During leave period of social distancing, are employees entitled to convalescence in Vietnam?

During leave period of social distancing, are employees entitled to convalescence in Vietnam?

My company is on a break from October 1, 2021 to October 31, 2021. During this time, will employees receive health benefits after maternity leave?

Reply:

In Article 29 of the 2014 Social Insurance Law, there are regulations on convalescence and health rehabilitation after sickness as follows:

1. An employee who has taken leave under the sickness benefits for the full number of days in a year prescribed in Article 26 of this Law, but whose health has not yet recovered within 30 days after return to work, is entitled to a leave of between 5 days and 10 days in a year for convalescence and health rehabilitation.

The leave period for convalescence and health rehabilitation is inclusive of public holidays, New Year holidays and weekends. The leave period which lasts from the end of a year to the following year shall be counted for the previous year.

2. The number of days of a leave for convalescence and health rehabilitation shall be jointly decided by the employer and grassroots Trade Union Executive Committee, or by the employer in case the grassroots Trade Union has not yet been set up, specifically as follows:

a/ 10 days at most, for employees whose health has not yet recovered after suffering a disease requiring long-term treatment;

b/ 7 days at most, for employees whose health has not yet recovered after undergoing an operation;

c/ 5 days, in other cases.

3. The per-diem allowance for convalescence and health rehabilitation after sickness must equal 30% of the statutory pay rate.

Thus, according to the above regulations in Vietnam, the nature of time off to enjoy health recovery benefits after illness or maternity is to give employees more time to recover their health. Therefore, in the case of employees who finish their maternity leave and take social distancing leave, in our opinion, they will not be entitled to postpartum convalescence benefits.

During leave period of social distancing, are employees entitled to convalescence in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

When do female employees who return to work after giving birth have to notify them of increased labor in Vietnam?

Let me ask, the unit has an employee whose leave ends according to the Maternity Policy. When I go back to work tomorrow, will my company notify me of the increase immediately or will I wait until the end of the month to notify her? Because she wants to rest after that.

Reply:

According to Clause 6, Article 42, Decision 595/QD-BHXH of 2017 stipulates as follows:

6. If an employee who takes leave due to maternity for at least 14 working days in a month, both he/she and his/her employer are not required to pay social insurance contributions and premiums of unemployment insurance, occupational accident and occupational disease; this period will be included in the payment period of social insurance contributions and his/her health insurance premiums will be paid by the social insurance authority.

The maternity leave period shall be specified in his/her social insurance book according to the monthly salary as the basis for paying social insurance of the month preceding the leave month. In the leave period, if his/her salary is increased, the new salary shall be applied from the time of increase in his/her salary.

If an employee who is doing a heavy, toxic or dangerous job or an extremely heavy, toxic or dangerous job included in the list issued by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health or is working in areas with a region-based allowance coefficient of 0.7 or higher leaves his/her jobs due to maternity, the leave period shall be included in the period of doing a heavy, toxic or dangerous job or an extremely heavy, toxic or dangerous job or working in areas a region-based allowance coefficient of 0.7 or higher.

Thus, there are no specific regulations on when to notify employees when their maternity leave expires. But usually, in order to enjoy the vacation regime, the company will issue a notice increase within a period of 1 to 2 weeks (no more than 30 days when the employee returns to work); so that employees can qualify for health care payments in Vietnam.

Therefore, the company can rely on the actual situation to receive notice of increased labor in Vietnam.

What maternity benefits can male employees participating in social insurance receive in Vietnam? 

What maternity benefits can male employees participating in social insurance receive in Vietnam? Thanks for advice.

Reply:

Clause 1, Article 31 of the 2014 Social Insurance Law stipulates that employees are entitled to maternity benefits when they fall into one of the following cases:

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.

Thus, it can be seen that male employees participating in compulsory social insurance, depending on the case, can enjoy maternity benefits in Vietnam when:

- Adoption of children under 06 months old;

- Carry out sterilization measures;

- Wife gave birth to a child.

Best regards!