Retirement but still working: What benefits do workers get?
Ms. Le Thi Thu (resident in Hanoi) said that by December 2025, she will be eligible for retirement with 33 years of social insurance (SI) participation in normal working conditions. However, what worries her is the method of calculating pensions and allowances when retiring. If she continues to work for a period of time before submitting her retirement application, will her benefit level change or not?
According to Hanoi Social Insurance, based on Clause 2, Article 169 of the Labor Code, the retirement age of female workers in normal conditions in 2025 is 56 years and 8 months. Thus, in December 2025, Ms. Thu is eligible for age and social insurance contribution period (over 15 years) to receive a monthly pension.
According to the provisions of Article 66 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance (effective from July 1, 2025), the pension level of female workers is calculated at 45% corresponding to the first 15 years of social insurance contribution; then, each additional year of contribution is calculated at 2%, maximum not exceeding 75%.
With 33 years of social insurance contributions, Ms. Thu has reached a maximum benefit level of 75% of the average monthly salary for social insurance contributions. If her average salary for social insurance contributions is 10 million VND/month, her pension is estimated at about 7.5 million VND/month.
In addition to the monthly pension, employees who have paid social insurance for more than the number of years corresponding to the 75% benefit rate will also receive a one-time allowance upon retirement.
Based on Article 68 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, each year of social insurance contribution exceeding the corresponding rate of 75% is entitled to an additional 0.5 months of the average monthly salary for social insurance contributions.
Accordingly, to reach the 75% pension level, female workers need to have enough 30 years of social insurance contributions. In case Ms. Thu has 32 years and 6 months of social insurance contributions, which is more than 2.5 years, she will receive a one-time allowance equivalent to about 1.5 months of the average pension when retiring.
In case health is guaranteed and there is a need, employees can agree with the employer to continue working after reaching retirement age.
If she has not submitted her retirement application, Ms. Thu is still considered a worker participating in compulsory social insurance and continues to be accumulated contribution time. Notably, according to the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, if the worker continues to work after retirement age and still participates in social insurance, each additional year of contribution will be calculated as a one-time allowance equal to 2 months of the average monthly salary for social insurance contributions - 4 times higher than the previous regulations (0.5 months/year).
In case the employee has retired and then continues to work under a contract agreed upon with the employer, they will not have to pay compulsory social insurance. At the same time, the employee still enjoys full health insurance benefits like a retired person.
Reality shows that continuing to work after retirement age not only helps workers increase their income during their working capacity, but also brings significant benefits in terms of policies, especially the one-time allowance upon retirement according to new regulations.
