Sickness benefit 2026: 75% of salary, up to 30 to 70 days a year and how each day is paid
You take sick leave with a hospital certificate, those days are deducted from your payslip, and then a payment arrives from the Social Insurance Agency: that is the sickness benefit, which many people have never claimed. The benefit is 75% of the social insurance contribution salary of the preceding month, divided by 24 to get the daily amount, and each year there is a limit on the number of days depending on how many years you have contributed. This article works through the numbers and explains how to get the right sick leave certificate.
How sickness benefit is calculated: 75% of salary divided by 24 days
- Insured salary of the preceding monthBefore the month of leave
- Divide by 24Daily amount
- Multiply by 75%Daily benefit
- Multiply by days offWorking days, within the limit
- Paid by insuranceTransferred to your account
Under the Social Insurance Law 2024 (Luật Bảo hiểm xã hội 2024), an employee paying compulsory social insurance who has to stay off work because of illness, with confirmation from a medical facility, is paid for those days by the insurance fund. The daily benefit is 75% of the insured salary of the month immediately before the leave, divided by 24 days. With an insured salary of 12 million VND, one day is worth 500,000 VND, and 75% of that is 375,000 VND; 5 days off bring in 1,875,000 VND. The calculator at the top of the page divides by 24 in exactly the same way.
Two inputs need care: the "insured salary" is the amount recorded in your social insurance book, not take-home pay with bonuses; the "days off" are working days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays, except for illnesses requiring long-term treatment.
- Benefit rate
- 75%Of the social insurance contribution salary of the month immediately before leave
- Daily amount
- Monthly salary divided by 24Then multiplied by 75%
- Annual limit
- 30, 40 or 60 daysBy years of contributions; 40, 50 or 70 days for heavy or hazardous work
- Long-term illness
- 180 daysPaid at 75%, then 50% to 65% depending on years of contributions
Maximum sick days per year by years of contributions and working conditions
| Contribution period | Normal conditions | Heavy, hazardous or dangerous work, or extremely disadvantaged areas |
|---|---|---|
| Under 15 years | Normal conditions30 days | Heavy, hazardous or dangerous work, or extremely disadvantaged areas40 days |
| 15 to under 30 years | Normal conditions40 days | Heavy, hazardous or dangerous work, or extremely disadvantaged areas50 days |
| 30 years or more | Normal conditions60 days | Heavy, hazardous or dangerous work, or extremely disadvantaged areas70 days |
The limit applies per year and does not carry over to the next. The years of contributions that determine your band are your total social insurance contribution period, including time at previous companies. An office worker with 8 years of contributions has 30 days a year; a machine operator in a job classified as heavy work, with 16 years of contributions, has 50 days. The insurance fund does not pay for days beyond the limit, and the company is not obliged to pay salary for them either.
Illnesses requiring long-term treatment: 180 days at 75%, then 50% to 65%
For illnesses on the Ministry of Health's list of conditions requiring long-term treatment, the limit is no longer 30 or 40 days but 180 days, including public holidays, Lunar New Year and weekly days off, paid at 75%. If treatment is still needed after 180 days, benefit continues at a lower rate depending on years of contributions, for the further period set by current regulations. The calculator at the top of the page has an "illness requiring long-term treatment" switch that automatically separates the days after the 180-day mark and applies the corresponding rate.
