Circular No. 96/2009/TT-BTC guiding financial regulations for the unemployment insurance fund

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the financial regime for the unemployment insurance fund

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Pursuant to Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 12, 2008 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Social Insurance Law regarding unemployment insurance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law,

The Ministry of Finance issues guidelines on the financial regime for the unemployment insurance fund as follows:

Article 1. Scope of guidance and applicable subjects

1. These Guidelines provide guidance on the financial regime for the unemployment insurance fund concerning: sources of funding for unemployment insurance contributions that are the responsibility of employers; support from the state budget for implementing unemployment insurance policies; management and utilization of the unemployment insurance fund.

2. The subjects to which these Guidelines apply are employers who are subject to mandatory participation in unemployment insurance as stipulated in Article 3 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 12, 2008 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Social Insurance Law regarding unemployment insurance (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP), and relevant functional agencies related to unemployment insurance.

Article 2. Sources of funding for unemployment insurance contributions that are the responsibility of employers according to Clause 2, Article 25 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP

1. For employers that are state agencies, people's armed forces units, political organizations, political-social organizations, occupational social organizations, public service units whose regular operating expenses are fully or partially guaranteed by the state budget:

a) The state budget guarantees the source of funding for unemployment insurance contributions of the employer at the prescribed level and allocates it within the annual regular expenditure budget of the unit according to the current state budget management hierarchy.

In 2009, the employer shall base on the list of workers subject to mandatory participation in unemployment insurance registered with the Social Insurance agency according to the guidance of the Vietnam Social Security to prepare the budget for unemployment insurance contributions and submit it to the higher-level budget unit. The first-level budget unit shall consolidate this information and issue a document to the finance authority at the same level for consolidation and submission to the competent authority for decision-making to allocate additional budget from the salary reform fund for 2009 according to the current state budget management hierarchy.

b) The amount of unemployment insurance contributions of the employer shall be recorded and settled under the type, item, sub-item, and sub-sub-item as specified in the current State Budget Manual.

2. For the Vietnam Social Security:

The source of funding for unemployment insurance contributions of the employer shall be allocated within the annual regular expenditure budget according to the regulations. In 2009, the Vietnam Social Security shall base on the list of workers subject to mandatory participation in unemployment insurance to prepare the budget for unemployment insurance contributions and submit it to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and submission to the Prime Minister for supplementary allocation from the surplus growth fund according to the regulations.

3. For employers that are public service units fully self-financing their regular operating expenses; non-public service units; enterprises; Cooperatives, Cooperative Federations; individual business households, cooperative groups, other organizations and individuals hiring workers; foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals operating in Vietnam using Vietnamese labor:

a) Employers shall self-finance the source of funding for unemployment insurance contributions at the prescribed level.

b) The amount of unemployment insurance contributions of the employer shall be recorded as part of the service, production, and business costs for the period.

Article 3. Financial support from the state budget to implement the unemployment insurance policy according to Clause 3 of Article 26 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP.

1. The financial support funds from the state budget to implement the unemployment insurance policy at the level specified in Clause 3 of Article 25 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP shall be implemented according to the分级管理国家预算的规定如下：

a) Local budgets ensure the source of financial support for the unemployment insurance fund at a rate of 1% of the wage and salary fund contributing to unemployment insurance of workers participating in unemployment insurance working in employers defined in Clause 1 of Article 2 of this Circular whose operating costs come from local budgets.

b) Central budget ensures the source of financial support for the unemployment insurance fund at a rate of 1% of the wage and salary fund contributing to unemployment insurance of workers participating in unemployment insurance working in employers defined in Clause 1 of Article 2 of this Circular whose operating costs come from central budgets and employers defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 2 of this Circular.

For the year 2009, the central budget will ensure the entire source of financial support for the unemployment insurance fund at the level prescribed. The Ministry of Finance will transfer once into the unemployment insurance fund based on the final report of unemployment insurance revenue for the year 2009 submitted by the Vietnam Social Security according to the prescribed level.

