Joint Circular No. 03/2003/TTLT/BLDTBXH-BTC-BNV guiding the regime for workers directly participating in and serving the work of delineating and marking boundary markers on the land border between Vietnam and China.

CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOR - INVALIDS AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS, THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE,
JOINT CIRCULAR NO. 03/2003/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC-BNV
DATE OF ISSUE: FEBRUARY 13, 2003 ON GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION
OF REGULATIONS FOR PERSONNEL DIRECTLY PARTICIPATING IN AND SERVING BORDER DEMARCATION AND MARKING WORK ON THE LAND BORDER BETWEEN VIETNAM AND CHINA
VIETNAM - CHINA

Implementing Decision No. 166/2002/QĐ-TTg dated November 22, 2002 of the Prime Minister on certain regulations applicable to personnel directly participating in and serving border demarcation and marking work on the land border between Vietnam and China, after exchanging opinions with relevant ministries and agencies, the Joint Circular of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Home Affairs provides guidance as follows:

I. OBJECTS

1. Objects:

a) Personnel appointed by competent state authorities to border demarcation and marking groups, including: civil servants; engineers, technical staff, and technical workers in state-owned enterprises; officers, professional military personnel, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers in the armed forces;

b) Personnel working at provincial border demarcation and marking steering committees (Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Quang Ninh), including: civil servants; engineers, technical staff, and technical workers in state-owned enterprises; officers, professional military personnel, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers in the armed forces (including those appointed by competent state authorities to work irregularly at provincial border demarcation and marking steering committees);

c) Personnel working at the Government Steering Committee and those currently employed in agencies, ministries, sectors, provinces, and centrally governed cities mobilized to serve border demarcation and marking groups.

d) Local laborers mobilized to serve border demarcation and marking groups.

2. Persons not subject to application:

a) Officers, professional military personnel, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, and those receiving salaries in the armed forces engaged in mine clearance and war remnants removal along the Vietnam-China border under a separate project of the Ministry of Defense;

b) Officers, professional military personnel, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, and those receiving salaries in the armed forces performing road construction and patrol duties along the border funded by local border management budgets;

c) Civil servants, public officials, and workers involved in designing, producing, and transporting boundary markers to border provinces under a separate project of the Ministry of Construction.

II. APPLICABLE REGULATIONS:

1. For persons specified in paragraph a, point 1, Section I above, the following benefits shall be granted:

a) Salary:

They shall receive their original rank-based salary, position-based salary, military rank-based salary, and allowances (if any) as stipulated in Decree No. 25/CP and Decree No. 26/CP dated May 23, 1993 of the Government temporarily regulating new salary systems for civil servants, administrative and public service officials, armed forces, and state-owned enterprises. The system of promotion in rank, grade, and military rank salary shall be implemented according to current regulations.

b) Living allowance rate:

- For days working on-site for border demarcation and marking (called off-duty workdays) in areas where regional allowances have a coefficient of 0.7 or higher compared to the minimum wage, they shall receive VND 120,000 per day; VND 100,000 per day in areas where regional allowances have a coefficient below 0.7 compared to the minimum wage as stipulated in Joint Circular No. 03/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC-UBDTMN dated January 18, 2000 of the Joint Circular of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Commission for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas;

- For days working inside houses, tents, huts, camps located at the border site (not working outside the field called on-duty workdays), they shall receive VND 70,000 per day.

When applying these living allowance rates, they shall not receive overtime pay, forest camping fees, meal break fees, and travel expenses as stipulated in current regulations.

c) In addition to the salary and living allowance stipulated in points a and b above, those assigned as Group Leaders or Deputy Group Leaders for border demarcation and marking shall receive the following subsidies:

- VND 150,000 per month for Group Leaders;

- VND 100,000 per month for Deputy Group Leaders.

d) They shall be provided with labor protective equipment, medical supplies, personal protection equipment, tents, and hammocks to ensure normal daily living; they shall enjoy annual leave and be reimbursed for train and bus fares for leave travel according to current regulations.

đ) Those directly involved in border demarcation and marking who die or are injured in one of the cases prescribed in Article 11 and Article 25 of Decree No. 28/CP dated April 29, 1995 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Ordinance on Preferential Treatment for Persons Contributing to the Revolution shall be considered and recognized as martyrs or wounded veterans. The establishment of files, consideration, and recognition shall follow the guidelines set out in Joint Circular No. 16/1998/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BQP-BCA dated November 25, 1998 of the Joint Circular of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Public Security.

