthly salary used for calculating mandatory social insurance contributions is stipulated in Clause 2, Article 89 of the 2014 Social Insurance Law as follows:

Monthly salary subject to mandatory social insurance contributions.

For employees whose social insurance contributions are based on a salary determined by the employer, the monthly salary used for social insurance contributions is the salary and salary allowances as stipulated by labor laws.

As can be seen from the above regulations, from January 1, 2018 onwards, forworkersFor social insurance contributions based on the salary determined by the employer, the monthly salary used for social insurance contributions is the salary and salary allowances as stipulated by labor law.

Furthermore, according to the guidelines in Circular 560/LĐTBXH-BHXH of 2018 issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs on determining the salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions, the 13th-month salary bonus and bonuses based on annual work performance evaluations are not used as a basis for calculating social insurance contributions.

Therefore, the 13th-month salary of employees is not subject to mandatory social insurance contributions.