2. Annually, during the time stipulated for preparing the state budget estimate, the finance authorities at all levels shall take the lead in coordinating with the social security agencies at the same level to prepare the state budget support estimate for the unemployment insurance fund according to the分级规定，报有审批权的机关审批，按照现行关于编制和分配国家预算的规定。

3. The method of transferring financial support funds from the state budget into the unemployment insurance fund is as follows:

a) For Provincial Departments of Finance:

- In the third quarter of each year, based on the state budget support estimate for the unemployment insurance fund assigned by the competent authority, the Provincial Department of Finance shall transfer once from the local budget into the unemployment insurance fund managed by the provincial-level Social Security agency in the form of a payment order.

- At the end of the fiscal year, the Provincial Department of Finance shall base on the final report of unemployment insurance revenue prepared and sent for review by the provincial-level Social Security agency to determine specifically the amount of local budget financial support for the unemployment insurance fund as prescribed in point a of Clause 1 of this Article.

- If the amount of funds allocated by the Provincial Department of Finance exceeds the prescribed support level, it can be transferred to the next year's budget for use and deducted from the next year's state budget support estimate for the unemployment insurance fund. In case of insufficient funds, the Provincial Department of Finance shall report to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province for approval to supplement into the next year's state budget support estimate for the unemployment insurance fund.

b) For the Ministry of Finance:

- In the third quarter of each year, based on the state budget support estimate for the unemployment insurance fund assigned by the competent authority, the Ministry of Finance shall transfer once from the central budget into the unemployment insurance fund managed by the Vietnam Social Security in the form of a payment order.

- At the end of the fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance shall base on the final report of unemployment insurance revenue prepared and sent for review by the Vietnam Social Security to determine specifically the amount of central budget financial support for the unemployment insurance fund as prescribed in point b of Clause 1 of this Article.

- If the amount of funds allocated by the Ministry of Finance exceeds the prescribed support level, it can be transferred to the next year's budget for use and deducted from the next year's state budget support estimate for the unemployment insurance fund. In case of insufficient funds, the Ministry of Finance shall report to the Prime Minister for approval to supplement into the next year's state budget support estimate for the unemployment insurance fund.

Article 4. Payment of unemployment insurance benefits

1. The payment of unemployment benefits under Article 16 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP shall be carried out as follows:

Based on the decision of the labor authority regarding the payment of unemployment benefits, the social insurance agency will check and compare with the file tracking the payment of unemployment insurance to verify the beneficiary, the amount of benefit, the duration of benefit, and implement the payment of unemployment benefits to the beneficiary.

2. The support for vocational training under Article 17 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP shall be carried out as follows:

a) Based on the decision of the labor authority regarding the support for vocational training for workers receiving unemployment benefits, the social insurance agency will settle the costs of vocational training support for vocational training institutions, not directly paying to workers receiving unemployment benefits.

b) The maximum amount of vocational training support shall not exceed VND 300,000 per person per month.

c) The period of vocational training support shall be implemented according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 17 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP.

3. The support for job search under Article 18 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP shall be carried out as follows:

a) Based on the decision of the labor authority regarding the payment of unemployment benefits and the contract on job counseling and introduction provided by the labor authority and the employment service center, the social insurance agency will settle the costs of job counseling and introduction for the Employment Service Center, not directly paying to workers receiving unemployment benefits.

b) The level of support for job counseling and introduction shall be implemented according to the fee levels specified in Circular Joint No. 95/2007/TTLT/BTC-BLĐTBXH dated August 7, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs guiding job introduction fees.

c) The period of support for job counseling and introduction shall be implemented according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 18 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP.

4. The payment of health insurance contributions under Article 19 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP shall be carried out as follows:

a) Monthly, the social insurance agency will allocate from the unemployment insurance fund to pay health insurance contributions for workers receiving unemployment benefits.

b) The level of health insurance contribution for workers receiving unemployment benefits shall be implemented according to the provisions of the Health Insurance Law and related guiding documents. The period of health insurance contribution is the period of unemployment benefit payment as stipulated.

Article 5. Management expenses of unemployment insurance under Article 29 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP

1. The annual management expenses of the Vietnam Social Security and the labor, invalids and social affairs authorities at all levels shall be allocated from the unemployment insurance fund and shall be equivalent to the administrative management costs of state agencies; they shall be arranged within the budget for management expenses of the Vietnam Social Security according to the regulations of the Prime Minister.

