Draft law seeks to double fines for dodging worker insurance in Việt Nam
The Ministry of Public Security has proposed amendments to the Penal Code that would double fines and increase jail terms for social insurance evasion.
HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Public Security has proposed a revision to the Penal Code that would significantly increase penalties for employers who evade social insurance payments.
The draft version of the revised Penal Code, which is slated for review by the National Assembly in October, aims to tighten criminal liability for violations involving social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance obligations.
Under the revised Article 216, individuals who fail to fulfil compulsory insurance responsibilities for employees, either through deceit or other means, for six months or more, and who have previously been administratively penalised for similar violations, could face a fine ranging from VNĐ100 million to VNĐ400 million ($4,000–$16,000).
This is double the current fine range, which is between VNĐ50 million and VNĐ200 million.
Additional penalties include non-custodial reform for up to one year, or imprisonment from three months to one year. These penalties apply to cases where the evaded insurance amount ranges from VNĐ100 million to VNĐ600 million, or where contributions are evaded for 10 to 50 workers.
For more severe violations, such as repeat offences, evasion of insurance from VNĐ600 million to VNĐ2 billion, or failure to pay insurance for 50 to 200 workers, individual offenders may face fines of VNĐ400 million to VNĐ1 billion, or imprisonment from six months to three years.
In the gravest cases, such as evasion exceeding VNĐ2 billion or affecting 200 or more employees, the draft law proposes fines of VNĐ1 billion to VNĐ2 billion and prison terms of two to seven years.
Employers who withhold employee contributions, but fail to remit them, would also be liable under these provisions.
Commercial entities would face harsher penalties. The draft law proposes corporate fines of VNĐ400 million to VNĐ2 billion for lesser violations, VNĐ1 billion to VNĐ2 billion for moderate offences, and up to VNĐ6 billion for the most serious infractions, doubling the current fines.
Currently, evasion of social insurance payments is a criminal offence under Article 216 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended in 2017.
The 2014 Social Insurance Law prohibits such evasion, while Decree 12/2022 imposes fines of VNĐ50 million to VNĐ75 million on individual violators and up to VNĐ150 million on businesses. — VNS
