Resolution 68/NQ-CP on some policies to support workers and employers facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

RESOLUTION

REGARDING SOME POLICIES TO SUPPORT WORKERS AND EMPLOYERS FACING DIFFICULTIES DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

GOVERMENT

Based on the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015; and the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Government dated November 22, 2019;

Based on Decree No. 138/2016/ND-CP dated October 1, 2016 of the Government promulgating the Working Regulations of the Government;

Based on the Politburo's opinion on a number of policies to support workers and employers facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as stated in document No. 1133-CV/VPTW dated June 25, 2021, from the Central Party Office;

Based on Resolution No. 66-NQ/CP dated July 1, 2021, on the Government's thematic meeting on lawmaking in June 2021;

Based on the proposals of the Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in Submission No. 34/TTr-LĐTBXH dated June 2, 2021 and Submission No. 45/TTr-LĐTBXH dated June 28, 2021.

RESOLUTION:

Given the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a significant impact on production, business, and people's lives, the Government has decided to implement several policies to support workers and employers facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic as follows:

I. OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES

1. Objectives

Providing support to workers and employers facing difficulties due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to the recovery of production and business, minimizing the negative impacts of the pandemic, stabilizing production and business, and ensuring the livelihoods and safety of workers.

2. Principles

a) Ensure timely, targeted, transparent, and open support, preventing abuse and exploitation of the policy.

b) Establish criteria and favorable conditions to make it easier for both workers and employers to access the policy.

c) Ensuring the feasibility and effectiveness of policies and resources for implementation. Each beneficiary is only entitled to one benefit under a support policy. Workers receiving one-time financial support (except for those eligible for supplementary policies as stipulated in points 7 and 8 of section II of this Resolution) are only entitled to one support benefit; no support will be provided to those who voluntarily choose not to participate.

d) Promote the proactive role of all levels, sectors, and localities, adapting to specific conditions to flexibly implement support policies, ensuring objectives, principles, and timeliness.

d) State budget support will be provided as follows:

Provinces and cities with a revenue sharing ratio exceeding 60% allocated to the central budget will be able to self-finance the implementation.

The central government budget supports the remaining localities according to the following principles:

– 80% of the actual expenditure as stipulated in this Resolution for mountainous provinces and the Central Highlands.

– 60% of the actual expenditure as stipulated in this Resolution for the remaining provinces that have not yet achieved budget self-sufficiency (excluding mountainous provinces and the Central Highlands).

– 40% of the actual expenditure as stipulated in this Resolution for provinces and cities with remaining revenue sharing ratios allocated to the central budget.

Provinces and centrally-administered cities shall proactively utilize 50% of their local budget reserves (including all three levels: province, district, and commune) and 70% of their local financial reserves and remaining funds from salary reform to implement the support principles and regulations stipulated in this Resolution.

II. SUPPORT CONTENT

1. Policy to reduce the contribution rate for occupational accident and disease insurance.

Employers are allowed to contribute 0% of the wage fund used as the basis for social insurance contributions to the Occupational Accident and Disease Insurance Fund for 12 months (from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022) for employees covered by the occupational accident and disease insurance scheme (excluding cadres, civil servants, public employees, members of the people's armed forces, and employees in Party and State agencies, administrative agencies, and public service units receiving salaries from the state budget). Employers will fully support employees with the amount obtained from the reduced contributions to the Occupational Accident and Disease Insurance Fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Policy on temporarily suspending contributions to the pension and death benefit fund.

Employers who have paid social insurance contributions in full or are temporarily suspending contributions to the Pension and Death Benefit Fund until the end of April 2021, and who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a reduction of 15% or more of their employees participating in social insurance compared to April 2021 (including employees who have stopped working, temporarily suspended their employment contracts, or agreed to take unpaid leave), will be allowed to temporarily suspend contributions to the Pension and Death Benefit Fund for 6 months from the date of application. For cases where a temporary suspension of contributions has already been approved under Resolution No. 42/NQ-CP dated April 9, 2020 and Resolution No. 154/NQ-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government, if eligible, the request will still be processed, but the total suspension period shall not exceed 12 months.