2. Annually, during the time prescribed for preparing the state budget, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall base on the work requirements to prepare the budget for management expenses of unemployment insurance for the labor, invalids and social affairs sector and submit it to the Vietnam Social Security for consolidation and submission to the competent authority for consideration and decision according to the regulations. Based on the management expenses budget of the Vietnam Social Security assigned by the Prime Minister, the Vietnam Social Security shall implement the transfer of funds to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to transfer to the implementing units.

3. The management and use of management expenses for unemployment insurance by the Vietnam Social Security shall be carried out according to the current regulations of the Prime Minister on financial management for the Vietnam Social Security and the current guiding documents.

4. The management and use of management expenses for unemployment insurance by the labor, invalids and social affairs authorities at all levels to organize the receipt of files and resolution of unemployment insurance benefits shall be carried out as follows:

a) Contents of expenditure include:

- Expenditure for individuals: Salary, wages, allowances, contributions, and other payments made to regular employees under contracts;

- Public service expenditure; office supplies; information, propaganda, communication; conferences; travel expenses; rental expenses; maintenance and repair of assets serving professional work and other administrative expenditures;

- Professional activity expenditure: Purchase of materials and goods for professional purposes; printing of forms; storage and archiving of files, documents, vouchers; other professional expenditures;

- Expenditure for purchasing and repairing assets for professional work;

- Other expenditures as prescribed by the competent authority.

When implementing the above expenditures, units must comply with the current expenditure regulations of the State. Any remaining management expenses for unemployment insurance allocated at the end of the year that have not been used can be transferred to the next year for continued use.

b) The labor, invalids and social affairs authorities receiving management funds from the unemployment insurance fund do not need to settle accounts with their own budgets but must maintain separate accounting records for monitoring. At the end of the fiscal year, subordinate units are responsible for settling accounts with higher-level units; higher-level units are responsible for reviewing and approving settlements, consolidating settlements and submitting them to the Vietnam Social Security for review and consolidation according to current regulations.

Article 6. Management of the unemployment insurance fund pursuant to Article 30 of Decree No. 127/2008/NĐ-CP

1. The Vietnam Social Security manages the unemployment insurance fund on the principle of centralized, unified, transparent, and lawful management for its intended purpose as prescribed by law; it shall be accounted for separately.

2. Social Security offices at all levels are responsible for settling accounts for revenue and expenditure of the unemployment insurance fund according to regulations, submitting them to higher-level Social Security offices for inspection and approval, then sending them to the Vietnam Social Security for review and consolidation, and presenting them to the Management Council of the Vietnam Social Security for approval, and reporting to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. The settlement report on revenue and expenditure of the unemployment insurance fund must fully reflect each item of revenue and expenditure as prescribed, specifically as follows:

a) The detailed figures of the settlement report on revenue of the unemployment insurance fund must reflect each item of revenue as prescribed: revenue from workers and employers, state budget support, income from investment activities from the unemployment insurance fund, and other lawful sources of revenue.

b) The detailed figures of the settlement report on expenditure of the unemployment insurance fund must reflect each item of expenditure as prescribed: payment of unemployment benefits, support for vocational training, job counseling and placement services, health insurance, and administrative costs of unemployment insurance.

3. In addition to implementing the settlement of revenue and expenditure of the unemployment insurance fund according to the guidance of the Vietnam Social Security, social security offices at all levels must also prepare separate settlement reports on unemployment insurance revenue (the portion from workers, employers, and state budget support) as follows:

a) Provincial Social Security offices are responsible for settling accounts separately for each item of unemployment insurance revenue, detailing them by district and county within the province, and submitting them to the Department of Finance and the Vietnam Social Security as a basis for determining the local government budget support for the unemployment insurance fund (prepared according to Appendix Table 01).

b) The Vietnam Social Security is responsible for consolidating and settling accounts separately for each item of unemployment insurance revenue, detailing them by province and centrally-administered city, and submitting them to the Ministry of Finance as a basis for determining the central government budget support for the unemployment insurance fund (prepared according to Appendix Table 02).

4. In the event that the unemployment insurance fund incurs a deficit in a given year, the Vietnam Social Security is responsible for proposing measures, which will be reported to the Management Council of the Vietnam Social Security for consideration before submission to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for presentation to the Prime Minister for decision.

Article 7. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of issuance. The provisions of this Circular shall apply from the 2009 fiscal year.

2. Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution./.