Do civil servants on annual leave receive travel expenses and allowances? If so, what is the payment rate?
Are civil servants on annual leave entitled to reimbursements for travel expenses and road allowances?
Based on the provisions under point a, clause 1, Article 4 of Circular 141/2011/TT-BTC, it's stated as follows:
Reimbursement for travel expenses and road allowances when on annual leave.
1. Expenses and reimbursement levels:
a) Individuals on annual leave are entitled to reimbursement for road allowances (equivalent to the current travel per diem policies) and travel expenses.
According to the above provisions, officials on annual leave are entitled to reimbursements for travel expenses and road allowances. However, the implementation of these regulations applies only to specific cases.
Based on clause 1, Article 2 of Circular 141/2011/TT-BTC, amended by clause 1, Article 1 of Circular 57/2014/TT-BTC, it is stated as follows:
Applicable Subjects:
1. Subjects entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses and road allowances when on annual leave:
a) Cadres and officials from lowland areas working in highland, remote, border, islands areas with special allowances of 0.5 or above (based on regulations in Joint Circular 11/2005/TTLT-BNV-BLDTBXH-BTC-UBDT dated January 05, 2005 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and the Committee for Ethnic Minorities) and individuals from these areas working in lowlands, meeting annual leave conditions under the Labor Code, approved for annual leave by the head of the agency, unit to visit family, parents, spouse, children, or hometown.
b) Cadres and officials working in other areas meeting annual leave conditions under labor laws, approved for annual leave by the head of the agency, unit to visit spouse; children; parents (both spouse's and individual’s) in case of illness or death.
Thus, officials under the aforementioned circumstances are entitled to reimbursements for travel expenses and road allowances when on annual leave.
Are civil servants on annual leave entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses and road allowances? If so, what is the reimbursement level?
What is the reimbursement level for travel expenses and road allowances when officials are on annual leave?
According to the provisions in Article 4 of Circular 141/2011/TT-BTC, the reimbursement level for travel expenses and road allowances when officials are on annual leave is determined as follows:
(1) Travel Expenses
Based on point b, clause 1, Article 4 of Circular 141/2011/TT-BTC, it is stated as follows:
Reimbursement for travel expenses and road allowances when on annual leave.
1. Expenses and reimbursement levels:
...
b) Travel expenses include transportation costs (excluding airfare) of individuals and organizations involved in passenger transport as per regulations, including round-trip transportation costs from home to the station, vehicle ticket to the place of annual leave and return.
Reimbursement level: According to the ticket price stated on the receipt; the ticket price does not include other service costs (tourism, special services upon request). If the official uses air travel, the maximum reimbursement is based on the current public transport rates for road, rail, or water transport applicable to the route.
For routes without transportation services as regulated, where the official has to hire transport, the head of the agency will decide on reimbursement based on the hire contract or payment receipt and the applicable internal expense regulations.
If the official on annual leave uses their personal vehicle, they will receive a lump-sum reimbursement based on actual kilometers traveled, equivalent to common public transport rates in the locality, but not exceeding the lump-sum amount for using personal vehicles for official duty as per internal expense regulations.
If the official combines business trips with annual leave to visit relatives, only the road allowance is reimbursed, and no travel expenses will be covered as they are already included in the business trip allowances.
Thus, the reimbursement for travel expenses for officials on annual leave is determined as per the stated regulations.
(2) Road Allowances
Determined equivalent to the current travel per diem policies.
Based on the provisions in Article 6 of Circular 40/2017/TT-BTC regarding travel per diems, it states:
Travel Per Diems
1. Travel per diems are additional support for individuals on business trips beyond their regular salary paid by their agency, calculated from the start to the end of the trip (including travel days and days at the destination).
The daily travel per diem for individuals on business trips: 200,000 VND/day.
For same-day trips, the head of the agency decides the per diem based on actual travel hours, extra working hours, distance, and internal expense regulations.
2. Officials and employees and workers assigned to tasks on seas or islands will receive a daily per diem of 250,000 VND/person for actual days spent on the sea or islands (applicable for both working and travel days). Sectors with specific higher allowances for sea/island work can choose the higher of either per diem or special allowance.
Thus, the road allowance for officials on annual leave is set at 200,000 VND/day. For sea/island trips, the road allowance is 250,000 VND/person/day.
What are the regulations on the time limit for the reimbursement of travel expenses and road allowances for officials?
Based on point 2.1, clause 2, Article 4 of Circular 141/2011/TT-BTC amended by clause 3, Article 1 of Circular 57/2014/TT-BTC, it's stated:
Reimbursement for travel expenses and road allowances when on annual leave.
...
2. Conditions, time limit; reimbursement procedures:
2.1. Conditions and time limit for reimbursement:
a) Annual leave travel expenses are reimbursed once a year.
b) Officials may agree with their agency/unit head to accumulate leaves up to a maximum of three years and will only get reimbursed for annual leave travel expenses once as per Article 4 of this Circular.
Thus, the travel expenses and road allowances for officials on annual leave are reimbursed once a year. In the case of accumulated annual leave, it can be accumulated for up to 3 years, and reimbursement will only be done once for the accumulated leave.
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