Pensions are an important right that employees accumulate after many years of working and participating in compulsory social insurance (SI). However, many people, even if they are old enough to retire and have paid SI for enough years, are still confused, even misunderstand the time of officially receiving pensions, leading to receiving pensions later than expected.
According to Article 15 of Circular 12/2025/TT-BNV guiding the Law on Social Insurance in 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs has clearly stipulated how to determine the retirement benefit period for employees participating in compulsory social insurance.
Enjoying pensions when retiring at the right age
For employees who retire and have met the age conditions as well as the time to pay social insurance, the time to receive a pension is determined from the month immediately following the month the employee reaches retirement age according to regulations.
In case the employee is old enough to retire but still continues to work and continue to pay compulsory social insurance, the time to receive the pension will be calculated from the month immediately following the month of termination of the labor contract or termination of work, provided that the number of years of social insurance contributions as prescribed is sufficient.
Cases of retirement due to reduced labor capacity
For employees who retire due to reduced working capacity, if they are eligible for age and time to pay social insurance, the time to receive a pension is calculated from the month immediately following the month with the conclusion of reduced working capacity.
However, if employees conclude that their working capacity is reduced before reaching retirement age, the time to receive pensions will still have to wait until the month after reaching retirement age according to regulations.
Not fully determined date and month of birth
In reality, there are cases where the employee's dossier only records the year of birth or only records the month and year of birth, not fully determining the date and month of birth. In this case, the time to receive a pension is calculated from the month immediately following the month of retirement age according to regulations.
The determination of the age of employees in this special case is carried out according to Clause 2, Article 12 of Decree 158/2025/ND-CP.
Cases of enjoying pensions with a contribution period of 15 to less than 20 years
The 2024 Law on Social Insurance allows some cases to receive pensions when they have a social insurance contribution period of 15 years to less than 20 years. For this group of subjects, the earliest time to receive pensions is calculated from the date the 2024 Law on Social Insurance takes effect.
Cases of compensation for missing months
For employees subject to the cases specified in Clause 7, Article 33 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, when employees pay enough money for the remaining months, the time to receive pension is calculated from the month immediately following the month of completing the compensation payment.
No longer enough original records before 1995
For employees who no longer have sufficient original documents proving their working time in the state sector before January 1, 1995, the time to receive pensions will be based on the written resolution of the social insurance agency.
The above regulations show that pensions are not automatically paid immediately when employees retire. Pension enjoyment depends closely on retirement age, social insurance contribution time and the time of termination of labor relations.
Therefore, workers need to proactively learn about regulations, review personal records and contact the social insurance agency soon to avoid falling into a situation where they are eligible but still have to wait to receive pensions, affecting their legitimate rights.
