According to Article 38 of the 2025 Law on Employment, employees who are paying unemployment insurance are entitled to unemployment benefits when they fully meet the following conditions:
terminate a legal labor contract, not subject to unilateral illegal termination or termination of employment when eligible for pension.
Having paid unemployment insurance for 12 months or more within 24 months before the termination of the labor contract. In case the contract is valid from 1 month to less than 12 months, it must be paid for 12 months within 36 months before leaving work.
Submit all unemployment benefit applications within 3 months from the date of contract termination.
Within 10 working days from the date of submitting the complete application, the employee is unemployed and not in the following cases: participating in military service, studying for more than 12 months, serving a prison sentence, settling abroad or having died.
Thus, unemployment benefits are a support for employees who have lost their jobs and do not have new jobs.
In Article 2 of the Law on Social Insurance 2024, the subjects participating in voluntary social insurance include:
Vietnamese citizens aged 15 and over who are not subject to compulsory social insurance and are not receiving monthly pension or social insurance benefits.
A person who is temporarily suspending the performance of a labor contract, except in cases where both parties have agreed to continue paying compulsory social insurance.
Notably, people receiving unemployment benefits are not subject to compulsory social insurance, because at this time, they no longer have labor relations with enterprises.
From the above regulations, it can be affirmed: Employees who are receiving unemployment benefits are completely entitled to participate in voluntary social insurance if they have a need.
Paying voluntary social insurance during unemployment helps employees:
No interruption in social insurance payment period;
Accumulate enough years to receive pensions in the future;
Proactively ensure social security in old age, in the context of increasing retirement age.
Workers need to note that voluntary social insurance only includes retirement and death benefits, there are no sickness, maternity, or occupational accident benefits as compulsory social insurance. Therefore, it is necessary to consider financial capacity and long-term goals before participating.
In addition, participating in voluntary social insurance does not mean losing the right to unemployment benefits, because these are two independent policies, belonging to two different insurance systems.
