Employees Should Know: Regulations on Policies and Benefits When Sick

To ensure personal rights when sick, employees need to be aware of the following regulations.

1. Cases and conditions for enjoying sick leave policies

Clause 1, Article 3 of Circular 59/2015/TT-BLDTBXH stipulates the cases for enjoying sick leave policies include:

- Employees who are sick or have accidents not being occupational accidents, or who are treated for injuries, recurrent diseases due to occupational accidents, and occupational diseases requiring leave as confirmed by a competent medical examination and treatment facility as prescribed by the Ministry of Health.

- Employees taking leave to care for a sick child under 7 years old and confirmed by a competent medical examination and treatment facility.

- Female employees returning to work before the end of the maternity leave period in either of the above two cases.

Note, sick leave policies are not granted in the following cases:

- Persons suffering from sickness or accidents and taking leave due to self-harming, drunkenness, or drug use;

- Employees taking leave for the first time due to occupational accidents, occupational diseases;

- Employees who suffer from sickness or accidents that are not occupational accidents during annual leave, personal leave, unpaid leave as prescribed by labor law, or maternity leave as prescribed by social insurance law.

2. Duration of enjoyment and benefits while being sick

Article 26 of the Social Insurance Law 2014 stipulates the duration of sick leave benefits as follows:

- Working under normal conditions: 30 days if they have paid social insurance for less than 15 years; 40 days if they have paid social insurance for 15-30 years; 60 days if they have paid social insurance for 30 years or more;

- Engaging in heavy, hazardous, dangerous work or in special heavy, hazardous, dangerous conditions listed by the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health, or working in areas with a region-based allowance coefficient of 0.7 or higher: 40 days if they have paid social insurance for less than 15 years; 50 days if they have paid social insurance for 15-30 years; 70 days if they have paid social insurance for 30 years or more.

- Those with long-term treatment needs according to the list of the Ministry of Health are entitled to a maximum of 180 days, including public holidays, Tet holidays, and weekends; after this period, if treatment continues, they will continue to receive sick leave policies at a reduced rate but the total period should not exceed the duration of social insurance contributions.

3. Amount of money received when being sick

Monthly benefits are calculated as 75% of the social insurance contribution wage of the month before taking leave. For employees recently starting work or those who have a work interruption and must take sick leave immediately upon return, the benefit is 75% of the social insurance contribution wage of that month.

Sick leave allowance per day is calculated as monthly sick leave allowance divided by 24 days.

For long-term treatment, employees will receive:

- 65% of the social insurance contribution wage of the month before taking leave if they have contributed for 30 years or more;

- 55% of the social insurance contribution wage of the month before taking leave if they have contributed for 15-30 years;

- 50% of the social insurance contribution wage of the month before taking leave if they have contributed for less than 15 years.

These contents are based on Article 28 of the Social Insurance Law 2014.

4. Procedures and dossiers to enjoy benefits under the sick leave policies

- For inpatient treatment:

+ A copy of the discharge paper of the employee.

+ In case of transfer during inpatient treatment, an additional copy of the transfer or referral paper.

- For outpatient treatment: The original certificate of leave for social insurance benefits.

- For overseas medical treatment: A copy of the Vietnamese translation of the medical examination and treatment certificate issued by the foreign medical facility.

- The original of Form 01B-HSB prepared by the employer.

See details of procedures and dossiers for enjoying sick leave policies in Decision 777/QD-BHXH dated June 24, 2019.

Duy Thinh

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE