Decree No. 04/2001/ND-CP detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Officer Law of the Vietnam People's Army 1999 regarding the regime and policies for officers retiring from active service, officers on active duty transferring to professional military personnel or transferring to defense civil servants.

DECREE

Detailed Implementation Rules for Certain Articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army 1999

concerning the treatment and policies for officers who cease active service; officers in active service transferring to professional military personnel or transferring to defense civil servants

professional military personnel or transferred to defense civil servants

_________________________

 THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Government Organization Law dated September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army dated December 21, 1999 (Law No. 16/1999/QH10);

At the proposal of the Minister of National Defense,

DECREE:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1This Decree stipulates the treatment and policies for retired officers, officers changing careers, demobilized officers, officers transferring to professional military personnel, defense civil servants, and the conversion period for one-time allowances as prescribed in Articles 34, 35, 36, and 37 of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army 1999.

Article 2Officers who retire, change careers, demobilize, transfer to professional military personnel, or transfer to defense civil servants shall enjoy the treatment and policies as prescribed in the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army 1999 and other state policies under current laws and as provided for in this Decree.

Article 3The State budget shall ensure the funding for implementing the employment creation allowance, one-time demobilization allowance as prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 8; training expenses, salary difference compensation for officers changing careers as prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 4, Article 6 for state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations receiving salaries from the State budget; one-time payment for the converted period as prescribed in Article 10 and salary difference compensation for officers transferring to professional military personnel, defense civil servants as prescribed in Article 11 of this Decree and social insurance contributions for the time as non-commissioned officers and soldiers of officers.

Funding for training expenses and salary difference compensation for officers after transferring to state-owned enterprises shall be accounted for in production costs or circulation fees.

Chapter II

TREATMENT AND POLICIES FOR OFFICERS WHO CEASE ACTIVE SERVICE

Section I

Treatment and policies for retired officers

Article 4. The conditions for retirement of officers as prescribed in Article 36 of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army 1999 are specified as follows:

1. Officers retiring with monthly pension benefits when meeting the conditions set out in Clause 1 of Article 36 of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army include those who meet the conditions as prescribed in Clause 1 or Clause 2 of Article 23; or retiring with a lower monthly pension benefit as prescribed in Article 24; or retiring to wait until reaching the age to receive monthly pension benefits as prescribed in Article 27 of the Social Insurance Regulations for officers, professional military personnel, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of the Vietnam People's Army and public security forces issued together with Decision No. 45/CP dated July 15, 1995 of the Government.

2. Officers retiring with monthly pension benefits as prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 36 of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army 1999 when meeting the following conditions:

a) Male officers having served at least 25 years and female officers having served at least 20 years in the military.

Military service time includes time as officers, professional military personnel, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and defense civil servants, with at least five years counted as military service age. Military service time is calculated based on calendar years (without conversion according to coefficients), and if there are interruptions, they are accumulated.

b) The military no longer has a need to allocate officers, professional military personnel, or defense civil servants, or cannot transfer them to another career.

Article 5The calculation of monthly pension benefits for officers is carried out according to the provisions of Article 25 of the Social Insurance Regulations issued together with Decision No. 45/CP dated July 12, 1995, and Clause 1, Point a, Clause 2 of Article 1 of Decision No. 94/CP dated September 8, 1999 of the Government.

PART II

TREATMENT AND POLICIES FOR OFFICERS CHANGING CAREERS

Article 6. Officers transferring to work in the staffing of state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations receiving salaries from the State budget, or state-owned enterprises shall enjoy the following benefits:

1. Priority in job placement suitable to their specialized field, technical skills, and professional duties; training and upgrading necessary professional knowledge and skills suitable to their assigned tasks;

2. Exemption from competitive examinations if transferring back to the original agency or transferring according to the requirements of authorized state agencies and being placed in accordance with their professional duties;

3. Priority in adding points to examination results when competing for civil servant positions. The level of priority points is determined specifically by the Government Organizational and Cadre Management Board in coordination with the Ministry of Defense and relevant agencies;

4. Being classified and paid according to new job and position from the date of the decision on career change. In cases where the coefficient of the new salary is lower than that of the officer's salary at the time of career change, the difference in coefficients between the officer's salary and the new salary will be retained for a minimum of 18 months from the date of the career change decision and paid by the new agency or unit. During the retention period, if the coefficient of the new salary is increased to equal or exceed the coefficient of the officer's salary before the career change, then the officer will be paid according to the new salary coefficient;

5. When officers have changed careers and retire, the calculation of pension benefits is specified as follows:

a) The basis for calculating pension benefits at the time of retirement is the salary at the time of retirement plus the seniority allowance calculated based on the time of active service of the officer's salary at the time of career change as the basis for calculating pension benefits;

b) If the officer's pension benefit calculated according to point a, Clause 5 of this Article is lower than the pension benefit calculated based on the officer's salary at the time of career change, then the officer's salary at the time of career change will be used as the basis for calculating pension benefits.

