There will be an increase in the number of officials from the central and provincial levels sent to the communes.

On December 31st, the Government issued Decree No. 178/2024/ND-CP on policies for officials, civil servants, public employees, and members of the armed forces during the process of reorganizing the political system's organizational structure, outlining eight major policy groups.

Strengthening the deployment of officials and civil servants from the central and provincial levels to the grassroots level.

At a press conference held by the Ministry of Interior on the afternoon of December 31st, Mr. Nguyen Quang Dung, Chief of the Office of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Interior, stated that the purpose of issuing Decree 178/2024/ND-CP is to have a good policy that ensures the rights of officials, civil servants, and public employees who leave their jobs due to organizational restructuring, contributing to the goal of streamlining the organizational structure, reorganizing, and improving the quality of the workforce of officials, civil servants, and public employees.

Retain and utilize cadres with outstanding qualities and abilities.

Strengthen the deployment of officials and civil servants at the central and provincial levels to work at the grassroots level (expected 2 officials per commune) to increase human resources and create momentum for socio-economic development of the locality.

The scope and subjects of application of the Decree include cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers in agencies, organizations, and units of the Party, State, Vietnam Fatherland Front, and socio-political organizations from the central to district levels; cadres and civil servants at the commune level; and the armed forces (including the People's Army, the People's Public Security, and the intelligence services) in the process of reorganizing the organizational structure and administrative units at all levels of the political system.

Eight major policies of Decree 178/2024/ND-CP

Policy 1:Policies for those retiring early:

Accordingly, in cases where an individual is 10 years or less past the retirement age under normal working conditions, or 5 years or less past the retirement age under working conditions in particularly difficult areas, and has contributed to mandatory social insurance for retirement, they are entitled to the following three benefits:

Firstly, they are entitled to a lump-sum retirement benefit for early retirement:

- In the case of early retirement within a 12-month period: If the remaining age is 5 years or less from the retirement age, the allowance is equal to 1 month's current salary multiplied by the number of months of early retirement; if the remaining age is between 5 and 10 years from the retirement age, the allowance is equal to 0.9 months' current salary multiplied by 60 months.

- In cases of leave from the 13th month onwards, the allowance will be 0.5 times the rate of the allowance for those who take leave for the 12 months mentioned above.

Secondly, they are entitled to early retirement benefits, including:

- Entitled to a pension and not subject to any reduction in pension rate.

- Entitled to early retirement benefits, including:For those with 2 to less than 5 years remaining until retirement age, they will receive an allowance equal to 5 months of their current salary for each year of early retirement; for those with 5 to 10 years remaining until retirement age, they will receive an allowance equal to 4 months of their current salary for each year of early retirement.

- Entitled to benefits based on years of service with more than 20 years of mandatory social insurance contributions.

If an individual is less than two years from the prescribed retirement age and has sufficient years of service with mandatory social insurance contributions to be eligible for a pension, they are entitled to retirement benefits as prescribed and will not have their pension reduced due to early retirement.

For officials, civil servants, and public employees who retire early and are eligible for awards for their contributions but lack sufficient time in leadership positions at the time of retirement, the early retirement period will be calculated based on the remaining time of their current election term or appointment period for consideration of awards for their contributions. For officials, civil servants, and public employees who are not eligible for awards for their contributions, the competent authority will consider other forms of awards appropriate to their achievements.

Policy 2:Policies on resignation for officials and civil servants (Article 9).

Civil servants and public employees who are more than two years away from retirement age and do not meet the eligibility requirements for early retirement benefits will be entitled to the following four benefits if they resign:

Firstly, severance pay is granted: If you resign within 12 months, you are entitled to severance pay equal to 0.8 months of your current salary multiplied by the number of months for which severance pay is calculated.

If you resign from the 13th month onwards, you will receive 0.4 times your current salary multiplied by the number of months for which severance pay is calculated (maximum 60 months).

Secondly, they will receive a subsidy equivalent to 1.5 months of their current salary for each year of service with mandatory social insurance contributions.

Thirdly, they are entitled to retain their social insurance contribution period or receive a lump-sum social insurance payment as stipulated by the law on social insurance.

Fourth, they will receive a subsidy equivalent to three months' current salary to help them find a new job.

Policy 3:Policies on termination of employment for civil servants and employees (Article 10)

Public officials and employees who resign are entitled to the same four benefits as civil servants who resign, the only difference being that public officials and employees receive unemployment benefits paid by the Unemployment Insurance Fund because they participated in unemployment insurance.

Policy 4:The policy for officials, civil servants, and public employees holding leadership and management positions who cease to hold their positions or are elected or appointed to lower leadership and management positions (Article 11) is that they shall retain their previous salary or leadership allowance until the end of their election term or appointment term.

Policy 5:Policies regarding personnel traveling to local areas for work:

To strengthen the deployment of officials, civil servants, and public employees at the central and provincial levels to work at the grassroots level (for a period of 3 years), the Decree stipulates 5 regulations, including:

- They will continue to receive their salary (including allowances) based on their previous job position before being sent abroad by the agency, organization, or unit;

- Entitled to an initial allowance equal to 10 months of the basic salary at the time of employment;

- In cases where the workplace is located in an area with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, it is entitled to the policies stipulated in Government Decree No. 76/2019/ND-CP dated October 18, 2019;

- After successfully completing their duties at the local level, officials, civil servants, and public employees will be reinstated to the agency, organization, or unit that sent them, or assigned to a suitable position no lower than their previous job position by the competent authority; at the same time, they will receive a salary increase exceeding one level and will be considered for commendation by the Ministry, departments, and the province in accordance with the Law on Emulation and Commendation.

Policy 6:The policy prioritizes the recruitment of individuals with outstanding qualities and abilities, including:

- Received a salary increase one level higher;

- Entitled to a bonus as decided by the head of the agency, organization, or unit, up to a maximum of 50% of the bonus fund of the agency, organization, or unit;

- Receiving attention and priority in planning, training, development, and placement in leadership and management positions, including promotion to higher levels;

- They are entitled to receive preferential treatment and benefits under policies to attract and utilize talented individuals in state agencies and public service units if they meet the standards and conditions stipulated in the Government Decree.

Policy 7:Policies for training and improving the skills of officials and civil servants after restructuring.

Policy 8:Policies and regulations regarding personnel in the armed forces during the organizational restructuring process are the same as those applied to cadres, civil servants, public employees, and contract workers in state agencies.

This Decree shall take effect from January 1, 2025;

Simultaneously, the responsibility for guiding and organizing the implementation is assigned to central ministries and agencies; provincial People's Committees; and agencies, organizations, and units directly managing and employing cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers in issuing evaluation criteria and conducting a comprehensive review of the quality of cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers under their management; based on this, identifying those who must leave their jobs due to restructuring under this Decree in order to streamline the organizational structure, reduce staffing levels, restructure and improve the quality of the workforce, and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of operations.