Ensuring the principle of contribution - benefit
The 2025 Law on Employment continues to inherit the basic principles of the 2013 Law on Employment when stipulating that the monthly unemployment benefit (UI) level is equal to 60% of the average salary of 6 months of unemployment insurance (UI) contributions before unemployment.
According to Mr. Tran Tuan Tu - Head of the UI Department, Department of Employment (Ministry of Home Affairs), the new regulations have been adjusted to be stricter but still ensure flexibility and suitability with reality.
Mr. Tu said that according to previous regulations of the 2013 Employment Law, the unemployment benefit level is calculated based on the average salary of the 6 consecutive months before unemployment.
However, the concept of "close proximity" is designed quite flexibly to ensure the rights of workers in cases of reasonable interruptions in the unemployment insurance participation process.
According to Mr. Tu, with short-term insurance types, contributions usually have to be continuous until the time of risk. However, unemployment insurance, in addition to its short-term nature, also has a long-term factor, because the entire period of contribution but not yet enjoyed is still preserved, even if the employee has interruptions in the working process.
Therefore, if only calculating'6 consecutive months' in a rigid sense, without interruption, it will not be suitable for reality" - Mr. Tu said.
Therefore, the 2025 Employment Law is adjusted in the direction of determining the last 6 months of UI contribution before the time of termination of the labor contract, regardless of whether the participation process is interrupted or not. This approach both ensures the principle of contribution - benefit, and is consistent with the actual working process of employees.
Maintaining the motivation of workers to return to work
Regarding the 60% benefit level, Mr. Tu said that this is a temporary financial support for a certain period of time to help workers maintain their lives when they lose their jobs and do not have income.
According to the recommendations of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and international practices, the unemployment benefit level should not be lower than 50% of salary. Vietnam currently stipulates a benefit level of 60%, higher than this recommended level.
However, many workers still believe that the benefit level is still low because the salary used as a basis for unemployment insurance contributions is currently mainly based on the salary according to labor contracts, not fully reflecting actual income.
Mr. Tu said that in businesses today, in addition to contract salaries, there are many other incomes that have not been included in the base salary for insurance contributions. The reason is that if fully calculated, employers will have to increase their contribution obligations, so they tend to keep the contribution level at the minimum level.
This leads to the fact that the income of workers may be significantly higher than the salary used as the basis for unemployment insurance contributions. For example, a worker has an insurance contribution of about 6 million VND/month, but their actual income may reach about 10 million VND/month, especially in labor-intensive industries such as textiles and garments, and footwear. At that time, the unemployment benefit level calculated at 60% of the insurance contribution salary will be much lower than the actual income.
Mr. Tu also said that keeping the benefit level at the threshold of 60% is to ensure a balance between supporting workers and maintaining motivation to return to work.
If the benefit level is too high, for example 70% or 80%, it will reduce the motivation of workers to return to work" - Mr. Tu said and said that the 60% level is calculated based on the balance of the fund, in accordance with international practices, while still ensuring necessary support.
According to Mr. Tu, the nature of unemployment benefits is the sharing between fund participants. Beneficiaries not only receive from their contributions but also from the contributions of many others, showing the humanity of the policy.
