Social Welfare for The Elderly and People with Disabilities during the Covid-19 Era

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai signed Decision No. 33/2021/QD-TTg on November 11th, amending and supplementing a number of articles regarding policies to support businesses' employees and employers facing difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The new legislation has reduced the number of conditions and procedures for receiving support, while also expanded the scope of support for disadvantaged people.

Affecting Employers, Employees

The new legislation has a number of conditions to support employees and employers to temporarily suspend contributions to the Retirement and Death Insurance Benefit Fund.

The condition is that employers have fully paid social insurance or are temporarily suspending contributions to the retirement and survivorship fund until the end of January 2021, but affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a reduction in social insurance participation from 10% or more at the time of application submission to January 2021.

While, previously, Decision No. 23/2021/QD-TTg stated that employers paying all social insurance premiums or temporarily suspending contributions to the retirement and survivorship fund until the end of April 2021, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, need the condition of 15% or more of a reduction in social insurance participation.

People with disabilities selling lottery tickets in Ho Chi Minh City received support gifts from benefactors. Photo: TNO

Additional support for the elderly and the people with disabilities

Decision 33/2021/QD-TTg supplements regulations on care for the elderly and people with disabilities, in addition to help for children during treatment for Covid-19 infection or previously recommended medical isolation.

Additional one-time support of VND999,839 (US$43.33) person for children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities during treatment for Covid-19 infection or medical isolation.

Businesses can apply for vocational training support

The procedure for requesting support for employers in training, retraining, and increasing vocational skills has been streamlined under Decision 33/2021/QD-TTg. Specifically, businesses must submit dossiers to the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs in the location where the main office is located or where the employer registers to participate in social insurance for employees, in accordance with rules.

Businesses can request funding in various installments based on their production, business, and labor consumption needs. Under these new regulations, employees are only sponsored for training and retraining once. Meanwhile, the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, where the head office is situated, is the sole place to submit the application, pursuant to the earlier Decision No. 23/2021/QD-TTg.

Expand scaled of employee support

Employees who temporarily cease the performance of labor contracts or take unpaid leave will be supported by Decision 33/2021/QD-TTg, which alters and enhances a number of regulations regarding the matter.

As a result, an employee working under a labor contract must halt the performance of the labor contract or take unpaid leave either due to the employer's operation being temporarily suspended when complying with anti-Covid procedures or by the request of a state agency.

Primarily, suspending the performance of the labor contract, taking unpaid leave during the term of the labor contract, from 15 consecutive days or more, from May 1, 2021, to the end of December 31, 2021 and the time to start suspending the performance of labor contracts, taking unpaid leave from May 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021.

Additionally, participating in compulsory social insurance (named on the list of participating in compulsory social insurance of the social insurance agency) in the month the employee suspends the performance of the labor contract or retires from work without salary or in the month immediately preceding the time when the employee suspends the performance of the labor contract or takes unpaid leave.

Previously, in Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg, the support subjects were only employees working at enterprises, cooperatives, public non-business units who could self-finance their own recurrent or investment expenses and recurrent expenditures, private educational institutions at the level of preschool, kindergarten, primary school, junior high school, high school, vocational education (enterprises, cooperatives, institutions, etc.) public non-business institutions, educational institutions) must suspend operations at the request of competent State agencies to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic.

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