Laws of Vietnam

I. OBJECTIVE, PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTS OF REDUCTION OF PAYROLL

1. Objective of reduction of payroll

a/ Overall objective

Reduction of payroll shall be conducted alongside the revision and clear determination of the functions, tasks and organizational structure of the apparatus aimed at raising the quality of the contingent of officials, public servants and public employees; raising the quality of the activities, effectiveness and efficiency of the apparatus, as prerequisite for the basic renovation of the State administrative system in the coming period.

b/ Concrete target

From now to the end of 2002, to strive to reduce by about 15% the payroll in the State administrative agencies and the indirect payroll in the public-service units.

2. Principles of reduction of payroll

a/ To ensure the accomplishment of the assigned functions and tasks on the basis of the rational rearrangement of labor in the agencies and units in order to raise labor productivity and the sense of responsibility of officials, public servants and public employees.

b/ On the basis of the revision and readjustment of the functions, tasks, powers and managerial mechanism of each agency or unit, to rationalize the organization and clearly distinguish the payroll in the administrative agencies from the payroll in the public-service, economic and public utility units; to adopt plans to reduce the payroll appropriately for each kind of organization; the average rate of reduction shall not be the same everywhere and the reduction shall not be made in an automatic, mechanical and indiscriminate manner.

c/ The payroll in each agency or unit at the central level and in the localities must be based on the determination of the contents and volume of concrete work and the criteria of titles, and rational structure of officials and public servants; to adopt an appropriate mechanism in order to assign expenditures for the activities of the agencies and units in replacement of the present allocation of expenditures according to the number of personnel on the payroll.

d/ To ensure the principle of openness and democracy in strict conformity with provisions of law.

e/ To ensure effective implementation of the spirit of reduction of payroll without greatly affecting the morale and life of officials, public servants and public employees.

3. Scope of payroll reduction

The reduction of payroll shall be conducted at the administrative agencies of the State, the indirect payroll in the public-service units from the central to the district level (including public employees working in the administrative and public-service agencies of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security). The reduction of indirect payroll in the State enterprises shall be conducted according to the plan of rearranging the State-owned enterprises as stipulated by the Government.

4. Objects of reduction of payroll

The objects of payroll reduction (except the retirees under current prescriptions) include:

a/ Persons in the category to be arranged after revision of the function, tasks and rearrangement of organization.

b/ Persons who fail to regularly ensure the quality and time of labor prescribed for the jobs assigned due to their weak leading and managerial capacity or professional capability or their deficiency in the sense of capability, sense of organization and discipline.

c/ Persons not physically fit to do their jobs.

d/ Persons made redundant by the readjustment of the structure of public employees and servants at the service sector.

e/ Persons assigned by the competent agency managing public employees to an organization which does not use State payroll and budget.

II. ON CONTENTS, MEASURES AND POLICIES TO CARRY OUT PAYROLL REDUCTION

1. Revision and readjustment of functions and tasks and rearrangement of the organizational apparatus.

a/ For State administrative agencies

In rearranging the organization, it is necessary to determine what organizations need to be maintained and strengthened, what organizations need to be merged, consolidated or dissolved. To concentrate on reducing the central internal structure of the general departments, departments, services, commissions and sections which show overlapping in their functions and tasks.

b/ For public-service units

On the basis of the positions, roles, functions, tasks, financial mechanisms, the recipients of products and the situation of the practical activities of the public-service units, to determine and classify the public-service units (education, training, healthcare, scientific, economic, cultural, information, physical culture and sports) under the management of the ministries, branches and localities, which need to be maintained, merged, consolidated or dissolved to change their mechanisms of activity.

2. Arranging and using the payroll

a/ On the basis of the organizational structure already in place and the criteria of titles of public servants and public employees issued by the State, to build the structure of officials, public servants and public employees for each agency or unit attached to the ministries, branches, provincial People’s Committees and district People’s Committees.

When working out the structure and the number of officials, public servants and public employees, it is necessary to consider the affecting factors:

- The volume of work that the organization has to carry out;

- The degree of complexity of the work;

- The degree of importance of the work;

- The scope of managerial impact;

- Characteristics of the subjects of management;

- The modernization of the office, means and conditions of work to raise the labor productivity of the officials, public servants and public employees;

- Experience and realities of organization of guidance in implementation.

b/ The arrangement of officials, public servants and public employees must be based on the criteria and professional requirements of various grades of public servants and public employees issued by the State together with the appraisal of the level, capacity and the result of the work of each person.

To select persons with good capacity and virtues to keep for long-term and stable work in order to ensure the quality of the activities of the agencies and units.

The persons subject to reduction of payroll shall be arranged according to the following groups:

- Group 1: persons working in the service sector who need to be reorganized and changed over to the contractual regime in replacement of the recruitment into the payroll.

