A reader who has email address as nguyenvinhx @ xx asked: I have been working at the company for 6 months and have fully participated in social insurance. Recently, I was sick and had to take leave from work. How many days could I take leave to enjoy the sickness benefits? If I have been working at the company for 6 months, would it affect the number of sick days?

Lawyer Pham Thi Hang, the YouMe Law Firm answers as follows: 

Clause 1, Article 26 of the Law on Social Insurance stipulates the period of entitlement to sickness benefits as follows:

1.  The maximum period of enjoying the sickness regime in a year for employees defined at Points a, b, c, d and h, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Law shall be counted in working days, excluding public holidays, New Year holidays and weekends, and is specified as follows:

a/ For employees working under normal conditions, this period is 30 days, if they have paid social insurance premiums for under 15 years; 40 days, if they have paid social insurance premiums for between full 15 years and under 30 years; or 60 days, if they have paid social insurance premiums for full 30 years or more;

b/ For employees doing heavy, hazardous or dangerous occupations or jobs extremely heavy, hazardous or dangerous occupations or jobs on the list issued by the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, or working in areas with a region-based allowance coefficient of 0.7 or higher, this period is 40 days, if they have paid social insurance premiums for under 15 year; 50 days, if they have paid social insurance premiums for between full 15 years and under 30 years; or 70 days, if they have paid social insurance premiums for full 30 years or more

Clause 1, Article 4 of Circular 59/2015 / TT-BLDTBXH detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Social Insurance regarding compulsory social insurance regulating the period of enjoying sickness benefits are as follows:

The maximum period to enjoy the sickness benefits in a year specified in Clause 1, Article 26 of the Law on social insurance is calculated based on the working days, excluding public holidays, New Year holidays and weekends according to the laws on labor. This period of time is calculated from 01/01 to 31/12 of the solar year, regardless of the time of participation in social insurance of the employees.

Thus, the number of days off to enjoy the sickness benefits in a year depends on the working environment and the employee's total time of participation in social insurance according to the provisions cited above.