Circular No. 124/2015/TT-BQP guiding the implementation of compensation, allowances, and medical expenses for individuals working in the military who suffer from work-related accidents or occupational diseases.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for implementing compensation, allowances, and medical expenses for subjects working in the military who suffer from work-related accidents or occupational diseases.

The guidelines apply to subjects working in the military who suffer from work-related accidents or occupational diseases.session number

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Pursuant to the Labor Code dated June 18, 2012;

Pursuant to Decree No. 45/2013/NĐ-CP dated May 10, 2013 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Labor Code on working hours, rest periods, occupational safety, and labor hygiene;

Pursuant to Decree No. 35/2013/NĐ-CP dated April 22, 2013, of the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of National Defense;

Considering the proposal of the Director of the Political General Department,

The Minister of National Defense issues this Circular guiding the implementation of compensation, allowances, and medical expenses for subjects working in the Military who suffer from work-related accidents or occupational diseases.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular guides the implementation of compensation, allowances, and medical expenses provided by agencies, units, enterprises, and public service units within the Military for subjects working in the Military who suffer from work-related accidents or occupational diseases.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Agencies, units, enterprises, and public service units within the Military that employ workers (hereinafter referred to collectively as employers).

2. Military personnel, civil servants, defense workers, national defense officials, personnel engaged in confidential work with salaries equivalent to those of military personnel, and workers under employment contracts (including apprentices, trainees, probationers) belonging to agencies, units, enterprises, and public service units within the Military who suffer from work-related accidents or occupational diseases (hereinafter referred to collectively as workers).

3. This Circular does not apply to cases where workers specified in Clause 2 of this Article are injured or killed and recognized as war invalids or martyrs.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. Work-related accident: An accident occurring due to the influence of dangerous or harmful factors during work or associated with the work process, causing injury to any part or function of the worker's body, reducing their ability to work or causing death during training, duty, study, work, production, or activities closely related to the performance of tasks, accidents occurring during rest breaks, meal times, supplementary food provision, menstrual hygiene, bathing, breastfeeding, using the toilet, preparing and finishing work at the workplace, or accidents occurring at reasonable locations and times when the worker travels from their residence to the workplace or from the workplace back to their residence (including addressing necessary needs during working hours as stipulated by the Labor Code).

2. Occupational disease: A disease arising due to harmful working conditions affecting the worker according to the list of occupational diseases issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (Annex 1 attached to this Circular).

Article 4. Conditions, principles, and levels of compensation for work-related accidents and occupational diseases

1. Conditions for workers to receive compensation

a) Workers suffering from work-related accidents resulting in a reduction in their ability to work by 5% or more, or death, except in cases specified in Point a Clause 1 of Article 5 of this Circular;

b) Workers diagnosed with occupational diseases by the Medical Appraisal Board or authorized forensic agencies shall be compensated in the following situations:

- Death caused by occupational disease while working or before transferring to another job, before leaving the job, before losing the job, or before retirement;

- Reduction in the ability to work by 5% or more due to occupational disease based on the results of regular occupational disease medical examinations (as prescribed by the Ministry of Health).

2. Principles of compensation

a) Compensation for workers suffering from work-related accidents is implemented once per occurrence. Each accident is compensated separately, without cumulative compensation for previous accidents.

b) Compensation for workers suffering from occupational diseases is implemented once per occurrence according to the following rules:

- The first time based on the level (%) of reduced ability to work (percentage of bodily impairment) determined in the initial examination;

- Subsequent times based on the increased level (%) of reduced ability to work to compensate for the difference compared to the previous appraisal result.

3. Levels of compensation

The level of compensation for workers suffering from work-related accidents or occupational diseases as specified in Points a and b Clause 1 of this Article is calculated as follows:

a) At least 30 months' salary for workers whose ability to work is reduced by 81% or more, or for relatives of workers who die due to work-related accidents or occupational diseases;

b) At least 1.5 months' salary for those whose ability to work is reduced by 5% to 10%; if the ability to work is reduced by 11% to 80%, an additional 0.4 months' salary will be added for each 1% increase in the reduction in ability to work, calculated according to the formula below or referenced in Table 2 attached to this Circular:

Tbt = 1.5 + {(a - 10) x 0.4}

Where:

- Tbt: Level of compensation for workers whose ability to work is reduced by 11% or more (unit: Months' salary);

- 1.5: Level of compensation for a reduction in ability to work by 5% to 10%;

- a: Percentage of reduction in ability to work of workers suffering from work-related accidents or occupational diseases;

- 0.4: Compensation factor for each 1% increase in the reduction in ability to work.

Example 1:

Comrade Nguyen Van A suffers from an occupational disease, the first health assessment determines a reduction in ability to work of 15%. The first level of compensation for Comrade A is calculated as follows:

Tbt = 1.5 + {(15 - 10) x 0.4} = 3.5 (months' salary).

