Proposing new policies on recruitment, use and management of civil servants

The Draft Law on Civil Servants (amended) consists of 6 Chapters and 42 Articles (20 Articles less than the current Law), designed according to the principle of inheriting and adjusting the contents of the Law on Civil Servants 2010 (amended and supplemented in 2019) to comply with new regulations.

In the draft Law on Public Employees (amended), the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed many new regulations related to the recruitment, use, and management of public employees; and the rights and obligations of public employees in public service units.

Management by job position, aiming to eliminate the regulation of salary ranking associated with the consideration of promotion of civil servant professional titles

The Ministry of Home Affairs proposes to continue promoting the implementation of civil servant management and salary payment according to job position linked to output results.

Accordingly, the draft Law (amended) clearly stipulates that the recruitment, management, evaluation, arrangement, and use of civil servants must be based on the requirements of the job position and the capacity, results, and effectiveness of the civil servant's performance, aiming to eliminate the regulation on salary classification associated with the consideration of promotion of civil servant professional titles.

At the same time, expand regulations on contract signing and acceptance to facilitate the transition from the private sector to the public sector and vice versa according to job requirements and actual capacity in a "competitive", open, transparent and equal environment.

Ddiversify recruitment methods

Aboutrecruitment,The draft Law (amended) diversifies recruitment methods by adding, in addition to the traditional examination and selection methods, the form of signing direct contracts to become civil servants for experts, scientists, and talented people suitable for the field of operation of public service units.

The above mentioned diversification of recruitment methods creates favorable conditions for public service units to be proactive in recruiting civil servants, moving towards a professional and modern management model.

In addition, the Draft Law (amended) stipulates recruitment methods for units providing essential public services. For public service units that do not provide essential public services, recruitment will be carried out in the direction of signing contracts.

In addition, the Draft Law (amended) also stipulates specific conditions for registration in cases where Vietnamese citizens are living abroad or foreign citizens are living in Vietnam, in accordance with the decision of competent authorities; stipulates priority in selecting talented people, people with meritorious services to the country, and ethnic minorities; applies science and technology in the recruitment process; integrates with unified civil servant management data in each sector and field; changes in the probationary regime (civil servant candidates must undergo probationary regime, except in cases where they have had at least 12 months or more of professional experience appropriate to the requirements of the recruited job position).

Officials are allowed to contribute capital, establish and operate enterprises.

The Draft Law (amended) alsomwidemorecivil servant rights. Specifically:

- Signed a contract to perform professional activities at public service units other than the public service unit currently working.

- Participate in contributing capital, establishing, managing, operating, and working at enterprises established or participated in establishing by the public service unit for which one is working to commercialize research results, effectively exploit intellectual property, inventions, and digital technology created by that organization.

- Being assigned to work at scientific and technological organizations, universities, enterprises and other organizations for a certain period of time.

- Contribute capital, establish, participate in management, operation or participate in technology development at domestic and foreign enterprises.

- Considered to exclude, exempt, or reduce responsibility in the following cases: complying with illegal decisions of superiors but having reported them; complying with regulations, not for personal gain but causing damage due to objective reasons; implementing innovative and creative proposals permitted by competent authorities and determined to have pure motives, for the common good; due to force majeure.

Dpriceofficialmust be linked to the results and products of each job position

On the evaluation and use of civil servantsAccording to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the assessment must ensure democracy, publicity, transparency, objectivity, consistency, continuity, and multidimensionality. The assessment content must be quantified based on criteria associated with the results and products of each job position; the ability to innovate and adapt to practical requirements with the aim of contributing to the common goals of the unit.

At the same time, it is necessary to apply science, technology, and digital transformation in monitoring, evaluating, and classifying the quality of civil servants, ensuring the flexibility and initiative of public service units in developing processes, prescribing criteria, and implementing assessments in accordance with the nature of operations and organizational model of the unit; associated with salary, bonus, and other policies and regulations.

Regarding the regulations on authority and process for developing evaluation regulations, the Draft Law (amended) stipulates that the head of the agency or unit using civil servants is responsible for evaluating or decentralizing the evaluation authority. The specialized management ministry develops the Evaluation Toolkit and Evaluation Regulation Model; the public service unit develops the Evaluation Regulation applicable to its unit, as a legal basis for evaluating, classifying quality and implementing policies and regimes. At the same time, the head of the public service unit is authorized to consider and decide on screening civil servants who do not meet the requirements of the job position on the basis of publicity, transparency and competition.

In addition, the Draft Law (amended) alsoSupplementing a number of regulations such as the right of civil servants to unilaterally terminate their employment contracts in accordance with the provisions of law; the right to sign contracts to perform professional activities at public service units other than the public service unit they are currently working for; the construction, management and exploitation of the National Database on civil servants, meeting the requirements of managing teams in the electronic environment, building e-Government, and digital transformation in the new period.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the above-mentioned amendments and supplements create a synchronous legal corridor, modernize the work of managing civil servants in a dynamic, transparent, and effective manner, ensuring the principle of using the right person for the right job, maximizing the capacity of civil servants, while screening out cases that do not meet the requirements of the task, contributing to building a team of professional, responsible, and ethical civil servants, serving well the cause of socio-economic development and the needs of people and businesses; on the other hand, the amendments to these contents are suitable and consistent in the management of civil servants and public employees.

We invite readers to read the full draft and give comments.here.