Regulations on codes and professional standards for administrative public employees in Vietnam

Regulations on codes and professional standards for administrative public employees in Vietnam (Illustrative image)

Regarding this matter, LawNet would like to answer as follows: 

Currently, Circular 12/2012/TT-BNV defines professional titles as follows: "Professional title is a designation reflecting the level, professional and occupational capacity of public employees in each professional field; it is used as the basis for recruitment, use, and management of public employees." Thus, a professional title can be understood as the name of a profession in each specific professional field, for example, doctor, engineer, teacher, lecturer, actor, coach, museum staff, etc.

Previously, the list of public employee categories, also known as professional titles of public employees in Vietnam, was compiled in Decision 78/2004/QD-BNV (the decision has been invalid since February 15, 2018). According to the guidance in Circular 12/2012/TT-BNV, the professional titles within each field are advised by the respective specialized Ministry. Hence, the Ministry managing the professional titles of specialized public employees sets forth the occupational standards of the professional titles of public employees within the scope of their management after coordinating with the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam. To date, the standards and codes of professional titles have been issued as specific documents in various fields:

- Circular 36/2014/TTLT-BGDDT-BNV Joint Circular stipulating code and standards for professional titles of public employees teaching in public higher education institutions in Vietnam;

- Circular 10/2015/TTLT-BYT-BNV Joint Circular stipulating the code and standards for professional titles of doctors, preventive medicine doctors, and medical assistants

;- Circular 23/2015/TTLT-BGDDT-BNV Joint Circular stipulating code and standards for professional titles of public senior high school teachers;

- Circular 10/2015/TTLT-BVHTTDL-BNV Joint Circular stipulating code and standards for professional titles of public employees in the performing arts and cinema sectors;

- Circular 46/2017/TT-BTTTT Circular stipulating standards for professional titles of public employees such as audio engineers, announcers, film editors, and cameramen in the Information and Communications sector;

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However, for public employees working in administrative departments, general departments, human resources organizations, etc., in public service providers, there are still no regulatory guides on the standards and codes for these public employees’ professional titles. This causes difficulties for public service units in recruiting, using, and managing public employees, particularly in salary grading and rank promotion for public employees.

In practice, public service providers handle this situation by applying the official administrative code regulations in Circular 11/2014/TT-BNV as a basis for salary grading for public employees. Specific professional titles for these public employees remain undefined. To address this challenge, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued Circular 05/2017/TT-BNV, amending and supplementing Circular 11/2014/TT-BNV, allowing public service providers to apply similar regulations of administrative officials to administrative public employees until specific regulations are issued. This is detailed in Point b, Clause 7, Article 1 of Circular 05/2017/TT-BNV as follows: “Public employees working in administrative, general, human resources, management, office, planning, finance, and other non-specialized professional departments in public service providers are allowed to apply the regulations on occupational standards of the official administrative cadres stipulated in this Circular for recruitment, use, and management of public employees.”

Thus, currently, public employees working in administrative, general, human resources, etc., do not have a professional title yet, but the regulations on occupational standards of the official administrative cadres in Circular 05/2017/TT-BNV and Circular 11/2014/TT-BNV apply to the recruitment, use, and management of public employees.

Hoa Hong

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