Many new policies on wages and labor will take effect in March 2022

New guidance on payment of occupational accident and disease benefits

March 1, 2022 is also the effective date of Circular 28/2021/TT-BLDTBXH guiding the implementation of the Law on Labor Safety and Hygiene, replacing Circular 04/2015/TT-BLDTBXH and Circular 26/2017/TT-BLDTBXH.

According to the new Circular, the method of payment of occupational accident benefits in special cases has been adjusted.

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 8, Circular 28/2021, in case an employee is subject to compulsory social insurance but the enterprise does not pay social insurance for them, it must pay the employee who has a work accident or occupational disease an amount equivalent to the subsidy that should have been paid by the social insurance agency.

Previously, payment of the above amount could be made in one lump sum or monthly as agreed by the parties.

However, to ensure the rights of employees, the new Circular has added a provision that in case the parties do not agree on the form of payment, it will be implemented according to the employee's request.

Specific regulations on how to calculate accident frequency to reduce social insurance contributions

On December 28, 2021, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs issued Circular 27/2021/TT-BLDTBXH, which provides guidance on how to calculate the frequency of occupational accidents as a basis for applying a lower contribution rate than the normal contribution rate to the occupational accident and disease insurance fund. Specifically, according to Article 8, Circular 27, the frequency of occupational accidents is calculated according to the following formula:

Ki = Ni multiplied by 1,000 divided by Pi. Where:

- Ki is the frequency of occupational accidents per year.

- Ni is the number of people having work-related accidents and the number of people dying from work-related accidents who are entitled to work-related accident insurance from the Work-related Accident and Occupational Disease Insurance Fund from January 1 to December 31 of the year.

- Pi is the number of employees participating in compulsory social insurance (SI) from January 1 to December 31 of the year.

The average occupational accident frequency of the 3 consecutive years prior to the proposed year is calculated as follows:

Ktb = K1 + K2 + K3 divided by 3. In which:

- Ktb is the average occupational accident frequency of the 3 consecutive years prior to the proposed year.

- K1 is the frequency of occupational accidents in the year immediately preceding the proposed year (year 1).

- K2 is the frequency of occupational accidents in the year immediately preceding the first year (year 2).

- K3 is the frequency of occupational accidents in the year immediately preceding the second year (year 3). This calculation is applied from March 1, 2022.

If the frequency of occupational accidents in the year immediately preceding the proposed year decreases by 15% or more compared to the average frequency of occupational accidents in the 3 consecutive years preceding the proposed year or there are no occupational accidents in the 3 consecutive years preceding the proposed year, the enterprise will have the opportunity to be considered for a reduction in the social insurance contribution rate to the occupational accident and disease fund from 0.5% to 0.3%.

Retired old communal officials are subsidized up to 2,473,000 VND/month

According to the guidance in Circular 02/2022/TT-BNV, retired commune, ward and town officials receiving monthly allowances according to Decision No. 130-CP of 1975 and Decision No. 111-HDBT of 1981 will have their monthly allowances adjusted up by 7.4%.

According to Clause 2, Article 2 of Circular 02/2022, after rounding the number, retired elderly commune officials will receive the following monthly allowance:

- Former Party Secretary and Chairman of the Commune People's Committee: 2,473,000 VND/month.

- Former officials who are Deputy Secretary, Vice Chairman, Standing Party Committee member, Secretary of People's Committee, Secretary of People's Council, Commune Team Leader, Commune Police Chief: 2,400,000 VND/month.

- The remaining positions are 2,237,000 VND/month.

Although this Circular takes effect from March 15, 2022, the above subsidy regime is implemented from January 1, 2022.

Need to collect more information about the labor market

This is a notable content in Circular 01/2022/TT-BLDTBXH, effective from March 10, 2022. Accordingly, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs requires the collection of more information about the labor market. Specifically:

- Collect information on labor supply: In addition to information on full name, date of birth, gender, general education level, current job, unemployment status... The new Circular requires additional information on training and employment needs (Article 7 of Circular 01/2022).

- Collecting information about foreign workers working in Vietnam: In addition to personal information, work permits, current job positions, the new regulations require collecting additional information on professional training qualifications and training majors; working form; type of enterprise, working organization; work experience; practice certificates; working location and time (Article 13 of Circular 01/2022).

The employment service centers will be the units responsible for collecting the above information on the labor market and reporting to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.