Staff quit due to low income

According to regulations of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, from the beginning of 2018, part-time workers at the commune level with college or university degrees will no longer enjoy the previous incentive allowance of 0.8 to 1.6 times the basic salary/person/month.

After hearing the news that she would no longer be eligible for the university degree incentive allowance as before, Ms. Le Thi Hoang Yen - Deputy Secretary of the Youth Union of a ward in the center of Vung Tau City was quite sad.

Ms. Yen shared that since the university and college support incentives were cut, her salary was only over 2 million VND/month, not enough to cover living expenses, so she submitted a resignation letter in March 2018.

Graduated from university majoring in finance and accounting, after quitting her job at the ward, Ms. Yen is currently applying to a finance company and 2 banks in Vung Tau.

“The salary is too low to meet my living needs, so I quit. Before, I had a university degree allowance, which was more than 4 million VND/month, enough to live on. Now that the university degree allowance has been cut, the salary is only about 2.2 million VND/month, which is not enough for one person to live on here. Now I am looking for another job with a higher salary,” said Ms. Yen.

According to the reporter's investigation, currently in some communes and wards in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, many non-professional cadres have asked to resign after the province cut the incentive policy for college and university degrees such as: Son Binh commune (Chau Duc district), Tam Phuoc commune (Long Dien district), People's Committee of Ward 4, Thang Nhat (Vung Tau city) and the collaborator force of the communes is more than 100 people. In addition, many other non-professional cadres are also "preparing" to resign.

As a non-professional officer for 9 years at the People's Committee of Ward 4, Vung Tau City, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Nga shared that there is a lot of work in the locality, so she holds many positions, such as: Tax officer, Party organization officer, emulation and reward officer. Now that the province's regulations are like that, she has to accept and wait for policy changes from the authorities.

“I have been here for so many years but now I have to quit. I hope there will be changes for those who stay to work better, have a more stable life so they can feel secure in their work,” Ms. Nga shared.

Insufficient income is the main reason why many non-professional officials at the commune level in many localities in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province are no longer interested in working in state administrative agencies.

Although wards and communes have announced recruitment for non-professional positions, no one has applied. Units have to arrange jobs in the form of part-time work, with one person having to do many tasks.

Ms. Giang Phuong Thao - Chairman of the People's Committee of Thang Nhat Ward, Vung Tau City said: "Now the salary is low so they don't want to work. The one-stop department is run by civil servants but now there are not enough recruits so we have to assign people to do it. We also have to assign to civil servants and organizations but it is also difficult because they are required to have expertise."

Mr. Hoang Dinh Ke - Vice Chairman of Ward 4 People's Committee (Vung Tau City) said: In addition to non-professional staff quitting their jobs, the Ward People's Committee also lacks the required staff compared to regulations, so in professional work, the Ward People's Committees face a lot of pressure. For non-professional staff quitting their jobs, the Ward People's Committee must arrange for someone to hold a part-time position, such as the broadcasting staff held by the Vice Director of the Community Learning and Cultural Center; the Documentation - Archives staff held by the security guard.

“The province recently cut the salary allowance, causing many people in Ward 4 to quit their jobs. Up to now, 4 non-professional staff have quit and there will be many more resignations, including 1 full-time staff and 6 non-professional staff. The ward leaders also encouraged people to stay and wait for policy changes, but they will only work if their salary ensures their livelihood,” said Mr. Hoang Dinh Ke.

To continue improving quality, creating peace of mind, attachment to work, encouraging part-time workers and some other positions at the commune level, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province has organized many meetings with relevant departments and branches to find measures to support this team.

According to Mr. Truong Thanh Phong - Director of the Department of Home Affairs of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, according to the provisions of the budget law, additional allowances for cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers must have the consent of relevant ministries and branches such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, Finance, Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs... Currently, the province is also waiting for opinions from all levels and branches to continue implementing the policy of encouraging support.

According to Mr. Phong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province is implementing the allocation of salary and operating funds to communes and wards. To streamline the apparatus, the province also encourages non-professionals to hold concurrent positions to increase income.

“Also directed to reduce the number of wards and communes to streamline the apparatus, in terms of policy, we have to wait for the 7th Central Conference to approve the Salary Reform Project, which will eliminate all allowances and other policies, and only salaries for specialized civil servants, including chairmen and civil servants of communes and wards. During this period, it is very difficult for the Resolution to stop those policies, so we have to wait for the opinion of the Ministry of Home Affairs” - Mr. Truong Thanh Phong said.

Many non-professional cadres in communes and wards in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province hope that the province should have a special support mechanism for non-professionals. In addition, the form of work assignment for each local cadre should be applied soon, from which the People's Committees of wards and communes can be self-sufficient in funding and recruit people suitable for the job. Thus, the task of streamlining the apparatus and rejuvenating the cadre team will be easily implemented.