Circular No. 02/LDTBXH-TT guiding the salary increase system serving as the basis for calculating retirement pay for officials who have worked as experts abroad.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for salary increments to serve as the basis for calculating retirement pay for officials who have worked as experts abroad
Time period for working as an expert abroad

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Pursuant to Document No. 3815/KGVX dated July 31, 1997 and Document No. 6454/KGVX dated December 16, 1997 of the Government Office regarding retirement pay for officials working as experts abroad, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs provides guidelines for salary increment systems to serve as the basis for calculating retirement pay for officials who have worked as experts abroad as follows:

I. OBJECTS AND CONDITIONS FOR APPLICATION

1. The subjects eligible for additional salary grade increments to serve as the basis for calculating retirement pay include:

a. Officials who were dispatched by the State to work as experts abroad to repay debts to the State.

b. Officials who were dispatched by the State to work as experts abroad to strengthen cooperative relations between our country and other countries.

2. Conditions for resolution must be met all three conditions below:

a. The subjects mentioned in point 1 above must have had at least three years (36 months) of working as an expert abroad during the period from December 31, 1994 or earlier;

b. During the time working as an expert abroad, they received salaries paid by the host country and contributed fully to social insurance (personal contributions) and other contributions required by the State while abroad;

c. Completed their tasks according to the contract with the host country.

II. PROCEDURES FOR SALARY INCREMENT TO CALCULATE RETIREMENT PAY

Subjects applying under the provisions of point 1 Section I above shall be resolved for salary increments to calculate retirement pay or recalculate retirement pay (if already retired) based on the following principles:

1. For every three-year cycle (36 months) counted from the last salary grade increase before going to work as an expert abroad until returning to the country, an additional salary grade will be granted.

In cases where there is a remaining period of more than 18 months after the final three-year cycle, an additional salary grade will also be granted.

2. The basis for granting salary increments to calculate retirement pay is based on the final salary level before retirement of the expert, specifically as follows:

a. For officials who have retired and are receiving retirement pay according to Decree No. 236/HĐBT dated September 18, 1985 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government), the resolution for salary increments is based on the salary levels specified in Decree No. 235/HĐBT dated September 18, 1985 to recalculate retirement pay.

Example: An official was dispatched by the State to work as an education expert in Algeria from February 1989, returned to the country in January 1993, and then retired. Before going abroad, he received a salary increase of 425 dong in December 1988. Therefore, the calculation period for three years is from December 1988 to January 1993, totaling 4 years and 1 month, with the final salary before retirement being 425 dong.

Based on the above guidance, this official would receive an additional salary grade, increasing from 425 dong to 463 dong. The remaining 13 months are not counted.

b. For officials who have retired and are receiving retirement pay according to Decree No. 43/CP dated June 23, 1993 of the Government or according to the Social Insurance Regulations accompanying Decree No. 12/CP dated January 26, 1995 of the Government, the resolution for salary increments is based on the salary levels (coefficients) specified in Decree No. 25/CP or 26/CP dated May 23, 1993 of the Government to recalculate retirement pay.

If when resolving salary increments, the current salary grade coefficient has been exhausted, it can be applied to the next higher salary grade coefficient in the upper rank.

Example: A former associate professor and senior lecturer with a final salary of 5.5 before retirement now receives an additional salary grade but since the senior lecturer rank has reached its maximum grade, it is applied to the next higher grade of 5.85 in the professor rank.

When calculating the average monthly salary for the last five years to determine retirement pay, take the highest new retirement pay after the salary increment to calculate the average salary contribution to social insurance over the last three years. Then, use the adjacent salary level to calculate the average salary contribution to social insurance over the remaining two years.

Example: An official was dispatched by the State to work as an expert from April 1991, returned to the country in December 1994, and retired in June 1995 after receiving a salary increment of 4.47. The calculation period for three years is 3 years and 10 months. This official receives an additional salary grade from 4.47 to 4.75. The remaining 10 months are not counted.

When calculating the average monthly salary for the last year to recalculate retirement pay, multiply the new salary of 4.75 by the minimum civil servant salary at the time of recalculating retirement pay to determine the average salary contribution to social insurance over the last three years. Then, use the salary of 4.47 to calculate the average over the next two years. Specifically, the method of calculating the average monthly salary contribution to social insurance for retirement pay is:

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. Central Ministries, Departments, and People's Committees of provinces and cities with officials falling under the category mentioned in point 1 Section I of this Circular shall be responsible for notifying and sending the declaration form of the expert's work process (according to the attached model in this Circular) to the subject.

2. The subject shall fill out the declaration form and obtain confirmation from the directly managing agency before departure and upon return, then send it back to the relevant Ministry, Department, or Provincial People's Committee.

3. Relevant Ministries, Departments, or Provincial People's Committees shall base their review and issue decisions on salary increments for officials meeting the conditions for entitlement based on the guidelines provided in Sections I and II of this Circular.

After issuing the decision on salary increments, the responsible agency shall transfer the subject's file including the confirmed declaration form of the expert's work process and the decision on salary increments to the provincial or centrally-administered city Social Insurance Agency where the subject is receiving retirement pay for further processing.

4. The provincial or centrally-administered city Social Insurance Agency shall be responsible for receiving the expert's file and recalculating the retirement pay based on the newly incremented salary grades.

For those who have already retired, the recalculated retirement pay will be effective from the date the relevant Ministry, Department, or Provincial People's Committee issues the decision on salary increments to recalculate retirement pay.

5. The provincial social insurance agency or the municipal social insurance agency under the central government shall, after recalculating the pension of the expert, prepare a specific list of each individual and the additional monthly pension amount, and report to the Vietnam Social Security.

6. The Vietnam Social Security is responsible for compiling the number of experts and the additional monthly pension amount and reporting to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance to allocate additional funds from the state budget.

The adjustment of pensions in accordance with this Circular only serves as a basis for calculating pensions for eligible individuals and does not serve as a basis for claiming backdated pension amounts.

During the implementation of this Circular, if there are any difficulties, they should be reported to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for consideration and resolution./.

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

Independence - Freedom - Happiness

Hanoi, the... day of the... month of 199...

EXPERT WORK HISTORY FORM

Respectfully submitted to:...

My name is:...

Date of birth...day...month...year...

Position at retirement...

Workplace at retirement...

Current residence and place of receiving pension...

I was appointed to work as an expert...

In the country...

Duration of working as an expert from...day...month...year...

to...day...month...year...

During my time as an expert, I received salary from the host country and I paid social insurance abroad in accordance with the regulations of the State. Before going to work as an expert, I was promoted to a higher pay grade on...day...month...year...Thus, the period from when I was promoted before going to work as an expert until when I was promoted after returning to the country is...years...months.

My final salary at retirement was...promoted on...day...month...year...

Now, based on the Prime Minister's Decision and the Circular guiding the implementation of the promotion of salary for pension calculation issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs number.../LDTBXH dated...day...month...year...

I request that...consider and decide to promote my salary to serve as a basis for calculating my pension according to the State policy.

I solemnly declare that the information provided above is true, and I will bear responsibility if it is incorrect.