Amounts Public Employees Are Entitled to Receive Upon Termination of Employment Contract

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According to the provisions of Article 45 Law on Public Employees 2010 and Article 38 Decree 29/2012/ND-CP, public employees are granted resignation in the following cases:

- Public employees voluntarily request resignation with written consent from the competent authority.

- Public employees unilaterally terminate the employment contract as stipulated in Clauses 4 and 5 of Article 29 of the Law on Public Employees.

- Public non-business units unilaterally terminate the employment contract with the public employee in one of the cases specified in Points c, d, and dd of Clause 1, Article 29 of the Law on Public Employees.

Note, in the following cases, public employees are not permitted to implement resignation policies:

- Public employees are transferred with the consent of the competent authority to work in other agencies, organizations, or units within the political system.

- Public employees have received notice of retirement or are subject to staff streamlining according to the provisions of the law.

Regarding the procedures for resolving resignation, Decree 29 particularly stipulates as follows:

"3. Procedures for resolving resignation

a) Public employees wishing to resign must submit a written request to the head of the public service provider.

b) Within 20 business days from the date of receipt, if agreeing to the resignation, the head of the public service provider shall issue a decision to terminate the employment contract; if not agreeing, must respond to the public employee in writing and state the reasons as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

c) In the case where the public service provider unilaterally terminates the employment contract with the public employee as specified in Point c of Clause 1 of this Article, resignation policies for the public employee shall be resolved according to the provisions of this Decree."

Regarding the policies public employees are entitled to upon resignation:

1. Severance Allowance

According to Clause 1, Article 39, Decree 29/2012/ND-CP, for public employees with service time before December 31, 2008, the severance allowance upon contract termination is as follows:

- Each year of working time is calculated as 1/2 month of the current salary, including: Salary level according to professional title, position allowance, excess seniority allowance, professional seniority allowance, and salary differential retention coefficient (if any).

Note: The minimum allowance is equivalent to 01 month of the current salary.

- For public employees recruited before July 1, 2003, severance allowance calculation includes the total working time (cumulative) from the recruitment decision until December 31, 2008.

- For public employees recruited after July 1, 2003, severance allowance is calculated for the total working time (cumulative) under the employment contract from the recruitment decision until December 31, 2008.

2. Unemployment Allowance

According to Clause 2, Article 39, Decree 29/2012/ND-CP, for public employees with service time from January 1, 2009, onwards, policies for severance allowance are implemented according to the legal provisions on unemployment benefits.

To be specific: Public employees, upon resignation, will be entitled to unemployment benefits if they meet the conditions stipulated in Article 49 of the Employment Law 2013.

Regarding the allowance level, duration, and timing of unemployment benefit for resigned public employees, the following are stipulated:

- Unemployment allowance level: According to Clause 1, Article 50 of the Employment Law 2013, the monthly unemployment benefit is 60% of the average monthly salary of the 6 consecutive months before unemployment.

Note: The maximum unemployment allowance does not exceed 5 times the statutory pay rate for employees subject to state salary policies, or not exceeding 5 times the regional minimum wage as per the Labor Code for employees under enterprise salary policies.

- Unemployment allowance duration: As per Clause 2, Article 50 of the Employment Law 2013, unemployment benefit duration is calculated based on months of Unemployment Insurance contribution: 12 to 36 months for 3 months of benefit; an additional 12 months for each additional month of benefit up to a maximum of 12 months.

- Unemployment benefit timing: Benefit starts from the 16th day from the date a complete file is submitted as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 46 of the Employment Law 2013.

Note: From January 1, 2015, there is no one-time unemployment insurance benefit policy; monthly benefits and payment period are regulated by the Vietnam Social Insurance organization.

Thus, public employees with work periods from before December 31, 2008, continuing until now would receive two allowances upon resignation:

+ Severance allowance for service before December 31, 2008, and;

+ Unemployment allowance for service from January 1, 2009, onwards.

3. Social Insurance Regime

If public employees terminate their contract without qualifying for retirement benefits, they can continue participating in voluntary insurance for future pensions or file for one-time social insurance benefits according to Article 60 of the Social Insurance Law 2014.

One-time SSI benefit is based on years of contribution:

- 1.5 months average monthly salary for contributions before 2014;

- 2 months average monthly salary for contributions from 2014 onwards;

- For contribution periods of less than a year, the benefit equals the contributed amount, with a maximum of 2 months average monthly salary.

Nguyen Trinh

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