If employees need to take a leave during pregnancy for pregnancy care as prescribed by doctors, will they be entitled to maternity benefits in Vietnam?

If employees need to take a leave during pregnancy for pregnancy care as prescribed by doctors, will they be entitled to maternity benefits in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 31 of the Law on Social Insurance 2014 stipulates conditions for enjoying the maternity benefits as follows:

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, according to the above regulations, employees who give birth and have to take a leave during pregnancy for pregnancy care as prescribed by a doctor in Vietnam will be entitled to maternity benefits when they have paid social insurance premiums for at least full 3 months within 12 months before childbirth. You did not specify how many months you had paid social insurance within 12 months before childbirth. If you pay for 3 months or more, you are eligible for maternity benefits.

Does maternity leave have to pay social insurance in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 6, Article 42 of Decision 595/QD-BHXH in 2017 on management of participants 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.

Therefore, the employee who takes leave due to maternity will not have to pay social insurance,  this period will be included in the payment period of social insurance contributions but not the period of payment of unemployment insurance in Vietnam.

Best Regards!