Increasing social insurance premiums: Why are people afraid of the benefits?

Even a small increase in social insurance contributions makes the already frugal meals even more difficult.

According to the Law on Social Insurance, from January 1, 2016 to the end of 2017, the new social insurance contribution rate will be based on the salary and allowances stated in the contract (previously based only on salary). From January 1, 2018 onwards, employees will pay insurance based on the salary, allowances and many other additional amounts stated in the labor contract. The social insurance rate for both employees and businesses will be up to 26% of monthly salary.

Workers' salaries are already low, now they have to pay social insurance, making life even more difficult.

This new calculation method, according to a representative of the Vietnam Social Security, is beneficial to workers. The higher the contribution, the higher the pension in the future, said a department head of this unit.

But for some reason, workers are not happy with the new decision, even afraid. On social forums, many people worry about their salaries being reduced, complaining about losing their jobs. Without thinking about the next ten or fifteen years, they do not know how the government's policies will change, whether their pension will be enough to live on or not, they are only worried about losing their jobs tomorrow.

In fact, directors of several textile and seafood enterprises have announced in the press that they are considering laying off workers to reduce the burden of costs, the heaviest of which is insurance costs.

Currently, to avoid fees, many employers pay social insurance based on the salary stated in the contract, while this salary is lower than the actual salary and is compensated by many different types of allowances. This allowance is not included in the social insurance contribution, causing disadvantages for employees, leading to loss of social insurance revenue. Pensions and social benefits for retirees will not ensure a minimum standard of living.

Of course, the reason for changing the way social insurance is calculated is reasonable, but to ensure effectiveness, it is necessary to combine supervision between the insurance agency and the tax agency. The newly issued revised Penal Code, agencies and units that evade social insurance payments can be criminally prosecuted for 2 to 7 years in prison.

And from another perspective, increasing the social insurance contribution rate will be more acceptable if the salary scale for the state agencies is brought back to reality. Currently, with the average monthly income of civil servants and specialists being only around 5-7 million VND, increasing the social insurance contribution by even a few hundred thousand will make the already frugal meals even more difficult.

As well as increasing the social insurance premium for businesses, there needs to be a guiding circular soon, so that they have a roadmap and plan to accept this not small additional cost, avoiding pushing businesses into a difficult situation.

According to Baogiaothong