10 Important Changes from July 1, 2019 That Officials and Public Employees in Vietnam Need to Know

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1. Official application of new contract samples with public employees from July 1, 2019 in Vietnam

This is a noteworthy content mentioned in Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV amending, supplementing a number of regulations on the recruitment of officials and public employees, promotion of official grades, and upgrading professional titles for public employees.

Attached to Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV are several work contract forms applied to public employees who pass at public service providers, including:

- Form No. 1: Fixed-term work contract (not applicable to cases where officials transfer to public employees and officials whose appointment term has expired and are not reappointed).

- Form No. 2: Fixed-term work contract (for individuals under 18 years old).

- Form No. 3: Indefinite-term work contract.

2. Changing conditions for passing the promotion exam for public employees from July 1, 2019 in Vietnam

According to Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV, public employees are determined to pass the promotion exam to the professional title if they meet the following conditions:

- Must participate in all exam subjects, except those exempted according to legal regulations.

- Achieve a score of 50 or more on each exam (current regulation is 55 or more), with exams graded on a 100-point scale.

For the professional title promotion review, public employees who pass will follow the guidelines of the Ministry managing the professional title of the public employee sector, field management in terms of content, and form of promotion review.

Note: Exam results for professional title promotions are not retained.

3. Amending conditions for considering professional title transfer in Vietnam

According to the amendments and supplements in Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV, the consideration for transferring from one professional title to another of the same grade for public employees must ensure the following conditions:

- Public employees are assigned to a new position requiring a different professional title of the same grade or the same education standard as the current professional title (current regulation is only the same grade as the current professional title).

- Public employees meet the standards of the new professional title.

Transferring to a different professional title of the same grade does not entail a salary raise for public employees.

4. Terminating the application of salary policies for officials and public employees with those working under contract 68 in Vietnam

Specifically, Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV stipulates that individuals who sign labor contracts for tasks specified in Article 1 of Decree 68/2000/ND-CP, Clause 1 Article 3 of Decree 161/2018/ND-CP and are applied the salary scale of Decree 204/2004/ND-CP for officials, public employees, and armed forces must switch to signing new labor contracts according to Article 3 of Decree 161/2018/ND-CP and comply with the new salary, which must not be lower than the current salary.

5. Scheme for official grade promotion exams will change from July 1, 2019 in Vietnam

Instead of building a promotion exam plan according to the available template in Article 15 of Circular 13/2010/TT-BNV, from July 1, 2019, authorized agencies to organize the official promotion exams will have to develop a promotion exam scheme with the following contents:

- Report on the number and structure of current sector-specific official grades of the agencies, organizations, and units under their management;

- The number of officials corresponding to the grades of the projected exams according to job position requirements;

- List of officials who meet the standards and conditions designated for the promotion exam;

- Subjects, standards, conditions, application documents of the exam registrants; exam content, form, duration;

- Projected members of the exam council;

- Projected time, location, and other contents to organize the exam.

Authorized agencies must send the official promotion exam scheme to the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Central Organization Board for opinions before organizing as per authority.

6. Supplementary basis for organizing professional title promotion in Vietnam

Specifically, according to the content of Clause 2 Article 2 of Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV amending, supplementing Article 8 of Circular 12/2012/TT-BNV, the examination or review of professional title promotion for public employees is based on:

- List, quantity of job positions, and structure of public employees by professional titles approved by competent authorities;

- Quantity of public employees corresponding to professional titles required by job positions;

- Public service units that require professional title promotion for public employees;

- Standards and conditions of the professional title registered for examination or promotion review.

7. Cases for direct appointment of officials from July 1, 2019 in Vietnam

Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV provides more detailed regulations on the direct appointment of officials for individuals with a university degree or higher and at least 5 years of work experience in positions requiring a university degree or higher as stipulated in Article 19 of Decree 24/2010/ND-CP as amended and supplemented in Clause 11 Article 1 of Decree 161/2018/ND-CP.

The cases eligible for direct appointment of officials from July 1, 2019, are as follows:

- Public employees who have been working continuously for at least 5 years, from the time they were recruited as public employees (excluding probationary periods).

- Individuals earning salaries in the armed forces (military, police) and those working in cryptographic work, with at least 5 years (60 months) of service in the armed forces or cryptographic work from the time they were officially recruited into the military, police, or cryptographic organizations.

- Individuals holding positions such as Chairman of the Members' Council, Company President, Members' Council Member, Supervisor, General Director, Deputy General Director, Director, Deputy Director, Chief Accountant in single-member limited liability companies wholly owned by the state or representatives of capital contribution, including Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Members' Council, Board Member, General Director, Deputy General Director, Director, Deputy Director in companies with more than 50% state capital, with at least 5 years (60 months) of compulsory social insurance contribution, excluding probationary periods.

8. Adding regulations on handling resignation policies for public employees transferring to other agencies in Vietnam

This is also noteworthy content in Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV. When public employees transfer to other agencies or units, the termination of the contract and resolution of policies are regulated as follows:

- When public employees transfer to other agencies or units, they must terminate their work contracts with the current public service provider and be entitled to policies as prescribed by law.

- If public employees are approved by competent authorities to transfer to another public service provider, new recruitment is not conducted, and resignation policies are not applied.

The termination of the work contract must be in writing, confirmed by the public employee and the head of the public service provider or the competent authority signing the work contract.

9. New regulations on the duration of the official and public employee recruitment exams in Vietnam

This continues to be one of the noteworthy contents regulated in Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV amending and supplementing several regulations on the recruitment of officials and public employees.

The duration of the multiple-choice exam on paper, written exam, and interview are regulated as follows:

- For written exams: The total exam duration will be stated in the exam paper. The time to start the exam is calculated from when the invigilator finishes distributing the exam papers and finishes reading the entire contents. The distribution time for exam papers is 5 minutes.

- For multiple-choice exams: The total exam duration will be stated in the exam paper. The time to start the exam is calculated 5 minutes after the invigilator finishes distributing the exam papers to the candidates. The total distribution time for exam papers is 10 minutes.

- For interviews: The maximum preparation and response time for each candidate is 30 minutes.

10. New guidelines on appointment and salary classification for public employees passing the promotion exam in Vietnam

According to the content in Circular 03/2019/TT-BNV, based on the notification of the competent authority organizing the examination or review of professional title promotions, the appointment of professional titles for public employees passing the promotion exam or review is as follows:

- For examinations or reviews of professional titles equivalent to senior specialists: Ministers, heads of agencies equal to ministries, agencies under the Government of Vietnam, presidents of People's Committees of provinces, central-affiliated cities shall, based on the appointment decision and proposal of the competent authority managing public employees, decide to appoint professional titles and classify salaries for public employees passing the exam or review after getting opinions on conditions and standards as prescribed by the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Central Organization Board.

- For examinations or reviews of professional titles from Grade III to Grade II, from Grade IV to Grade III, follow the provisions at Points b, c Clause 1 Article 15 of Circular 12/2012/TT-BNV.

- Nguyen Trinh -

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