A reader with email address as hoanglanx @ xx asked: I am working at a company and have paid social insurance contributions. If my two-year-old child is sick, how many days off will I get to take care of my baby?

Lawyer Do Thi Hoa, YouMe Law Firm answers:

Article 27 of the Law on Social Insurance 2014 stipulates the period of entitlement to the benefits upon child's sickness as follows:

1. The leave period upon sickness of a child in a year shall be calculated based on the number of

days of care for the sick child, which must not exceed 20 working days, if the child is under 3

years old, or must not exceed 15 working days, if the child is between full 3 years and under

7 years old.

2. When both parents are covered by social insurance, the leave period of the father or mother

upon sickness of a child must be as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.

The leave period upon sickness of children specified in this Article shall be counted in

working days, excluding public holidays, New Year holidays and weekends.

Article 5 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, specifically guiding the time to enjoy the benefits upon child's sickness, such as after:

1. The maximum time to enjoy the benefits upon child’s sickness in a year for each child specified in Clause 1, Article 27 of the Law on social insurance is calculated according to the working day regardless of prescribed public holidays, New Year holidays or weekends. This period of time is calculated from January 1st to December 31th of the solar year, regardless of the employees’ starting time of participation of social insurance.

a) In case of the same time, the employees have 02 children or more under 07 years of age who are sick, the time to enjoy the benefits upon child’s sickness is calculated by the actual time the employees leave their work to take care of their children. The maximum time the employees can take their leave for each child is specified in Clause 1, Article 27 of the Law on social insurance.

b) Where both parents participate in social insurance, depending on the condition of each person to alternate their leave to take care of their children. The maximum time to enjoy the benefits in a year of a father or mother for each child is specified in Clause 1, Article 27 of the Law on social insurance.

c) Where both parents participate in the compulsory social insurance and take leave to take care of their sick child, both parents shall be entitled to the benefits upon their child’s sickness. The maximum time to enjoy the benefits upon child’s sickness in a year of a father or mother for each child is specified in Clause 1, Article 27 of the Law on social insurance.

Pursuant to the above provisions, when a 2-year-old child is sick, an employee is entitled to a maximum of 20 working days a year off for child care.