The Ministry of Home Affairs has responded to the opinions of voters in Quang Ngai province sent after the 9th Session of the 15th National Assembly.
Voters in Quang Ngai province requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate with relevant agencies to review, amend and supplement regulations on social insurance, retirement age, employee rights and minimum wages to ensure commensurate with the country's socio-economic development reality.
Responding to the issue of retirement age, Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra said that this content was discussed by the Central Committee in the Project on reforming social insurance policies at the 7th Conference of the 12th Central Executive Committee.
At the same time, unanimously approved Resolution 28/2018 on reforming social insurance policies.
Institutionalize the policy of increasing the retirement age in Resolution 28, the National Assembly agreed to issue the Labor Code in 2019, in which the content of retirement age and pension age conditions have been stipulated in Articles 169 and 219.
During the research and development of the 2019 Labor Code, the issue of retirement age was discussed, evaluated carefully, and summarized all related aspects.
Therefore, the Labor Code stipulates that the adjustment to increase the retirement age is not implemented immediately to 62 years old for men and 60 years old for women, but is adjusted according to the roadmap.
Accordingly, each year it will only increase by 3 months for male workers and 4 months for female workers until reaching the age of 62 for male workers in 2028 and 60 for female workers in 2035.
For workers with reduced working capacity; working in particularly arduous, toxic, or dangerous occupations or jobs; working in arduous, toxic, or dangerous occupations or jobs; working in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, they can retire at a lower age than the retirement age of workers under normal working conditions.
Therefore, the Social Insurance Law 2024 has been inherited, ensuring consistency in the retirement age stipulated in the Labor Code.
Regarding the minimum wage, Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra said that according to the provisions of the Labor Code, the minimum wage is the lowest wage paid to employees doing the simplest work in normal working conditions.
This is to ensure the minimum living standard of workers and their families, in accordance with socio-economic development conditions.
The Government decides and announces the minimum wage based on the recommendation of the National Wage Council.
Based on the report of the National Wage Council on the recommendation of the 2026 minimum wage plan, the Ministry of Home Affairs is presiding over and coordinating with ministries and branches to draft a decree regulating the minimum wage for employees working under labor contracts.
This content is expected to be submitted to the Government in October 2025 to adjust the minimum wage to increase by an average of 7.2% compared to the current level, applicable from January 1, 2026.
