How to prevent freelance workers from falling through the social security net?

Unstable job, low income

Having worked as an electrician for more than 10 years, Nguyen Van Trang (34 years old) in Thanh Mien district has suffered many work-related accidents. Because he does not have a labor contract or participate in social insurance or health insurance, Trang does not receive any benefits. His family is responsible for all medical expenses. Once, Trang fell and broke his right leg and had to stay home for nearly 3 months before he could walk normally. Being out of work meant no income, causing many financial difficulties for his family.

"Whenever an accident happens, I only receive a small amount of money from the contractor as encouragement. Recently, I have proactively purchased health insurance for protection. The biggest wish of freelance workers like me right now is to join a union or sign a labor contract," said Mr. Trang.

Currently, the income of workers in the informal sector remains low and often unstable. Therefore, they often focus on more urgent needs in life without paying much attention to future social security issues. Some workers believe that the current voluntary social insurance regime is not really attractive, the support level is still low, so it has not created a "push" to encourage people to participate. Some workers are concerned about the level of union fees when participating in trade unions.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Dap (51 years old) in Ninh Giang district said: "In 2021, I participated in voluntary social insurance with the hope of having a pension in the future, not having to depend on my children and grandchildren. However, after only paying for more than 1 year, I had to stop the contract because I found the insurance payment period too long. I was discouraged when I was 70 years old to be eligible to receive a salary."

Hai Duong currently has about 1 million people of working age, of which 50% are working in the informal sector. This is an important workforce, but most of them have low qualifications, unstable jobs, uncertain incomes and no labor relations. They do not enjoy social security, welfare and safe working conditions. This has limited labor rights and made it difficult to resolve labor conflicts.

Form a union

According to the Provincial Social Insurance, by the end of September 2024, the whole province had about 450,000 people participating in social insurance, of which farmers and workers in the informal sector participating in voluntary social insurance reached about 6%, exceeding 3.5% of expenditure. Although the number of informal workers participating in the social insurance network is increasing, it still accounts for a small proportion, many workers are disadvantaged in enjoying social security policies.

To increase the rate of self-employed workers participating in insurance, the Social Insurance Law 2024 has been amended and supplemented with many important contents. Specifically, the law has added maternity benefits to the voluntary social insurance policy instead of only having 2 benefits: retirement and death as before. Accordingly, voluntary social insurance participants who meet the conditions will receive a subsidy of 2 million VND/child. This is an attractive policy for young workers in the informal sector.

In addition, the Social Insurance Law 2024 also reduces the minimum number of years of social insurance contributions from 20 years to 15 years. This provision creates opportunities for those who start participating in social insurance late or participate intermittently and are not yet eligible for pensions... "These policies will create attractiveness for workers in the informal sector, especially young workers. When the law comes into effect, it will be a big boost for workers to participate in voluntary social insurance," said Mr. Trang.

Over the years, trade unions at all levels in the province have always considered workers in the informal sector as the core force in developing union members. However, propagating and mobilizing this force to join the trade union organization has encountered many difficulties.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Quyet, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial Labor Federation, the current mechanisms and policies related to the establishment of trade unions for workers in the informal sector are not clear and specific, requiring trade unions at all levels to diversify their gathering methods. In 2024, the Provincial Labor Federation strives to establish 3 unions to gather freelance workers to participate in trade unions. To date, Chi Linh City and Kinh Mon Town have established independent Preschool Education Unions with about 60 union members. These are also the first two unions in the province with the core force being workers in the informal sector.

“The trade union is a new model of grassroots trade union organization established under the Charter of the Vietnam Trade Union. This is a trade union organization that brings together legal freelance workers in the same profession according to their location or employer. Expanding the social security network to informal workers not only helps improve the lives of workers but also contributes to effectively propagating and implementing the policies and laws of the Party and the State,” Mr. Quyet added.