3. Policies to support training and job retention for workers.

Employers are eligible for financial support from the Unemployment Insurance Fund for training, retraining, and skill upgrading for their employees if they have paid unemployment insurance contributions for at least 12 months up to the time of application; have changed their technological structure as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 42 of the Labor Code; have experienced a revenue decrease of 10% or more in the quarter immediately preceding the application for support compared to the same period in 2019 or 2020; and have a plan or are collaborating with vocational education institutions to develop a plan for training, retraining, and skill upgrading to maintain employment for their employees as prescribed. The maximum support amount is VND 1.500.000 per employee per month, and the maximum support period is 6 months. Applications for support must be submitted between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.

4. Policies to support employees whose employment contracts are temporarily suspended or who take unpaid leave.

Employees working at enterprises, cooperatives, public service units that are self-financing for recurrent or investment and recurrent expenditures, and private educational institutions at the preschool, kindergarten, primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, and vocational education levels that have temporarily suspended operations at the request of competent state agencies to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic, and who have had their labor contracts temporarily suspended or taken unpaid leave for 15 consecutive days or more within the term of their labor contracts, from May 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, and whose temporary suspension or unpaid leave began between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021; Employees who are participating in compulsory social insurance up to the time immediately before temporarily suspending their labor contract or taking unpaid leave will receive a one-time support payment as follows: From 15 consecutive days or more to less than 1 month: VND 1.855.000/person; from 1 month or more: VND 3.710.000/person.

5. Policies to support workers who stop working.

Workers employed under labor contracts who were laid off in accordance with Clause 3, Article 99 of the Labor Code and were subject to medical quarantine or located in areas under lockdown as required by competent state authorities for 14 days or more during the period from May 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021; and who were participating in compulsory social insurance up to the time immediately before the layoff, will receive a one-time support payment of VND 1.000.000 per person.

6. Policies to support employees whose employment contracts are terminated.

Workers employed at enterprises, cooperatives, public service units that are self-financing for recurrent or investment and recurrent expenditures, and private educational institutions at the preschool, kindergarten, primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, and vocational education levels, whose employment contracts were terminated due to closure at the request of competent state agencies to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic during the period from May 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021; and who are participating in compulsory social insurance but do not meet the conditions for unemployment benefits, will receive a one-time support payment of VND 3.710.000 per person.

7. Additional support policies and children

a) Workers at points 4, 5, and 6 of Section II who are pregnant will receive an additional support of VND 1.000.000 per person; those raising children or providing alternative care for children under 6 years old will receive an additional support of VND 1.000.000 per child under 6 years old, and this support is only provided to one person, either the mother or the father.

b) Children requiring treatment due to COVID-19 infection or medical isolation as decided by competent state agencies will have their treatment and meal costs covered by the state budget as stipulated in Point 8, Section II of this Resolution; they will also receive an additional VND 1.000.000 per child from the state budget during the treatment and isolation period from April 27, 2021 to December 31, 2021.

8. Provide a daily food allowance of VND 80.000 per person for individuals undergoing treatment for COVID-19 infection (F0), from April 27, 2021 to December 31, 2021. The support period will be based on the actual treatment duration, but for a maximum of 45 days.

A daily meal allowance of VND 80.000 per person will be provided to individuals required to undergo medical quarantine (F1) as decided by competent state authorities, from April 27, 2021 to December 31, 2021, for a maximum period of 21 days.

9. A one-time support payment of VND 3.710.000 per person will be provided to art directors, actors, and painters holding professional titles of rank IV in public performing arts units (excluding performing arts units of the armed forces) that have had to cease operations for 15 days or more to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic during the period from May 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.

A one-time support payment of VND 3.710.000 per person will be provided to licensed tour guides who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021.

10. Policies to support household businesses

Household businesses with business registration and tax registration that have ceased operations for 15 consecutive days or more between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 at the request of competent state agencies to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic will receive a one-time support payment of VND 3.000.000 per household from the state budget.

