Are foreigners entitled to maternity benefits in Vietnam? What is level of maternity benefits in Vietnam?

Are foreigners entitled to maternity benefits in Vietnam?

Are foreigners entitled to maternity benefits like Vietnamese employees? The company pays full social insurance for these foreign employees.

Reply:

According to Article 124 and Clause 2, Article 2 of the 2014 Law on Social Insurance, foreign employees are subject to compulsory social insurance participation from January 1, 2018. At the same time, in Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree 143/2018/ND-CP, foreign employees participating in compulsory social insurance in Vietnam are also entitled to maternity benefits when giving birth if they meet the conditions in Article 31 of Social Insurance Law 2014.

According to Article 31 of the 2014 Law on Social Insurance, it regulates conditions for maternity benefits, specifically:

1. Employees shall be covered by the maternity benefits in one of the following cases:

a/ Pregnant female employees;

b/ Female employees giving birth to children;

c/ Female employees as surrogate mothers and intended mothers;

d/ Employees adopting under-6-month children;

dd/ Female employees having intrauterine devices or employees taking sterilization measures;

e/ Male employees currently paying social insurance premiums whose wives give birth to children.

2. To enjoy the maternity benefits, employees defined at Points b, c and d, Clause 1 of this Article must have paid social insurance premiums for at least full 6 months within 12 months before childbirth or child adoption.

3. To enjoy the maternity benefits, employees defined at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article who have paid social insurance premiums for at least full 12 months and need to take a leave during pregnancy for pregnancy care as prescribed by a competent health establishment must have paid social insurance premiums for at least full 3 months within 12 months before childbirth.

4. Employees who fully satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 2 or 3 of this Article and terminate their labor contracts or working contracts or cease working before the time of childbirth or the time of adoption of under-6-month children are still entitled to the maternity benefits prescribed in Articles 34, 36 and 38, and Clause 1, Article 39, of this Law.

Thus, to enjoy maternity benefits in Vietnam, employees must pay social insurance for 6 months or more within the 12 months before giving birth.

Are foreigners entitled to maternity benefits in Vietnam? What is level of maternity benefits in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

Maternity benefits for foreign employees in Vietnam

A female employee who is a foreign employee of her company is about to give birth and should prepare for maternity leave. Don't know specifically what the maternity benefits are for foreigners?

Reply:

According to the provisions of Article 39 of the 2014 Law on Social Insurance, the 2019 maternity benefit level stipulates the case of your colleague as follows:

1. For employees entitled to the maternity benefits as prescribed in Articles 32 thru 37 of this Law, the allowance levels shall be calculated as follows:

a/ A monthly allowance must equal 100% of the average of salaries of 6 months preceding the leave on which social insurance premiums are based. For employees who have paid social insurance premiums for only under 6 months, the allowance level under the maternity benefits specified in Article 32 or 33, Clause 2, 4, 5 or 6, Article 34, or Article 37, of this Law, is the average of salaries of the months for which social insurance premiums have been paid;

According to this Article, female employees who give birth or employees who adopt children under 06 months old will receive a one-time allowance for each child equal to 02 times the base salary in the month the female employee gives birth or the month the employee adopts the child. In case of giving birth but only the father participates in social insurance, the father will receive a one-time allowance equal to 2 times the base salary in the month of birth for each child. Current base salary is 1,390,000 VND/month. From July 1, 2019, the base salary is 1,490,000 VND/month.

** Note : Time off to enjoy maternity leave of 14 working days or more in a month is counted as social insurance payment time, employees and employers do not have to pay social insurance in Vietnam. 

Documents for maternity benefits for foreign employees in Vietnam

What documents are included in the application for maternity benefits for foreign employees? I want to learn how to prepare documents for my employees.

Reply:

Documents for maternity benefits for female employees giving birth are specified in Article 101 of the 2014 Law on Social Insurance including:

1. A dossier for a female employee to enjoy the maternity benefits must comprise:

a/ A copy of the birth registration certificate or birth certificate of the child;

b/ A copy of the child’s death certificate, in case the child dies, or copy of the mother’s death certificate, in case the mother dies in childbirth;

c/ A competent health establishment’s certificate stating that the mother is at postnatal risk that makes her unable to take care of the child;

d/ An extract of the mother’s medical record or hospital discharge paper in case the child dies after birth without being granted the birth certificate;

dd/ A competent health establishment’s certificate stating that the female employee has to take leave for pregnancy care, in the case specified in Clause 3, Article 31 of this Law.

Best regards!