Article 7. Officers transferring to work in other enterprises or units not receiving salaries from the State budget shall enjoy demobilization allowances as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 8 of this Decree and retain their social insurance contributions for the time serving in the military.

Section III

TREATMENT AND POLICIES FOR DEMOBILIZED OFFICERS

Article 8. An officer who ceases active service without meeting retirement conditions, or does not transfer to another profession, shall be demobilized back to their place of origin and shall enjoy the following rights:

1. A job creation allowance equivalent to six months of the minimum wage for civil servants; priority enrollment in vocational training programs or referral to employment at labor service centers of ministries, sectors, social organizations, localities, and other economic-social organizations;

2. A one-time demobilization allowance: for each year of service, calculated based on one month of current salary and allowances (if applicable).

The period for calculating the one-time demobilization allowance includes the total time served in the military (including time as an officer, professional soldier, non-commissioned officer, soldier, defense civil servant); time working in central and local Party and state agencies, social organizations, and time working under contracts with social insurance contributions (if applicable);

3. Enjoy social insurance benefits and other benefits as prescribed by current laws;

4. An officer who has been demobilized back to their place of origin within one year from the date of the demobilization decision, if they find new employment and request a career change, may implement the career change regime. When implementing the career change regime, they must return the allowance as stipulated in Clause 2 and Clause 3 of this Article.

Chapter IV

CONVERSION OF TIME FOR CALCULATING BENEFITS

WHEN CEASING ACTIVE SERVICE OF AN OFFICER

Article 9. Officers with combat time, directly serving in combat, or working in areas or professions with special characteristics shall have that time converted for calculating the one-time allowance when ceasing active service as follows:

1. Officers with combat time, directly serving in combat, shall have that time converted at a rate of one year equal to one year and six months;

2. Officers with time working in areas with a special area allowance of 100% or in military special professions classified as particularly arduous, toxic, and dangerous work shall have that time converted at a rate of one year equal to one year and four months;

3. Officers with time working in areas with an area coefficient of 0.7 or higher, or in military special professions classified as arduous, toxic, and dangerous work shall have that time converted at a rate of one year equal to one year and two months.

In cases where an officer meets two or three of the above conditions during the same period of work, they shall enjoy the highest conversion rate. If the work period is intermittent, it shall be accumulated to determine eligibility.

Article 10. Additional time resulting from the conversion provisions in Article 9 of this Decree shall be counted towards the one-time allowance for officers ceasing active service (retirement, career change, demobilization) at a rate of one additional year equal to one month of current salary and allowances (if applicable).

Chapter III

REGIME AND POLICY FOR OFFICERS TRANSFERRING TO

PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERS, DEFENSE CIVIL SERVANTS

Article 11. Officers transferred to professional soldiers or defense civil servants according to regulations shall be assigned salaries based on the new placement.

The salary level upon transfer shall be based on the profession or group of professions of the assigned cadre; educational qualifications and training; time holding current rank or grade. If the coefficient of the new salary level is lower than the coefficient of the officer's salary at the time of transfer, the difference between the officer's salary coefficient and the new salary coefficient shall be retained until the salary is increased to the same or higher level.

Article 12. Officers who have transferred to defense civil servants and retire shall enjoy the benefits as prescribed for officers transferring careers in Clause 5, Article 6, Part II, Chapter II of this Decree.

Chapter IV

HANDLING VIOLATIONS

Article 13.

1. The rights of officers stipulated in this Decree shall be reduced or canceled if the file is falsified or tampered with to claim benefits; improperly enjoyed benefits must be repaid.

In cases where officers do not receive benefits or receive incomplete benefits due to file errors, the rights shall be restored as prescribed.

2. In addition to the measures provided for in Clause 1 of this Article, individuals who falsify or forge files shall be subject to disciplinary, administrative penalties, or criminal prosecution and must compensate for losses (if any) as prescribed by law, depending on the nature and severity of the violation.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 14.

1. This Decree takes effect from April 1, 2000. Previous regulations concerning the regime and policy for officers of the Vietnam People's Army when retiring, transferring careers, demobilizing, or transferring to professional soldiers or defense civil servants that conflict with this Decree are hereby abolished.

2. Professional soldiers of the Vietnam People's Army shall apply the provisions of this Decree regarding the regime and policy for retired officers, career-changing officers, demobilized officers transferring to defense civil servants, and one-time allowances due to time conversion.

Article 15. The Minister of National Defense, the Ministers, the Director of the Civil Service Committee of the Government, the Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Minister of Finance are responsible for guiding and supervising the implementation of this Decree.

Article 16. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairmen of provincial and centrally-administered city People's Committees are responsible for implementing this Decree./.