On the afternoon of September 19, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) held a conference to collect opinions on the draft Law on Employment (amended). Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu - Vice President of the VGCL chaired the conference.
Speaking at the conference, Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Ngo Duy Hieu emphasized that employment is a need of most people; employment is the decisive condition for the pursuit of happiness. The Law on Employment is a legal corridor designed and adjusted so that everyone can have good, stable jobs as they wish, ensuring State management.
“In the context of increasingly diverse forms of employment, due to the development of the digital economy as well as globalization, the current Employment Law has met the requirements of promoting socio-economic development, creating employment opportunities for all workers. However, compared to the development needs, the Employment Law has revealed many limitations, including limitations that, if not promptly overcome, will hinder development and limit the opportunities for workers to have better jobs,” Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu assessed.
Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu hopes that delegates will have many practical opinions to contribute to the draft Law on Employment (amended) to help union members and workers have sustainable, increasingly better jobs, high income, and ensure social security conditions.
In addition, the Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor said that the most important issue at present is job conversion. According to Mr. Hieu, many union members and employees are currently working in enterprises with outdated technology, so employees need to study to improve their qualifications. In addition, another issue that needs attention is when employees are unemployed, what are their rights to maintain their lives.
Not only that, according to Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu, in the context that Vietnam is moving towards jobs such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, digital economy... the issue of how employment must be transformed so that the workforce, mainly in labor-intensive fields, can have better opportunities and working conditions.
Contributing her opinion at the conference, Ms. Dao Thi Thu Huyen - Deputy Director of External Affairs and Social Responsibility Department (Canon Vietnam Co., Ltd.) raised the issue of inconsistent social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance policies.
According to Ms. Huyen, maternity leave is counted as time participating in social insurance and health insurance and is entitled to social insurance and health insurance benefits, but is not counted as time participating in unemployment insurance.
“This does not ensure uniformity in the regime of the three types of compulsory insurance (social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance), and at the same time, businesses incur additional costs to pay severance allowance for employees' maternity leave, which is inconsistent with the social insurance regime,” said Ms. Huyen.
To protect the rights of workers and to unify the laws, Ms. Huyen proposed that maternity leave be counted as unemployment insurance payment time for workers.
Mr. Nguyen Thai Duong - Vice President of Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union - also agreed with the above opinion.
Mr. Duong added that in Vietnam, the unemployment rate is low compared to developing countries, but the quality of jobs and income are not high. In addition, the unemployment insurance fund still has a large surplus - this shows that there may be "problems" in accessing benefits. In addition, the payment level is still low, not focusing much on those who contribute to the fund.
Mr. Duong said that the current unemployment benefit level is still low, not ensuring a minimum living standard. In addition, he suggested clarifying the basis for limiting unemployment insurance benefits to a maximum of 12 months.
Delegates contributed many opinions on other contents in the draft Law on Employment (amended).
The draft Law on Employment (amended) is structured with 9 chapters and 130 articles (compared to the 2013 Law on Employment which consisted of 7 chapters and 62 articles). The draft law will be given its first opinion by the National Assembly at the upcoming 8th session of the 15th National Assembly.
