Unemployment benefits are payments made to employees during the time they are unemployed. During the probationary period, are the employees in Vietnam entitled to unemployment benefits?
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During the probationary period, are the employees in Vietnam entitled to unemployment benefits? (Illustrative photo)
Regarding this matter, LawNet would like to answer as follows:
According to Article 49 of the Employment Law 2013, employees working under employment contracts or working contracts in Vietnam who are participating in unemployment insurance (UI) are entitled to unemployment benefits (UB) if they meet the following conditions:
- Termination of the labor contract or working contract, except for cases where the employee unilaterally terminates the labor contract, working contract illegally or the employee is receiving a pension or monthly loss-of-working-capacity allowance.
- Have participated in UI when working under a labor contract, working contract:
- Have paid UI for 12 months or more in the period of 24 months before the termination of indefinite-term employment contracts or definite-term employment contracts;
- Have paid UI for 12 months or more in the period of 36 months when terminating seasonal employment contracts or for a specific job with a term of 03 months to less than 12 months.
- Have submitted the UB application file to the employment service center as regulated.
- Have not found a job within 15 days from the date of submitting the UI application, except for the following cases: Performing military or public security service; Studying for a period of 12 months or more; Complying with decisions to implement educational measures in reform schools, obligatory educational institutions, obligatory detoxification centers; Being detained; serving a prison sentence; Emigrating abroad; Working abroad under a contract; Death.
Additionally, point c of Article 21 of Decree 28/2015/ND-CP, amended by Clause 9 of Article 1 of Decree 61/2020/ND-CP, stipulates that employees enjoying UB will be terminated from UB when they have a job. An employee is considered to have a job when falling into one of the following cases:
- Having signed a working contract, seasonal labor contract, or a specific job with a term of 01 month or more (Note: The date the employee is considered to have a job is the effective date of the working contract, labor contract according to the law in Vietnam).
- Having a recruitment or appointment decision for cases not subject to signing employment contracts or working contracts.
- Having a business registration certificate for employees who are household business owners or having an enterprise registration certificate for those who are enterprise owners.
- The employee informs the employment service center of having found a job.
Hence, based on these regulations, during the probationary period, the employee has not yet signed a labor contract or working contract with the company. Therefore, if the employee meets the conditions for unemployment benefits, they are still eligible for UB as regulated.
To receive UB, the employee must prepare a set of documents requesting UB according to Article 16 of Decree 28/2015/ND-CP and submit it to the local employment service center where they wish to receive unemployment insurance in Vietnam. The application includes:
1. Application form for UB;
2. Original or certified copy of one of the documents confirming the termination of the labor contract or working contract, specifically:
- Expired or completed labor contract or working contract;
- Resignation decision;
- Dismissal decision;
- Disciplinary decision forcing job termination;
- Notification or agreement on labor contract or working contract termination;
- Employer's confirmation with specific details about the employee’s information, type of signed labor contract, reason, and time of labor contract termination.
3. Social insurance book.
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