Employees participating in social insurance infected with COVID-19, if he/she must leave work for a certain period of time and is certified by a medical facility for his/her absence, will be entitled to sickness regime and the convalescence and health rehabilitation after sickness regime if they ensure all procedures and documents are submitted according to the law.
The social insurance fund is established to help normal citizens, especially at the time of crisis like the ongoing wave of Covid-19 disease. Accordingly, the citizens who have paid social insurance contributions each month will get support from the government for these 2 cases if the conditions to receive the support are fully met and the documents needed are submitted.
Sickness regime
Article 25 of the Law on Social Insurance 2014 stipulates that the conditions for receiving support from the sickness regime are:
- Employees who have to take leave due to sickness or accidents other than labor accidents, with the certification of a competent health establishment under the Ministry of Health’s regulations. The sickness regime does not cover employees who take leave due to sickness or accidents as a result of self-infliction, drunkenness, or use of narcotics or narcotic precursors on the Government-prescribed list.
- Employees who have to take leave for caring for sick children aged under 7 years, with the certification of a competent health establishment.
As the Covid-19 has been raging for nearly 2 years, the Government has added the Covid-19 disease as one of the diseases that the employee can receive support under this regime.
Regarding dossiers of entitlement, the Minister of Health shall prescribe the form, order, and authority to issue certificates of leave for social insurance benefits, hospital discharge papers, and other papers as a basis for enjoying social insurance.
A dossier of entitlement includes the following documents:
- For employees who are receiving inpatient treatment, a hospital discharge certificate is required.
- For employees who are receiving outpatient treatment, they need to have a certificate of leave for social insurance benefits or a hospital discharge certificate indicated by a medical professional or a qualified doctor for additional leave after the inpatient treatment period.
According to Vietnam Social Insurance, about the period of enjoyment, the Ministry of Health stipulates that each time a patient is examined, a patient is granted a certificate of leave to enjoy social insurance for a maximum of 30 days.
In case the employee needs to take a leave of absence longer than 30 days, the employee must re-examine for the competent person to consider and decide.
According to the law, during the time off under the sickness regime, employees will be entitled to 75% of the salary paid for social insurance of the preceding month.
In order to enjoy the sickness regime after being cured of Covid-19 disease, employees need to return to the employer a copy of the hospital discharge certificate (for inpatient treatment); certificate of leave to enjoy social insurance within 45 days from the date of return to work for the business to complete the dossier and send it to the social insurance agency.
The social insurance agency will handle the procedure for employees to receive the benefits within 6 working days from the date of receipt of complete dossiers as prescribed. Employees can receive support money through their personal accounts or through the employer.
The convalescence and health rehabilitation after sickness regime
After the employee has recovered from the treatment of Covid-19 disease, if he/she is still unwell and can’t function normally at work within 30 days from the return, they can apply for the convalescence and health rehabilitation after sickness regime.
The time off to enjoy the convalescence and health rehabilitation after sickness regime, in this case, will be decided by the employer and the grassroots Trade Union Executive Committee but must not exceed 10 days for employees whose health has not yet recovered after a period of illness due to a disease requiring long-term treatment.
The amount to be enjoyed during convalescence is 30% of the base salary, which is 447,000 VND/day according to the current base salary regime in 2022.
