A social insurance code is one of the first compliance matters a newly established company in Vietnam should handle when it starts hiring employees. In practice, companies often need to register a social insurance unit code for the employer and ensure that each employee has a valid social insurance number.
However, a newly established company does not automatically receive a social insurance code when it obtains its enterprise registration certificate. The company must submit a first-time social insurance registration dossier once it has employees who are subject to compulsory social insurance.
This article explains when a company must register, what documents are required, how to submit the application, and how to handle employee social insurance registration correctly.
What is the company’s social insurance code?
The company’s social insurance code is commonly understood as the social insurance participating unit code.
This code is issued by the social insurance authority after the company submits its first-time registration dossier and the dossier is approved.
The unit code is used for future social insurance procedures, including:
- Reporting new employees;
- Reporting employees who leave the company;
- Adjusting salaries used for social insurance contributions;
- Paying monthly social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and occupational accident and disease insurance.
Without this unit code, the company cannot properly manage compulsory insurance participation for its employees.
When must a newly established company register for social insurance?
A newly established company must register for social insurance when it signs labor contracts with employees who are subject to compulsory social insurance.
According to the administrative procedures of Vietnam Social Security, the employer must submit the required dossier within 30 days from the date of signing the labor contract.
This means that the obligation does not depend only on the date of company incorporation. It depends on when the company starts employing workers who must participate in compulsory insurance.
Required documents for first-time social insurance registration
For first-time registration, the company usually needs to prepare the following main documents:
- Form TK3-TS: Declaration form for the employer’s participation in or adjustment of social insurance and health insurance information;
- Form D02-LT: Report on labor utilization and list of employees participating in social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance;
- Form TK1-TS: Declaration form for employees who participate for the first time or already have a social insurance number but lack required information;
- Employee information required for registration;
- Documents relating to company information adjustment, if any.
In practice, the company should also keep supporting documents internally, such as:
- Labor contracts or recruitment decisions;
- Copies of employees’ citizen identification cards;
- Salary information used as the basis for insurance contributions;
- Initial medical examination and treatment registration information.
These documents may be needed for checking, reconciliation, or future inspection.
How to register a social insurance code for the company
A company can submit the first-time registration dossier through one of the following methods:
- Directly at the one-stop service section of the social insurance authority;
- By postal service;
- Online through the National Public Service Portal;
- Online through the Vietnam Social Security Public Service Portal;
- Through an I-VAN provider or electronic social insurance transaction software.
Many companies choose online submission because it is more convenient and allows them to monitor the processing status.
The basic steps are as follows:
- Prepare the company’s digital signature;
- Log in to the Vietnam Social Security Public Service Portal or I-VAN software;
- Select the procedure for registration or adjustment of contributions to social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, occupational accident and disease insurance, and issuance of social insurance books and health insurance cards;
- Create a first-time registration dossier for the company;
- Complete Form TK3-TS for the company;
- Complete Form D02-LT to report employee participation;
- Complete or attach Form TK1-TS for employees who do not have a social insurance number or whose information is incomplete;
- Digitally sign and submit the dossier;
- Monitor the result on the system;
- Receive the unit code and the result of issuing or updating employees’ social insurance books and health insurance cards.
How to register social insurance for employees
When registering employees, the company should separate employees into two groups.
Case 1: The employee already has a social insurance number
If an employee has previously worked, joined compulsory social insurance, participated in household health insurance, student health insurance, or voluntary social insurance, the employee may already have a social insurance number.
In this case, the company should not request a new number. Instead, the company should look up the existing number using the employee’s citizen identification number, full name and date of birth.
After that, the company includes the existing number in Form D02-LT to report the employee increase.
Each employee should only have one social insurance number throughout their participation history. Creating a new number when the employee already has one may cause duplicated data and require correction later.
Case 2: The employee does not have a social insurance number
If an employee has never participated in social insurance and does not have a social insurance number, the company prepares Form TK1-TS for that employee.
After the dossier is submitted together with the employee list, the social insurance authority will issue a new number for the employee.
Information to collect from employees
To complete the registration accurately, the company should collect the following information from each employee:
- Full name as shown on the citizen identification card;
- Citizen identification number or personal identification number;
- Date of birth;
- Gender;
- Permanent address or current residential address;
- Phone number;
- Existing social insurance number, if any;
- Initial medical examination and treatment registration place;
- Salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions;
- Employment start date;
- Type of labor contract.
Before submitting the dossier, the company should check whether the employee already has a social insurance number. This helps reduce errors and avoids duplicate registration.
What should the company do after receiving the unit code?
After receiving the company’s unit code, the company must start making insurance contributions based on the declared information and notices from the social insurance authority.
During its operation, the company also needs to handle regular procedures, including:
- Reporting new employees;
- Reporting employees who leave the company;
- Adjusting salaries used for social insurance contributions;
- Correcting employee information if there are errors in name, date of birth, gender or citizen identification number;
- Monitoring the issuance of social insurance books and health insurance cards.
These procedures should be managed regularly by the HR, payroll or accounting team.
Processing time
According to the administrative procedures of Vietnam Social Security, for cases involving new issuance of social insurance books and health insurance cards, the processing time is no more than 05 days from the date the social insurance authority receives a complete and valid dossier.
In practice, the dossier may be processed faster if the information is accurate and the employee data matches the citizen identification database.
Common reasons for rejection include:
- Incorrect citizen identification information;
- Incorrect full name, date of birth or gender;
- Incorrect initial medical examination and treatment registration code;
- Declaring an employee who already has a social insurance number as a first-time participant;
- Missing Form TK1-TS where required.
Conclusion
A newly established company in Vietnam needs to register a social insurance code when it starts employing workers who are subject to compulsory social insurance. The main dossier usually includes Form TK3-TS, Form D02-LT and, where necessary, Form TK1-TS for employees.
For employees, the company should first check whether they already have a social insurance number. If they do, the existing number should be used. If they do not, the company should prepare Form TK1-TS so that the social insurance authority can issue a new number.
Accurate registration from the beginning helps the company receive its unit code faster, avoid rejected dossiers, and ensure employees’ rights to social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance.
Follow NetViet for the latest industry updates and more:
- Phone: +84 28 6261 7310
- Email: info@netviet.com.vn
- Website: www.netviet.com.vn
- Facebook | LinkedIn | Threads
