(Chinhphu.vn) - The unit of Mr. Nguyen Son Dai Phat (in Hochiminh City) signed a 6-month apprenticeship contract with an employee. Mr. Phat would like to ask, does the unit need to pay compulsory social insurance for the apprentice? What are the regulations for apprenticeship contracts?

Lawyer Tran Van Toan, the Khanh Hung Law Office –the Hanoi Bar Association responds this issue as follows:

Article 61, Article 62 of the Labor Code stipulates that vocational training and apprenticeship to work for employers; vocational training contracts between employers, employees and vocational training costs are as follows:

An employer that recruits apprentices or on-the-job trainees to work for the employer does not have to register such vocational training activity and may not collect tuition fees.

In this case an apprentice or on-the-job trainee must be at least full 14 years old and have appropriate health conditions required by the relevant occupation, except for some occupations specified by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

 The two parties shall enter into a vocational training contract in case the employee will be trained for vocational qualification and skill improvement or re-trained at home or abroad with the employer’s fund, including the fund donated by the employer’s partner.

The two parties shall enter into a vocational training contract, which must be made in 2 copies, each to be kept by one party.

During the period of apprenticeship or on-the-job training, if the apprentice or the on-the-job trainee directly makes, or participates in the making of, qualified products, he/she must be paid with a wage by the employer at a level agreed by the two parties.

Upon the expiry of the apprenticeship or on-the-job training period, the two parties shall enter into a labor contract in accordance with this Code.

The content of the vocational training contract

A vocational training contract must have the following principal contents:

- The trained occupation;

- Training venue; training period;

- Training expenses;

- The period during which the employee commits to working for the employer after training;

- Responsibility to reimburse training expenses;

- Responsibilities of the employer.

Training expenses are those accompanied by valid documents on payment for trainers, training materials, training venues, machinery and equipment, practicing materials, support for learners and wages and social insurance and health insurance premiums paid for learners during the training. In case an employee is sent to a foreign country for training, training expenses also include travel and living expenses during the period of overseas stay.

About compulsory social insurance

According to Article 4 of the process of collecting social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, labor accident and occupational disease insurance; management of social insurance books and health insurance cards issued together with the Decision No. 595 / QD-BHXH dated April 14, 2017 of the General Director of Vietnam Social Insurance (effective from July 1, 2017), employees are Vietnamese citizens are subject to compulsory social insurance, including:

- Persons working under an indefinite term labor contract, a defining a term labor contract, a seasonal labor contract or a certain job with a term of between full 3 months and under 12 months, including labor contracts signed between units with legal representatives of persons under 15 years of age in accordance with the labor law;

- Persons working under labor contracts with a term of between 1 month and under 3 months (implemented from January 1, 2018).

There are no compulsory social insurance regulations for apprentices and apprentices under vocational training contracts (apprenticeship, vocational training).

Based on the above provisions, due to the demand for labor, the company is allowed to recruit unskilled people to learn jobs and practice to work for themselves. The main content of the vocational training contract includes training duration; agreement on salary if the apprentice directly or participate in labor to produce products with specifications; The time limit for employees to commit to work for employers after being trained.

Social insurance law does not have compulsory social insurance regulations for apprentices under vocational training contracts. However, for apprentices under vocational training contracts, the company can support voluntary social insurance and health insurance premiums.

After the apprenticeship period, when the employee signs a labor contract with a term of 1 month or more with the employer, the employee must participate in compulsory social insurance, the company and employees must pay social insurance, unemployment insurance, Health insurance as prescribed by law.

The law prohibits fraudulent or fraudulent objects who should have entered into a labor contract in the form of entering into a vocational training contract (apprenticeship) for the purpose of exploitation pay salaries, or pay low salaries, shirk responsibility to participate, pay compulsory social insurance for employees.

          Lawyer Tran Van Toan,

the Khanh Hung Law Office –the Hanoi Bar Association