Labourers who are ineligible for retirement pensions because they have not made compulsory social insurance payments for the required amount of years may choose to get a one-off lump sum or continue to receive monthly payments if a Government proposal gets approval from the National Assembly later this month.

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen made the proposal after presenting a Government report on Article 60 of the 2014 Law on Social Insurance at the ongoing 9th session of the 13th National Assembly in Hanoi on May 21.

According to the report, the Government asked for modifications to the article to create a flexible policy on social insurance, meeting the wishes of many labourers.

The regulation would also be applied to voluntary social insurance payers.

Chuyen said that the 2014 Law on Social Insurance had additional regulations to create favourable conditions for labourers to pay insurance so that they could receive monthly pension payments when they retired.

She predicted that the number of labourer who opted for lump sum payments would fall when they learnt more about the advantages of a monthly pension.

Chairwoman of the NA Committee on Social Affairs Truong Thi Mai said the majority of the committee's members agreed with the Government's proposal.

However, she asked the Government to map out a plan for one-time payments to match the number of labourers and the development of the labour market.

The modifications to Article 60 should ensure that more labourers receive a pension when they retire, she said.

NA deputies continue to discuss Article 60 in groups on May 22 before a plenary session on May 27.-VNA