11. Loan policy for paying wages during work stoppages and for restoring production.

a) Loans for paying wages during work stoppages: Employers can borrow funds from the Social Policy Bank at a 0% interest rate and without collateral to pay wages to employees participating in compulsory social insurance who have stopped working for 15 consecutive days or more, as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 99 of the Labor Code, during the period from May 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. Employers must not have any bad debts at credit institutions or branches of foreign banks at the time of loan application. The maximum loan amount is equal to the regional minimum wage for the number of employees for a maximum of 3 months of actual work stoppage. The loan term is less than 12 months.

b) Loans for payroll support to restore production: Employers who had to temporarily suspend operations due to requirements from competent state agencies to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic from May 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, and who resume production and business activities, as well as employers operating in the fields of transportation, aviation, tourism, accommodation services, and sending Vietnamese workers abroad under contract during the period from May 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, are eligible to borrow capital from the Social Policy Bank at a 0% interest rate and are not required to provide collateral to pay salaries to employees working under labor contracts and participating in compulsory social insurance. Employers must not have bad debts at credit institutions and branches of foreign banks at the time of loan application. The maximum loan amount is equal to the regional minimum wage for employees working under employment contracts with a maximum of 3 months of actual salary payment. The loan term is less than 12 months.

12. For workers without employment contracts (freelancers) and certain other specific groups:

Based on the specific conditions and budgetary capacity of the locality, provinces and cities shall develop criteria, determine the beneficiaries, and the amount of support, but the support amount shall not be less than VND 1.500.000/person/time or VND 50.000/person/day based on the actual number of days of temporary suspension of operations as required by the locality.

III. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

1. Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs:

a) To chair and coordinate with relevant agencies to submit to the Prime Minister for issuance a Decision to implement the provisions of Section II of this Resolution using a simplified procedure.

b) To chair and coordinate with relevant agencies to inspect and monitor the implementation of the Resolution, and promptly propose solutions to the Government and the Prime Minister to address any difficulties and obstacles that arise.

c) Adjusting the funding for meal allowances for children undergoing treatment due to COVID-19 infection or medical isolation as required by competent authorities from the Children's Protection Fund to support other children in special circumstances, as agreed upon with the donor.

2. Ministry of Finance:

a) Ensure the availability of state budget funds to implement the policies stipulated in this Resolution.

b) Based on the provisions of the Resolution, relevant legal regulations, and the actual expenditures of localities (with confirmation from the State Treasury), consider and provide timely support from the central budget to each locality, and periodically compile and report the results of implementation to the Prime Minister.

3. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism:

Instructions for organizing and implementing support policies as stipulated in Point 9, Section II of this Resolution.

4. Ministry of Planning and Investment:

The presiding officer shall report to the competent authority to allocate sufficient funds from the public investment plan to cover management fees for the Social Policy Bank to implement the task of providing loans to employers to pay wages to employees based on actual disbursement amounts.

5. State Bank of Vietnam:

a) To chair and coordinate with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnam Social Security, and relevant agencies to issue a Circular guiding the simplified procedures and to provide the Social Policy Bank with a maximum refinancing loan of VND 7.500 billion at an interest rate of 0%/year, with a refinancing term of less than 12 months and without collateral, for employers as stipulated in Point 11, Section II of this Resolution to pay wages to their employees. The disbursement period for the refinancing is until March 31, 2022, or until the entire refinancing amount is disbursed, whichever comes first.

b) The State Bank of Vietnam is permitted to use the risk reserve allocated from the difference between revenue and expenditure to handle refinancing debts under this Resolution that have become overdue for 03 years or more.

6. The Social Policy Bank shall guide and implement the lending policy as stipulated in Point 11, Section II of this Resolution.

7. The Vietnam Social Security implements policies within the scope of its responsibilities as stipulated in this Resolution.

8. People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities:

a) Proactively utilize local resources and direct the implementation of policies stipulated in Section II of the Resolution; report the results of implementation according to the support schedule to the Ministry of Finance for compilation and submission to the competent authority for support.

b) To preside over the identification and approval of the list of beneficiaries entitled to the benefits stipulated in points 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of Section II of this Resolution; to organize the implementation ensuring timeliness, effectiveness, transparency, and targeting the correct beneficiaries, preventing abuse and exploitation of the policy.

c) Based on the actual local situation, issue support policies as stipulated in point 12, Section II of this Resolution, using local budget funds and other legally mobilized sources.

9. The Ministry of Information and Communications shall preside over and coordinate with the Central Propaganda Department, ministries, central and local agencies, and news agencies and press organizations to widely disseminate and publicize this Resolution.

10. We propose that the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, and other political and social organizations participate in disseminating, coordinating the implementation, and monitoring the execution of this Resolution.

11. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government agencies, and chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities are directly responsible to the Government and the Prime Minister for the implementation and results of this Resolution.