2. For persons specified in paragraph b, point 1, Section I above, the following benefits shall be granted:

a) They shall receive their original rank-based salary, position-based salary, military rank-based salary, and allowances (if any) as stipulated in Decree No. 25/CP and Decree No. 26/CP dated May 23, 1993 of the Government temporarily regulating new salary systems for civil servants, administrative and public service officials, armed forces, and state-owned enterprises.

b) They shall receive monthly subsidies:

- VND 200,000 per month for Provincial Border Demarcation and Marking Steering Committee Leaders;

- VND 150,000 per month for Deputy Provincial Border Demarcation and Marking Steering Committee Leaders;

- VND 100,000 per month for specialized staff assisting the Provincial Border Demarcation and Marking Steering Committee.

c) For days directly working on-site at the border, they shall receive living allowances as those directly involved in border demarcation and marking as specified in paragraph b, point 1 above. When receiving these living allowances, they shall not receive overtime pay, forest camping fees, meal break fees, and travel expenses as stipulated in current regulations.

d) Be provided with labor protective equipment, medical supplies, and personal protective equipment during working days at the border site.

3/ For the subjects specified in sub-item c, point 1, Section I above, the following benefits shall be enjoyed:

a) During direct working days at the border site, they shall enjoy subsistence allowances equivalent to those of personnel directly engaged in boundary demarcation and marker installation as stipulated in sub-item b, point 1 mentioned above. When enjoying these subsistence allowances, they shall not receive overtime pay, forest camping fees, meal break fees, or travel expenses as currently prescribed.

b) Be provided with labor protective equipment, medical supplies, and personal protective equipment during working days at the border site.

4/ For the subjects specified in sub-item d, point 1, Section I above, the following benefits shall be enjoyed:

When there is a need to mobilize local labor to serve boundary demarcation and marker installation groups, the Steering Committee or the boundary demarcation and marker installation group must enter into individual labor contracts with each worker in accordance with labor laws. The terms agreed upon in the labor contracts include:

a) The wage rate for actual work performed locally, set by the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs in coordination with the Department of Finance and Price Control (the wage rate includes social insurance contributions equal to 15% of the wage rate).

b) During the period of performing the labor contract, workers who are sick and absent from work shall receive sickness allowance equal to 75% of the wage rate recorded in the labor contract. The maximum sick leave period eligible for allowance shall not exceed 12 days/month.

c) Be provided with labor protective equipment and personal protective equipment according to current regulations.

d) In cases where a worker suffers a workplace accident while performing tasks under the contract or on the way to and from the workplace, the employer shall bear the medical expenses and pay 100% of the wage during the treatment period at the medical facility. After stabilizing the injury, the worker will be referred for evaluation to determine the degree of reduced work capacity by the Medical Examination Council of the Ministry of Health. If the reduction in capacity is between 5% and 10%, a one-time allowance of six months' minimum wage as prescribed by the State at the time of payment shall be granted; if it exceeds 10% but does not exceed 20%, a one-time allowance of nine months' minimum wage shall be granted; if it exceeds 20% but does not exceed 30%, a one-time allowance of twelve months' minimum wage shall be granted; if it exceeds 30%, for every additional 1%, half a month's minimum wage shall be added. In cases where a worker dies due to a workplace accident or occupational disease during the performance of the contract, the funeral expenses for the deceased's relatives shall be subsidized at eight months' minimum wage, and a one-time allowance of five months' minimum wage as prescribed by the State shall be granted.

d) In addition to resolving rights when suffering a workplace accident, if a worker suffers a disability due to a workplace accident, depending on the degree of disability that reduces their work capacity, they shall enjoy benefits according to the provisions of the law for disabled persons.

III. ESTABLISHING BUDGETS, PAYMENTS, AND SETTLING BENEFITS

FOR WORKERS
1/ Agencies and units assigned the task of boundary demarcation and marker installation must implement the establishment of budgets, distribution, and settlement of benefits as stipulated in Part II of this Circular in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Finance.

2/ The payment of wages, allowances (if applicable), subsidies, and subsistence allowances for individuals directly participating in and serving the boundary demarcation and marker installation work shall be carried out as follows:

a) For the subjects specified in sub-item a, point 1, Section I:

- Rank, position, military rank salaries, and allowances (if applicable) shall be paid by the agencies and units directly managing them before being assigned to the boundary demarcation and marker installation groups in accordance with general regulations.

