Expanding unemployment insurance to seasonal workers
The amended Employment Law of 2025 extends unemployment insurance coverage to short-term contract workers while introducing flexible contribution and benefit mechanisms.
Flexible Eligibility and Conditions for Unemployment Insurance
The amended Employment Law of 2025, which officially takes effect from 2026, broadens beneficiaries to include workers on contracts as short as one month, mainly seasonal laborers. The law also sets flexible contribution and payout mechanisms to help this group access unemployment insurance policy.
According to the Unemployment Insurance Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs’s Employment Agency, the 2025 amended Employment Law, along with Decree No. 347 of 2025, specifies flexible methods for contributions and benefits for this group.
Specifically, employers can choose to contribute monthly, quarterly, or annually, benefiting both businesses and workers. Additionally, eligibility for unemployment insurance and allowances has been expanded.
Previously, workers needed 12 continuous months of contributions to qualify for allowances. Under the new rules, participation is calculated over 36 months without requiring continuity. This allows workers to retain their contribution periods even if employment is not continuous, serving as the basis for benefits.
Broadening coverage toward comprehensive social security.
Experts assess that expanding eligibility and adjusting policies for flexibility is a positive step, improving access to unemployment insurance for many groups, especially freelancers and seasonal workers.
Data from Vietnam Social Security shows that as of March 2026, the number of social insurance participants nationwide reached about 21.66 million, up 15.04% from the same period in 2025, equivalent to roughly 45.39% of the working-age labor force. Unemployment insurance participants hit about 17.2 million, up 11.95%, or 36.04% of the working-age labor force.
Expanding participation and refining unemployment insurance policies is seen as a key solution to boost social security coverage, ensuring workers’ rights amid increasingly diverse and flexible labor markets.
Hai Phong News