Prolonged debt, workers suffer losses
According to Ca Mau Provincial Social Insurance (BHXH), by the end of March 31, 2026, the total amount of late payment of social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance in the area is about 186.7 billion VND, with 252 violating units.
The announced list shows that many businesses have large debts, lasting for decades, even more than 100 months. Leading is Quoc Viet Seafood Processing and Import-Export Joint Stock Company with a debt of more than 41.9 billion VND, with a late payment period of up to 87 months. Next is CADOVIMEX Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company with a debt of nearly 27.9 billion VND...
At Truc Anh Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Vinh Trach ward), a business with 59 employees but owing nearly 1 billion VND in social insurance. Ms. Thu Ha (name changed) - a worker who used to work here - shared that when she quit her job, she could not complete the procedures to enjoy benefits because the business had not paid social insurance. "We are deducted monthly social insurance money, but when we quit our job, we are not resolved for benefits. When we went to the social insurance agency, we were told that the company still owed, so we could not finalize the book" - Ms. Ha complained.
This situation puts many workers in a "dilemma": both losing their jobs and not being able to access benefits such as unemployment, maternity, sickness or closing books to move to a new workplace.
Mr. Van Muoi (name changed) used to work at CADOVIMEX Seafood Processing and Import-Export Joint Stock Company, because the company did not pay social insurance for him. After quitting CADOVIMEX, he worked at several other companies. Up to now, Mr. Muoi is unemployed and wants to close his social insurance book to enjoy social insurance benefits, but cannot do so.
Ca Mau Provincial Social Insurance sued CADOVIMEX Seafood Joint Stock Company in 2014, when the debt was 6.63 billion VND, but this company only enforced the judgment for 130 million VND. Although many inspection and examination teams have come to work, CADOVIMEX has not yet had a plan to recover it. The company's leaders at the time of social insurance debt were mostly prosecuted in many different cases; to date, the debt amount is nearly 28 billion VND.
Resolutely recover debt
Ca Mau Provincial Social Insurance said that it has been and is implementing many measures such as specialized inspection, publicizing the list of debtor units, coordinating with tax authorities and the police to handle them. However, reality shows that handling is still facing many difficulties. Some businesses do not cooperate in comparing the salary fund, do not arrange people to work with functional agencies, and even avoid signing debt repayment commitments.
In addition, many small and medium-sized enterprises face financial difficulties and lack capital sources, so they prioritize paying immediate expenses. There are even cases of using the social insurance contributions of employees to maintain production and business activities.
Another obstacle is that the regulations on suing enterprises for evading social insurance contributions are not really clear about the competent authority standing out to sue to protect the rights of employees.
Although the law has stipulated criminal handling for the act of evading social insurance contributions, the application in practice still faces many difficulties in determining the elements constituting a crime. To date, in Ca Mau, there have been no cases of criminal handling, making the deterrent effect not high.
According to the provincial Social Insurance, coordinated data from tax authorities is sometimes not timely. When conducting inspections, many workers have quit their jobs, causing difficulties in determining and recovering.
Faced with the above situation, Ca Mau Social Insurance proposed that the Provincial People's Committee direct departments and branches to closely coordinate in recovering social insurance debts; not considering emulation and commendation for violating businesses.
This agency also proposed to establish an inter-sectoral working group to work directly with units with prolonged debts... Provincial Social Insurance proposed that the police force strengthen coordination in investigating and strictly handling acts of evasion and late payment with signs of criminal violations in order to improve deterrence.
If the situation of social insurance debt is not resolved thoroughly, the disadvantages will continue to weigh heavily on workers - those who are already in a weak position in labor relations.
