Foreign employees to pay social insurance premiums from 2018
Foreign employees in Vietnam with work permits or practice certificates or practice licences granted by competent Vietnamese agencies will be covered by compulsory social insurance as from January 1, 2018, according to the 2014 Law on Social Insurance.
Specifically, the foreign employee will have to pay 8% of his/her monthly wage while his/her employer will have to pay 18% of the employee’s full pensionable wage, making a total contribution of 26% to the social insurance fund.
Under the Vietnamese law, the employees are allowed to manage their social insurance book during the period of social insurance premium payment in order to monitor the payment of social insurance premiums and enjoyment of social insurance sums.As per the social insurance law, employees and employers that shirk or delay the payment of, or appropriate, social insurance or unemployment insurance premiums for more than 30 days will be sanctioned.
From 2020, social insurance books will be replaced with social insurance cards.