Labors’ right should take priority.

Truong thi Mai in the working session with Dongnai Social Insurance.

With main functions including implementing regulations and policies on Social Insurance, Health Insurance for Labors along with those who enjoy social insurance allowance frequently, and other ones, Dongnai’s Social Insurance Sector yearly deals with social and health insurance regime to thousands of people, organizes professional assignment on social and health insurance revenue and expenditure, takes medical survey, and protects right and benefit of thousands of people joining and enjoying social insurance at locality.

Social Insurance of Dongnai has achieved encouraging results over recent years, especially in 2007 and quarter 1 of 2008. According to report of Nguyen Ngoc Quang, Director of Dongnai Social Insurance, the total of labors joining compulsory social insurance in 2007 and four first months of 2008 include 434,798 people out of 460,728 participants in 2007, reaching 109.86% against 2006, 460,384 people in quarter 1 of 2008, up 6 %, equal to 25,586 people, reaching 105.88%.

The total of real social insurance revenue in 2007 is VND1,104 billion and VND497 million out of VND1,053 billon -Vietnam social insurance target, reaching the year’s target. It is estimated that in 2008 Dongnai’s Social Insurance sector will try to accomplish the set target with VND1,405 billion revenue. The total expenditure for retirement, death, illness, pregnancy and reproduction, labor accident and vocational illness regime was over VND520,690 million for 789,632 people in 2007 and over VND161,331 million for 203,004 people in the first quarter of 2008.

Deployment of Social Insurance Law has gained satisfactory results. After one year of implementation, Social Insurance Law has gradually become a part of life, contributing to

Interaction with social insurance participants is a propagandizing activity that has brought a lot of positive effects.

 enhance awareness and responsibility of employers and employees to participate in social insurance. That can limit violations to protect labors’ right and benefit.

However, in the reality of the locality, the implementing and applying Social Insurance Law still have a lot of shortcomings as well as inappropriate regulations.

Dongnai Social Insurance suggested that there should be some change to suit the real situation, creating favorable conditions to enhance labors’ awareness and responsibility in participating and enjoying social insurance and health insurance according to the government’s support policy.

On behalf of Committee on Social Affairs, Ms. Mai acknowledged efforts pf Dongnai Social Insurance in implementing social policy. Compared with the country’s social insurance, Dongnai Social Insurance has got a lot of progress in term of dealing with regime for labors. As to Ms. Mai, Social Insurance Law has been in effect for over one year. In deployment process, there are still a lot of inappropriate matters, but they will be repaired day by day, basing on reality.

The first thing is to reconsider where the shortcomings come from, due to ineffectiveness of law or mechanism. Anyhow, right of labors should take priority. Besides, it is necessary to balance right of employees and employers in order to ensure  serious enforcement of Social Insurance Law for both employees and employers. She also said that keeping 2% of social insurance fund to pay labors was a humane regulation and should be implemented thoroughly. However, in reality, units should be flexible when unexpected problems come up by advancing labors some money.

Ms. Mai emphasized that social insurance agencies should not have a concept of exceeding target of social insurance collection and expenditure, but concept of right payment and sufficient payment to avoid looking at issues impractically and objectively.

Reported by N. Thuong, translated by Hoai Thu.