- Subsistence allowances and subsidies for members of the boundary demarcation and marker installation groups and subsidies for Group Leaders and Deputy Leaders shall be paid by the provincial boundary demarcation and marker installation steering committees based on the actual number of working days spent on extracurricular or intracurricular work at the border site (for those receiving subsistence allowances) and monthly (for Group Leaders and Deputy Leaders receiving subsidies).

b) For the subjects specified in sub-items b and c, point 1, Section I:

- Rank, position, military rank salaries, and allowances (if applicable) shall be paid by the agencies and units assigning personnel to participate or assist the Steering Committee in accordance with general regulations.

- Subsistence allowances and subsidies for Steering Committee Leaders and Assistant Specialists, and subsistence allowances for personnel working at the Government Boundary Demarcation and Marker Installation Steering Committee and those working in central government agencies, ministries, sectors, provinces, and centrally governed cities who have been mobilized to serve the boundary demarcation and marker installation groups shall be paid by the Steering Committees based on the actual number of working days at the border site (for those receiving subsistence allowances) and monthly (for those receiving subsidies).

c) For local subjects mobilized to serve the boundary demarcation and marker installation work: wages and other benefits agreed upon in the contract and stipulated in this Circular shall be paid by the provincial boundary demarcation and marker installation steering committees.

When paying subsistence allowances as specified in points a and b and wages for mobilized workers serving the boundary demarcation and marker installation work as specified in point c above, if there are fractional working days, they shall be rounded off according to the principle: fractions up to 1/2 day shall be rounded down to 1/2 day, and fractions over 1/2 day shall be rounded up to 1 full day.

3/ For the subjects specified in sub-item a, point 1, Section I, who were dispatched by competent state authorities to the boundary demarcation and marker installation groups before Decision No. 166/2002/QĐ-TTg dated November 22, 2002, of the Prime Minister came into effect to prepare for the work, the actual working days shall also be entitled to a subsistence allowance of 70,000 VND/day (for intracurricular working days). Workers who have already received advance payments or settlements at lower rates shall be compensated to the level of the aforementioned subsistence allowance.

3/ The subjects specified in item a, point 1, section I who were dispatched by competent state agencies to border demarcation and marker placement groups prior to the effective date of Decision No. 166/2002/QĐ-TTg dated November 22, 2002 of the Government Prime Minister for preparatory work shall also be entitled to subsistence allowance at a rate of VND 70,000 per day (for administrative working days). If workers have already received advance payments or settlements at lower rates, they shall be reimbursed to the aforementioned subsistence allowance level.

The ministries, sectors, and localities managing workers directly involved in delineating and marking border boundaries shall be responsible for directly paying and settling from the budget for delineating and marking border boundaries the amount of the difference in payment, based on the confirmation of the Steering Committee for delineating and marking border boundaries of the provinces regarding the actual number of working days of the workers in the groups delineating and marking border boundaries up to November 31, 2002.

4/ For the subjects specified in item a, point 1, Section I, when taking leave, if the agencies and units cannot arrange means of transportation for pick-up and drop-off, they shall be reimbursed for train and bus fares for leave. This expense shall be paid by the Steering Committee for delineating and marking border boundaries of the border provinces according to current regulations.

5/ The Steering Committee for delineating and marking border boundaries of the border provinces shall prepare budgets and propose to competent state agencies to provide equipment for labor protection, personal protective equipment, and medical supplies for the subjects according to current regulations; prepare a budget for hiring local labor to serve the groups delineating and marking border boundaries and pay wages to workers based on actual working days or actual work performed, after the determination of wage rates for types of work by the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Department of Finance and Prices, and confirmation by the groups delineating and marking border boundaries.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

1/ Ministries, sectors, and localities with personnel engaged in delineating and marking border boundaries on the land between Vietnam and China shall be responsible for directing and organizing implementation according to the provisions of this Circular.

2/ This Circular replaces Circular No. 07/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC-BTCCBCP dated May 27, 2002, jointly issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Civil Service Administration Council of the Government (now the Ministry of Home Affairs), and shall take effect from December 1, 2002.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, please report them to the Joint Ministries for resolution.