- Groups 2: persons who can be transferred to the enterprises and public-service units in the semi public category under Decree No. 73/1999/ND-CP of August 19, 1999 of the Government on the policy of encouragement to socialization of the activities in the domains of education, healthcare, culture and sports and on the regime of partial self-financing by the public-service units.

- Group 3: Persons who have to be pensioned off before age due to rearrangement;

- Group 4: Persons with limitations in professional abilities and persons who are still young but whose vocation does not conform with the job shall be created conditions to learn a new job;

- Group 5: Persons who do not belong to the above groups shall be sent off (including those who have been sent to work at people-funded and private establishments according to Decree No. 73/1999/ND-CP of August 19, 1999 of the Government).

3. On the measures of reduction of payroll

a/ While implementing Decision No. 207/1999/QD-TTg of October 25, 1999 of the Prime Minister, the agencies and units shall not set up new organizations. When extremely necessary and permitted by the competent authority, they can set up new organizations but the payroll of these organizations (except in the domain of education, training and healthcare) shall be decided by the agency or unit itself within the assigned payroll.

b/ Priority shall be given and conditions created for those officials, public servants and public employees in the categories subject to rearrangement to move to other organizations not using payrolls and administrative expenditures from the State budget.

c/ To create conditions for the officials, public servants and public employees under 45 years of age with limitations in professional capacity or not compatible with the currently assigned tasks to attend training courses to change their jobs.

d/ To strictly carry out the regime of retirement for officials, public servants and public employees as currently prescribed. The recruitment of officials, public servants and public employees to replace the retirees shall be effected only after the Government approves the project of reduction of payroll of the ministries, branches and localities and must be conducted through examinations as prescribed by the Ordinance on Officials and Public Employees.

e/ To pension off before the prescribed age those officials, public servants and public employees subject to payroll reduction.

f/ To agree to the application for job severance of officials, public servants and public employees.

g/ To broaden the contractual wage payment and contractual administrative expenditures stable for three years for the units attached to the ministries, ministerial level agencies, agencies attached to the Government and units attached to the provincial and district People’s Committees.

h/ To transfer the personnel in the service sector recruited after the Government issued Decree No. 25/CP of May 23, 1993 to the contractual system instead of recruiting employees into payroll as at present (except for those serving in a number of agencies prescribed by the Government). The contractual mechanism shall be prescribed by the Government.

i/ To carry out the new financial policy and mechanism with regard to the administrative units and public service units with income.

j/ To promote the socialization of the public service units according to Decree No. 73/1999/ND-CP of August 19, 1999 of the Government.

Depending on the form and character of the tasks of the public service units, to issue policy mechanism and financial mechanism in order to renovate the managerial mechanism and carry out socialization.

The ministries, ministerial level agencies, agencies attached to the Government and provincial and district People’s Committees shall base themselves on the real situation and create conditions for and allow dependent units to set up organizations for service operations (not using the payroll, properties and budget of the State) in forms suited to prescriptions of law in order to arrange jobs for the persons subject to payroll reduction.

k/ To train and foster the contingent of officials and administrative public employees in order to continue raising their knowledge and capacity in managing, directing and performing their professional and specialized tasks according to the training and fostering plan for officials and public employees in the period 2000-2005.

4. A number of policies in the reduction of payroll

Officials, public servants and public employee subject to reduction of payroll, apart from enjoying the current policies and regimes applicable to officials, public servants and public employees, shall also enjoy the following policies and regimes:

a/ Officials, public servants and public employees who are working at the agencies and units and are assigned by the competent authority to work at semi-public establishments shall enjoy the following policies and regimes:

- They are assured by the semi-public establishments all the benefits of officials and public employees including: wages, social insurance, health insurance; considered for award of honorable titles of the State, and the policy of fostering, study and traveling to raise their capacity.

- They shall be assured by the public employee management agency:

+ Equality in the consideration for appointment to leading posts of State agencies like officials and public employees working at public establishments if they meet the criteria prescribed by law.

+ Package allowance equal to 3 months of wages and allowances (if any) that they are currently enjoying.

+ In case the semi-public organization is dissolved, these officials, public servants and public employees shall be reassigned to the old agencies and units of their work on condition that they still maintain their good ethical norms and their professional capacity compatible with the work assigned by the agencies and units.

b/ Officials, public servants and public employees subject to payroll reduction and aged between 55 and under 60 for men and between 50 and under 55 for women and having paid social insurance premiums for 20 years or more shall be allowed to retire without having their pension deducted a certain percentage due to retirement before age. In addition, they shall receive the two following allowances:

- For every year (12 months) of retirement before age, the subject shall receive an allowance equal to 3 months of wages coupled with allowances (if any) that they are currently receiving.