Periodically, Comrade A undergoes a second health assessment, the reduction in ability to work is determined to be 35% (an increase of 20% over the first assessment). The second level of compensation for Comrade Nguyen Van A is:

Tbt = 20 x 0.4 = 8.0 (months' salary).

Article 5. Conditions, principles, and levels of compensation for work-related accidents

1. Conditions for workers to receive compensation

Workers who suffer from work-related accidents resulting in a reduction in their working capacity of 5% or more, or who die under the following circumstances, shall be entitled to compensation:

a) Work-related accidents where the cause of the accident is entirely due to the fault of the worker according to the conclusion in the work accident investigation report;

b) Accidents occurring when workers travel from their residence to their workplace or from their workplace back to their residence at reasonable locations and times (based on the accident resolution file of the police agency or the Military Criminal Investigation Agency or a confirmation letter from the local authority where the accident occurred).

2. Principles of compensation

Compensation shall be provided on a case-by-case basis; each work-related accident that occurs will result in compensation for that specific incident, without cumulative compensation for previous incidents.

3. Levels of compensation

a) At least 12 months' salary for workers whose working capacity has been reduced by 81% or more, or for the dependents of workers who have died due to work-related accidents;

b) At least 0.6 months' salary for those whose working capacity has been reduced by 5% to 10%; if the reduction in working capacity is between 11% and 80%, refer to the compensation table in Appendix 2 issued with this Circular or calculate using the formula below:

Ttc = Tbt x 0.4

Where:

- Ttc: Level of compensation for workers whose working capacity has been reduced by more than 10% (unit of measurement: Months' salary);

- Tbt: Level of compensation for those whose working capacity has been reduced by more than 10% (unit of measurement: Months' salary).

Example 2:

- Comrade Tran Van B suffered his first work-related accident due to Comrade B's violation of safety regulations, not due to anyone else's fault. The health assessment determined that Comrade B's level of reduced working capacity was 15% as a result of this accident. The first level of compensation for Comrade Tran Van B is:

- Ttc = Tbt x 0.4 = 3.5 x 0.4 = 1.4 (months' salary).

- In the subsequent incident, Comrade B suffered another accident while traveling from the workplace back to the residence (investigated and confirmed to fall within the scope of compensation as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article). The health assessment determined that the level of reduced working capacity caused by this accident was 20%, the second level of compensation for Comrade Tran Van B is:

- Ttc = Tbt x 0.4 = 5.5 x 0.4 = 2.2 (months' salary).

Article 6. Compensation and support in special cases

1. In cases where workers suffer accidents while performing tasks or following lawful instructions from employers outside the premises of the organization, unit, enterprise, or public service unit, and the accident is caused by the fault of someone other than the injured worker or the person causing the accident cannot be identified, the employer must still compensate the worker according to the provisions of Article 4 of this Circular.

2. In cases where workers suffer accidents while traveling from their residence to their workplace or from their workplace back to their residence at reasonable locations and times, and the accident is caused by the fault of someone other than the injured worker or the person causing the accident cannot be identified, the employer must still provide compensation to the worker according to the provisions of Article 5 of this Circular.

3. In cases where employers have purchased accident insurance for workers suffering from work-related accidents from insurance service units, the injured workers shall receive compensation and support payments according to the contracts signed with the insurance service units. If the amount paid by the insurance service unit to the injured worker is lower than the level specified in Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular, the employer must pay the difference so that the total amount received by the injured worker or the dependents of the injured worker is at least equal to the compensation and support levels prescribed in Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular.

Article 7. Wages serving as the basis for compensation and occupational injury allowance

1. The wages serving as the basis for compensation or occupational injury allowance are the average wages of the six consecutive months immediately preceding the occurrence of the occupational injury or the diagnosis of an occupational disease. If the working period, apprenticeship period, probationary period, trial period, or internship period is less than six months, the wages serving as the basis for compensation and allowance shall be the average wages of the preceding months immediately before the occurrence of the occupational injury or the diagnosis of the occupational disease.

2. The monthly wage level specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be specifically determined for each subject as follows:

a) For employees receiving wages from the state budget, the wages serving as the basis for compensation and allowance for occupational injuries and occupational diseases are the rank-based wages, position-based wages, position-related allowances, seniority allowances, and allowances exceeding the framework (if applicable).

b) For employees working under labor contracts, the wages serving as the basis for compensation and allowance for occupational injuries and occupational diseases are the wages recorded in the labor contract, including job-based wages, position-based wages, and salary-related allowances (if applicable).

c) For employees undergoing vocational training or apprenticeship at agencies, organizations, or enterprises without a stipulated vocational training or apprenticeship wage, the wages serving as the basis for compensation and allowance for occupational injuries and occupational diseases are the minimum regional wage published by the Government at the workplace location; if the agency, organization, or enterprise has a stipulated vocational training or apprenticeship wage, the wages serving as the basis for compensation and allowance for employees during their vocational training or apprenticeship period are the agreed-upon vocational training or apprenticeship wages.

d) For employees during their probationary or internship period, the wages serving as the basis for compensation and allowance for occupational injuries and occupational diseases are the agreed-upon probationary wages according to Article 28 of the Labor Code or the internship wages as decided by the competent authority.

