Labor contracts in agencies and units: Many shortcomings remain.

(Baonghean) - In recent years, the situation of labor contracts not complying with regulations has occurred in state administrative agencies and public service units. Through rectification, the shortcomings and inadequacies have become clear...

Strengthen inspection and enforcement.

The Forest Protection and Development Fund is the unit that committed violations in labor contracts, and the Provincial People's Committee directed the Department of Internal Affairs to investigate and clarify the matter. The Forest Protection and Development Fund was established according to Decision No. 69/2011 dated November 16, 2011, of the Provincial People's Committee; it was allocated 8 staff members; in addition, based on its assigned functions and duties, the Fund Director was authorized to enter into labor contracts in accordance with the law. Nearly a year after its establishment, by September 2012, the Director of the Forest Protection and Development Fund had signed labor contracts with 9 people. The average annual salary paid to these 9 employees was 214.5 million VND. According to Report No. 750/BC-SNV on the results of the labor contract audit at the Forest Protection and Development Fund, the funds for paying salaries to the 9 employees came from non-autonomous funds, under the regular expenditure category, salary, and contract contributions, which were self-funded and decided upon by the Provincial People's Committee through supplementary budget allocations for the fund. Report 750 also clearly stated: The Forest Protection and Development Fund is a newly established unit, its operating conditions are not yet guaranteed, its organizational structure is not truly stable, the workload is not yet substantial, and its budget is limited. Therefore, signing labor contracts with such a large number of employees is unreasonable, causing overall waste in terms of organization and budget; signing labor contracts after the Provincial People's Committee Chairman issued a directive in Official Letter No. 2800/UBND-VX dated May 8, 2012, regarding the temporary suspension of recruitment, acceptance, and labor contracts at public service units, constitutes a failure to strictly comply with the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee. The professional and technical qualifications of some civil servants and contract workers do not match the requirements of the job positions as prescribed; the unit's delay in paying salaries to some contract workers by 1-2 months constitutes a partial violation of the signed labor contracts.

The provincial delegation inspects official activities at the local level (illustrative photo). Photo: Pham Bang

Based on the findings of the inspection, the Department of Internal Affairs has recommended that the Provincial People's Committee direct relevant agencies and units to review the implementation of organizational structure, staffing, recruitment, and contracts at the Forest Protection and Development Fund; conduct a review to clarify the responsibilities of the collective and individuals involved in signing and using labor contracts; and take measures to address and resolve existing shortcomings and limitations...

The Nghe An College of Education is also an institution whose recruitment and labor contract practices have been reviewed and rectified by the Provincial People's Committee. In Decision 9039, the Provincial People's Committee requested the Nghe An College of Education to terminate the employment contracts of 15 individuals whose recruitment, acceptance, and labor contracts did not comply with proper procedures and regulations; in addition, a serious review of the relevant collectives and individuals must be conducted...

Over the past period, the Provincial People's Committee has issued many documents to address this issue. These include Directive 30/2013/CT-UBND dated October 28, 2013, on continuing to rectify the situation of labor contracts in agencies and units; Official Letter 8554/UBND-TH dated November 13, 2014, on continuing to rectify the situation of labor contracts in agencies and units; and Official Letter 841/UBND-TH dated February 6, 2015, on reviewing and rectifying labor contracts in labor and social education centers. Official document 9836/UBND-TH on inspecting, reviewing, and rectifying labor contracts in medical facilities... Simultaneously, it directs the strict implementation of decentralization according to Decision 57 and Decision 04, requiring all agencies and units to develop a plan outlining the number of contracts needed and only allowing contracts to be signed after approval by the Provincial People's Committee. Since the implementation of Directive 30/CT-UBND, labor contracts in agencies and units have been significantly rectified, with a substantial reduction in the number of contracts. New labor contracts are now signed in accordance with principles, regulations, and authorized signing procedures. According to statistics from the Department of Internal Affairs, the total number of labor contracts in agencies and units before Directive 30 was 4,758; after the implementation of the directive, it was 2,158. Of these, 856 were recruited as civil servants or public employees. 1041 people were re-contracted according to the quotas decided by the Provincial People's Council and the Provincial People's Committee; 261 people had their contracts terminated. Regarding labor contracts similar to those of civil servants in departments and district People's Committees, before Directive 30, there were 148 people; to date, 112 have been processed (including both recruitment and contract termination); 43 remain unprocessed....