- If they have paid social insurance premium fully in the first 20 years of work, they shall receive an allowance equal to 5 months of wages and allowances (if any) that they are currently receiving. For every subsequent year of work for which they have paid social insurance premium, they shall receive an allowance representing half a month of wage and allowances (if any) that they are currently receiving.

c/ Officials, public servants and public employees subject to payroll reduction who have reached the necessary age prescribed by the Labor Code can retire according to the regime even if they still have to pay one more year or less of social insurance premium. The deficit shall be paid by the agency or unit.

d/ Persons who are transferred to outside State payroll after job severance, apart from enjoying the regime of job severance under Article 3 of Decree No. 96/1998/ND-CP of November 17, 1998 of the Government on the regime of job severance for officials and public employees, shall also receive the following allowances:

For every year of work, they shall be granted one month of wage and allowances (if any) that they are currently receiving, which must be at least equal to two months of wages and allowance (if any) that they are currently receiving.

e/ Officials, public servants and public employees subject to payroll reduction who are under 45 years old, physically fit, display a good sense of responsibility and discipline but who are limited in professional knowledge or who are not fit to the assigned tasks, shall be created conditions by the agency or unit to learn a new job if they so wish. The learners shall receive in full their wages for not more than six months and shall receive an allowance equal to six months of wages and allowances (if any) which they are currently receiving.

After completing their job learning, the learner shall enjoy the regime of job seeking allowance and job severance allowance as stipulated in Point 3, Decree No. 96/1998/ND-CP of November 17, 1998 of the Government and shall look for a new job themselves.

f/ Policy of encouragement to officials, public servants and public employees who cease to hold leading posts after readjustment of organization.

Officials, public servants and public employees who cease to hold their posts due to readjustment of organization shall continue to receive their post allowances for another 12 months. This allowance shall end if during this 12-month period they are reappointed or appointed to another post. In case of no reappointment, their wage grade shall be readjusted on the principle that the new wage is equivalent to that of the old grade plus the post allowance which they continue to receive.

The policies stipulated in Points b, c, d and e of this clause shall apply for three years (2000-2002).

III. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The ministers, the heads of ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the Presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally- run cities shall report to the Party committees of the same level to the plans strengthen the organization, reduce the payroll, personally direct the readjustment of the organization and reduce the payroll of their agencies and units and direct the heads of the attached agencies and units to draw up the plans on readjustment of organization and reduction of payroll to ensure quality and according to the schedule prescribed at Decision No. 207/1999/QD-TTg of October 25, 1999 of the Prime Minister.

2. The order of implementation shall include the following steps:

a/ Step 1: Revision of the functions and tasks along with the transfer to other agencies and units of the tasks which are no longer appropriate; and allocation of responsibilities to the localities and lower levels and the socialized public service organizations;

b/ Step 2: Rearrangement of organization, immediate dissolution of the intermediate organizations, improvement of the style of work and reform of the administrative procedures;

c/ Step 3: Drawing up the plan of arrangement of officials, public servants and public employees.

Basing themselves on the selection and arrangement of officials, public servants and public employees as stipulated at Point b, Clause 2, Part II of this Resolution, the head of the agencies and units shall report to the Party Committee and discuss with the trade union organization of the same level the plan to rearrange their officials, public servants and public employees; draft the expenditures including those to be borne by the State budget and those (if any) to be supplemented by the agencies in order to carry out the reduction of payroll; submit to the heads of the immediate superior agencies the plans already approved by the Party Committees of the same level.

d/ Step 4: After approval by the competent authority, the heads of the agencies or units shall report to the Party Committee and discuss with the trade union organizations of the same level. At the same time they shall campaign among the officials, public servants and public employees in the agencies or units to carry out the plan of payroll reduction. They shall then proceed to the arrangement and transfer of the contingent of officials, public servants and public employees.

3. The Ministry of Finance shall prepare a plan of the State budget to carry out this Resolution; assume the main responsibility and coordinate with the Government Commission for Organization and Personnel in guiding the procedures for granting and settlement of expenditures in the payroll reduction on the following principles:

- Expenditures for the State administrative and public-service sector without income shall be assured by the State budget.

- Expenditures for the public service sector having income shall be jointly assured by the State budget and the unit having income.

4. The Government Commission for Organization and Personnel shall guide the rearrangement of organization and reduction of payroll at the State administrative agencies and public-service units, assume the main responsibility and coordinate with the Office of the Government in monitoring the implementation of this Resolution, and report to the Prime Minister on the result of the implementation once every six months.

On behalf of the Government
Prime Minister
PHAN VAN KHAI