NA deputies propose supplementing the regulations to enable early retirement

During the morning discussion, members of the National Assembly proposed supplementing the regulations that will allow employees to take early retirement.

Deputy Vuong Thi Huong from the northern province of Ha Giang highlighted the reduction in the minimum number of years of social security contributions for participants to receive a pension from 20 to 15 years, while her peer Vuong Thi Huong confirmed that the policy aims to make the Resolution more concrete Government No. 28-NQ/TW of 2018 (on the reform of social security policy). According to Deputy Vuong Thi Huong, this policy is in line with the reality that the labor market in our country is still in an early stage of development; therefore, it creates an opportunity for people who join social security late or participate only sporadically to have time to pay social security.

However, since the method of calculating the monthly pension is based on the time of contribution to remuneration and the income that is the basis for paying social security contributions, reducing the conditions regarding the time of paying social security contributions will result in more retirees having a very low pension, especially male workers who receive only 33.75% of the pension.

Moreover, the draft law no longer specifies the lowest monthly pension amount. This makes many employees afraid of the phenomenon of a poorer part of society in the future. He therefore proposed that the drafting committee should consider developing a method for calculating a shared pension to support people whose pensions are too low to ensure their lives.

Deputy Vo Manh Son from Thanh Hoa Province is also interested in a regulation shortening the insurance payment period from 20 to 15 years. He believed that if this plan was approved, a group of workers who joined Social Security late, around the age of 45-47, or those who participated occasionally but had not yet reached retirement age, would be able to benefit from monthly pensions.

According to him, although the pension amount may be somewhat modest, the monthly salary is stable, periodically adjusted by the state, and health insurance will be paid by the Social Insurance Fund, these retirees will still live better in old age.

Moreover, Art. Article 53 of the draft stipulates that during pregnancy, employees may take time off work a maximum of 5 times for prenatal examinations. The maximum time off work for prenatal tests is 2 days for each prenatal test. Deputy Nguyen Thi Yen Nhi from Ben Tre province in the Mekong Delta said that in fact, through meetings with voters who are workers and employees of enterprises and industrial parks, they expressed their opinions that during a routine pregnancy, the doctor usually orders a re-examination after 30 days .

The bill states that employees may take time off work for prenatal tests a maximum of 5 times, provided that the fetus is developing properly; however, if the fetus develops abnormally, pregnant employees must see a doctor after a week, 10 or 15 days or undergo follow-up examinations.

As a result, she proposed increasing the number of prenatal tests during pregnancy to 9-10 times to ensure that workers have adequate health checks so that the fetus can develop properly.

Regarding retirement benefits, Deputy Nguyen Huu Thong of Binh Thuan Province said that the project provides for an age of 75 years or older, but this age is too high compared to the average life expectancy of our country’s current population. According to data from the Central Statistical Office, in 2023 the average life expectancy of the country’s population was 73.7 years, and in 2022 – 73.6 years.

Therefore, he suggested that the government should take into account the lower average life expectancy in the country than the current one in order to receive social benefits.

Deputy Nguyen Duy Thanh from Ca Mau Province expressed concern about early retirement pensions. In fact, many workers want early retirement, which is why the National Insurance (Amendment) Bill requires additional provisions to allow workers to take early retirement and early leave for a maximum of 5 years in relation to retirement age.

Author: Phan Thao – translated by Anh Quan