| Contribution period | Rate for the first 180 days | Rate after 180 days |
|---|---|---|
| Under 15 years | Rate for the first 180 days75% | Rate after 180 days50% |
| 15 to under 30 years | Rate for the first 180 days75% | Rate after 180 days55% |
| 30 years or more | Rate for the first 180 days75% | Rate after 180 days65% |
Four worked examples of sick pay from social insurance
| Scenario | Daily amount (75%) | Days paid | Total paid by insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary 12,000,000, 5 days off, 8 years of contributions, normal conditions | Daily amount (75%)375,000 | Days paid5 of a 30-day limit | Total paid by insurance1,875,000 |
| Salary 20,000,000, 35 days off, 10 years of contributions, normal conditions | Daily amount (75%)625,000 | Days paid30 of a 30-day limit; the 5 extra days are not paid | Total paid by insurance18,750,000 |
| Salary 18,000,000, 35 days off, 16 years of contributions, heavy work | Daily amount (75%)562,500 | Days paid35 of a 50-day limit | Total paid by insurance19,687,500 |
| Salary 15,000,000, 200 days off, 20 years of contributions, long-term illness | Daily amount (75%)468,750 for the first 180 days, 343,750 (55%) for the next 20 days | Days paid180 + 20 | Total paid by insurance84,375,000 + 6,875,000 = 91,250,000 |
The second example is common among people off for more than a month after an appendix operation or a broken leg: the 5 days beyond the 30-day limit are not paid by insurance, so those who still have annual leave often take it for those days to keep their salary. The last example shows how the two rates for a long-term illness are split: the first 180 days are paid at 75% and the next 20 days at 55%, because the person has contributed for 15 to under 30 years.
Sickness benefit documents: hospital discharge paper or certificate of leave for social insurance benefit
The file has only one main document, but it must be the right one: for inpatient treatment, submit the hospital discharge paper (giấy ra viện); for outpatient treatment, submit the certificate of leave for social insurance benefit (giấy chứng nhận nghỉ việc hưởng bảo hiểm xã hội), issued on the prescribed form by an authorised medical facility and stating the number of days off. An ordinary examination slip, a prescription or a hospital bill cannot replace it. You submit it to HR, the company prepares a list for the Social Insurance Agency, and the money is paid into your account or through the company.
- The discharge paper, if you were admitted to hospital; if you need more days off after discharge, the number of days must be stated on the paper.
- The certificate of leave for social insurance benefit, if you were treated as an outpatient, signed and stamped by the medical facility.
- For a sick child: the same documents in the child's name, plus the birth certificate to prove the child's age if the company asks for it.
- The bank account number for the payment, if the company does not pay it on your behalf.
Example of notifying your manager of sick leave
Hi Hoa, I have acute bronchitis and the doctor at the general clinic has signed me off for 3 days, from 5 to 7 October 2026. I already have the certificate of leave for social insurance benefit; I will send you a photo of it tomorrow morning and hand the original to HR on the day I return. I have passed this week's account reconciliation to Minh.
Common mistakes that get sickness benefit claims returned
- Taking sick leave without a certificate from a medical facility, or getting one after the leave is over with dates that do not match the days off.
- Counting Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays as ordinary sick days, then wondering why insurance pays less.
- Entering take-home pay with bonuses and allowances in the calculator, when it should be the insured salary of the preceding month.
- Handing in the certificate after the company's deadline, so it misses the batch sent to the Social Insurance Agency.
- Sick leave that overlaps with annual leave or unpaid leave; under the rules, those days do not qualify for sickness benefit.
- Receiving full salary from the company for the sick days and not filing a claim, so the insurance payment is lost.
If your illness lasts beyond the limit, work out how much annual leave you have left and take paid leave for the excess days; leave pay is based on your contract salary, which is usually more than the 75% paid by insurance.
Frequently asked questions
One day is 12,000,000 divided by 24, which is 500,000 VND; at 75% that becomes 375,000 VND, so 5 days bring in 1,875,000 VND. These days count towards the limit of 30 days a year for someone with under 15 years of contributions in normal working conditions.
For days covered by sickness benefit, the social insurance fund pays 75% of the insured salary; the company is not obliged to pay salary unless there is an agreement or a company policy. That is why the days off are deducted from your payslip, while the insurance money arrives once the claim is approved.
No. Ordinary sick leave is counted in working days, excluding public holidays, Lunar New Year and weekly days off. Only illnesses requiring long-term treatment include these days, within the 180-day limit.
Yes, if the clinic is a medical facility authorised to issue the certificate of leave for social insurance benefit and issues it on the correct form, signed and stamped. Before your appointment, ask reception whether they issue this certificate, so you do not have to see a doctor again elsewhere.