Vietnam Resolution 68 support package: what firms can claim

The Vietnam Resolution 68 support package is a set of aid measures that the Government approved on 1 July 2021 for firms and workers hurt by COVID-19. It covers lower insurance costs, training money, pension payment delays and 0% loans for wages. Most of it covers periods that start on 1 May 2021, as the fourth wave of cases hit.

Resolution 68/NQ-CP has 12 kinds of support. Some go to employers. Others go to workers, households and small groups. This article covers what a firm can claim, and what its staff may receive. The Prime Minister issued Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg, dated 7 July 2021, to turn the main parts into working rules.

Sources: Government of Vietnam, Resolution 68/NQ-CP of 1 July 2021, Section I and Section II; Prime Minister, Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg of 7 July 2021.

A zero rate for work injury insurance

Employers pay into the insurance fund for work accidents and occupational diseases. Under the package, the rate falls to 0% of the payroll used to calculate social insurance. The relief lasts 12 months, starting 1 July 2021 and running through the end of June next year.

It covers staff who are eligible for this insurance. State officials, public employees, the armed forces and Party and state agency staff on the state budget are left out. There is one condition. The firm must pass the money it saves to its workers to help them fight the pandemic. Decision 23 repeats this duty, so firms should keep a record of how they use the savings.

Sources: Resolution 68/NQ-CP, Section II, Point 1; Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg, Articles 1 to 3.

Pausing pension contributions

A firm can pause its payments to the retirement and survivorship fund for six months. It must meet two tests. First, it must have paid its social insurance in full, or have been in an approved pause, up to the end of April 2021. Second, the number of staff paying social insurance must have fallen by at least 15% compared with April 2021. Staff on furlough, with suspended contracts or on unpaid leave count toward that fall.

The six months run from the day the firm files its application. Firms that already used the earlier pauses under Resolutions 42 and 154 may still apply if they qualify. In that case the total pause may not pass 12 months. Both firms and workers are covered by this pause.

Sources: Resolution 68/NQ-CP, Section II, Point 2; Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg, Chapter II.

Training money to keep jobs

Firms that retrain staff instead of laying them off can get help from the unemployment insurance fund. The cap is VND 1,500,000 per worker per month, for up to six months. Applications are accepted for 12 months from 1 July 2021.

The tests are strict. The firm must have paid unemployment insurance for its staff for at least 12 months. Its revenue in the last quarter must be down 10% or more against the same quarter of 2019 or 2020. It must also have a training plan, or work with a vocational school on one, with the aim of keeping the jobs.

Sources: Resolution 68/NQ-CP, Section II, Point 3; Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg, Chapter III.

0% loans to pay wages

The Bank for Social Policies will lend at 0% interest with no collateral in two cases. The first is paying furlough wages. The worker must have paid compulsory social insurance and been on furlough for 15 days in a row or more, from 1 May 2021 until the end of March next year. The second is paying wages when a firm restarts after a shutdown ordered by the authorities. This second loan is open to firms in transport, aviation, tourism, hotels and similar lodging, and sending workers abroad.

Both loans share the same limits. The firm must have no bad debt at any credit institution or foreign bank branch. The most it can borrow equals the regional minimum wage times the number of workers, for no more than three months of wages. The loan term is under 12 months. The State Bank is to refinance the bank for up to VND 7,500 billion, with disbursement closing at the end of March next year or when the money runs out.

Sources: Resolution 68/NQ-CP, Section II, Point 11 and Section III, Point 5; Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg, Chapter X.

What staff and households can receive

Workers get one-time cash help, and a person can claim only one category. A worker whose contract is suspended, or who takes unpaid leave, for 15 days or more receives VND 1,855,000 for under a month and VND 3,710,000 for a month or more. A worker whose contract ended and who cannot get unemployment benefits receives VND 3,710,000. Extra VND 1,000,000 payments go to pregnant workers and to a parent for each child under six.

Food help is VND 80,000 a day for people treated for COVID-19, for up to 45 days, and for people in medical isolation, for up to 21 days. Registered household businesses that stop work for 15 days or more get VND 3,000,000. Art performers of rank IV and licensed tour guides get VND 3,710,000. Provinces set their own rules for self-employed workers, with a floor of VND 1,500,000 each time or VND 50,000 a day.

Sources: Resolution 68/NQ-CP, Section II, Points 4 to 10 and 12; Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg, Chapters IV to IX.

How to claim, and what is not covered

Provinces and cities approve the lists of people who get cash help. They pay part of the cost, and the central budget adds a share that depends on the province. Firms should therefore ask their local labor office and social insurance office for forms and dates. The social insurance pause, the training aid and the loans each have their own application steps in Decision 23.

One limit matters. The package is for losses linked to the pandemic, so records of lost revenue, suspended contracts and official shutdown orders are key. Because the rules change often, check the latest text before filing.

Sources: Resolution 68/NQ-CP, Section I, Point 2 and Section III; Decision 23/2021/QD-TTg.