Existing problems

From January 1, 2012 to June 30, 2014, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council conducted numerous monitoring sessions on the recruitment and employment of civil servants and public employees in the province. Report No. 90/BC-HĐND dated November 18, 2014, of the Provincial People's Council stated that, despite the Provincial People's Committee's focused efforts to rectify the situation of irregular labor contracts in agencies and units, this situation still persists and is quite common in state administrative agencies and public service units (mainly in education and training institutions). Labor contracts are often short-term contracts, repeatedly signed and re-signed, not in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Law. The recruitment contracts under Official Letter No. 1876/CV-UB dated June 25, 1999, regarding the recruitment of scientific and technical personnel, ended in 2007 according to Decision No. 30/2007/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee. However, to date, some agencies and units are still recruiting civil servants and public employees; the number of self-funded contracts with salaries paid from the revenue of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development remains quite large in the public service units of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, creating pressure on job placement and salary arrangements without a long-term solution. In addition, in Report No. 90, the Provincial People's Council also pointed out the issue of surplus teachers, a long-standing problem of localized teacher shortages and surpluses, but only three districts—Hung Nguyen, Yen Thanh, and Nghia Dan—have developed solutions...

Nghe An College of Education held a press conference to provide information on the implementation of Decision 9039 of the Provincial People's Committee on rectifying the recruitment of contract workers.

Recently, the Provincial Inspectorate was also assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to conduct a thematic inspection on the recruitment and use of civil servants and public employees. According to a leader of this sector, the situation of labor contracts not following proper procedures and regulations is still common in agencies and units, "reaching about 80%, especially at the district level." However, inspection officials also shared that this is because, stemming from actual needs, the work requires manpower while the allocated quota is small; it takes a considerable amount of time for the Provincial People's Committee to approve the plan for structuring the number of contracted laborers. For example, at the Land Use Rights Registration Office of Vinh City, the workload is large; to complete the issuance of land use rights to the people, officials must be assigned to closely monitor the wards and communes in the area, yet there are only 12 staff members; similarly, at the Rescue and Disaster Prevention Center of the town... In Cua Lo, only 3 staff positions were allocated... Working with the Department of Internal Affairs - Vinh City People's Committee, it was learned that the Land Use Rights Registration Office currently has 32 people out of 12 allocated positions. According to Mr. Ho Sy Tan, Head of the City's Department of Internal Affairs, the Office previously had over 50 people. Before the province issued Directive 30, the city proactively reviewed and terminated contracts with more than 20 people. "In reality, the pressure of professional work is too great. Besides the pressure to speed up the process of granting land use rights to the people, we also have to participate in land inspections and land clearance... Due to practical needs, the labor contracts at the City's Land Use Rights Registration Office have not been properly implemented, and there are seasonal contracts," Mr. Tan said.

At Nghe An Teacher Training College, after receiving Decision 9039 from the Provincial People's Committee, the school's leadership terminated the employment contracts of 15 people as requested; and conducted a review and clarification regarding the relevant individuals and groups. The reason given was that the school had some specific tasks that were not yet stable, leading to a reactive approach in labor utilization, with contracts only arising when needed; meanwhile, the relevant officials were not fully aware of Decision 57 of the Provincial People's Committee, resulting in the school's leadership failing to follow the step of seeking approval from the Provincial People's Committee.

Through monitoring the recruitment and employment of civil servants and public employees, the Provincial People's Council has also pointed out many objective and subjective reasons, emphasizing that the province's allocated civil servant and public employee quota is low compared to other provinces, while Nghe An is a large area with a large population and many administrative agencies; the province's job position plan, submitted to the Ministry of Interior in 2013, has yet to receive appraisal results; the implementation of the policy to attract and recruit according to Decision 57/2013 of the Provincial People's Committee still has some inconsistencies, and even some contents that contradict the law need further study for adjustment; in addition, Party committees and leaders of units have at times and in some places not paid sufficient attention to or closely supervised the management and recruitment of civil servants, public employees, and labor contracts; while the capacity and qualifications of a portion of officials involved in advising on recruitment and labor contracts are still limited...

Recruitment, hiring, and employment contracts in state administrative agencies and public service units are extremely sensitive areas; therefore, they must be carried out seriously and in strict accordance with the law. It is necessary to continue directing agencies and units to implement the spirit of Directive No. 30 correctly; attention should be paid to proposing solutions to address outstanding issues from the past; in addition, it is also necessary to review the actual labor needs of agencies and units in the province to ensure appropriate staffing allocation, avoiding situations where labor needs arise but contracts are made without adhering to procedures and regulations.

Reporters' Team