đ) For employees receiving monthly living expenses, the basis for calculating compensation and allowance for occupational injuries and occupational diseases is calculated based on two times the basic wage as prescribed by the Government at the time of the occupational injury or the time of being diagnosed with an occupational disease.

Article 8. Documentation, procedures, and timeframe for resolving compensation and allowance regimes

1. Documents

The documentation is established in three sets: the employer retains one set; the person suffering from an occupational injury or occupational disease (or the relative of the deceased employee) retains one set; one set is sent to the policy unit of the directly subordinate ministry for inspection, management, or submission to the competent authority for issuing a decision to implement the regime, specifically as follows:

a) Documentation for persons suffering from occupational injuries

- Accident investigation report of the brigade-level unit (equivalent) or higher.

- Medical assessment report on the degree of work capacity reduction due to occupational injuries by the authorized Medical Examination Board pursuant to Decision No. 1636/QĐ-QP dated October 5, 1996 of the Ministry of Defense regarding medical examination in the military.

- Scene investigation report and accident scene diagram (copy) for cases where traffic accidents are identified as occupational injuries.

- Death certificate or death declaration issued by the court for cases of death or declared missing.

- Compensation and allowance decision according to the model attached as Appendix 3 to this Circular.

b) Documentation for persons suffering from occupational diseases

- Regular health checkup records; medical records and treatment records for occupational diseases (if any); hazardous environment determination report.

- Determination report of the employee's death due to occupational diseases by the Forensic Medicine Agency or the medical assessment report on the degree of work capacity reduction due to occupational diseases by the authorized Medical Examination Board pursuant to Decision No. 1636/QĐ-QP dated October 5, 1996 of the Ministry of Defense regarding medical examination in the military.

- Certificate of HIV exposure due to occupational risk for employees infected with HIV due to occupational risks and entitled to occupational disease benefits (according to the model prescribed in Decision No. 120/2008/QĐ-TTg dated August 29, 2008 of the Prime Minister on conditions for determining individuals exposed to HIV and infected with HIV due to occupational risks).

- Compensation decision by the competent authority according to the model attached as Appendix 4 to this Circular.

2. Procedure for establishing documentation, reviewing, and issuing decisions to implement the regime

a) When an employee suffers from an occupational injury or occupational disease, the Brigade Commander (or equivalent) or the Enterprise Director establishes the accident investigation report; prepares and provides relevant documentation; simultaneously establishes the documentation, introduces, and organizes the employee to undergo medical examination for the degree of work capacity reduction (establishing the documentation concurrently with the medical examination documentation to implement social insurance for occupational injuries and occupational diseases), coordinating with the authorized Medical Examination Board to organize the medical examination for the degree of work capacity reduction for the subject; or coordinating with the Forensic Medicine Agency to establish the report on the employee's death due to occupational injuries or occupational diseases.

b) The Head of the directly subordinate ministry unit issues the decision to implement the compensation and allowance regime for subjects within the budgetary sector. The Enterprise Director or the Head of the directly responsible unit issues the decision to implement the compensation and allowance regime for subjects within the accounting sector.

3. Timeframe for resolving the regime

a) The decision on compensation and allowance by the competent authority as prescribed for persons suffering from occupational injuries or occupational diseases must be completed within five working days from the date of the Medical Examination Board's or Forensic Medicine Agency's assessment report for fatal occupational injury cases.

b) The compensation and allowance money must be paid in one lump sum to the person who has suffered a work-related accident or occupational disease, or to their relatives within five days from the date on which the employer issues the compensation and allowance decision.

Article 9. Medical Expenses

1. For employees participating in mandatory health insurance, the employer must pay for shared medical expenses and other costs not covered by health insurance from initial treatment, emergency care to stable treatment for employees who have suffered work-related accidents or occupational diseases.

2. Encourage employers to cover medical expenses for cases where employees suffer accidents or illnesses related to work.

Article 10. Implementation Organization

1. Employers must strengthen measures to improve working conditions and preventive measures to minimize work-related accidents and occupational diseases. Regularly care for the health of employees; organize regular health check-ups to detect cases of occupational diseases and promptly arrange treatment; organize assessments of the degree of reduced work capacity to implement compensation according to current regulations.

2. Heads of agencies and units, Directors of enterprises are responsible for implementing and issuing decisions on compensation and allowances for work-related accidents and occupational diseases for those under their jurisdiction according to regulations.

3. The Military Medical Appraisal Board shall conduct medical appraisals of work-related accidents and occupational diseases as stipulated in Decision No. 1636/QĐ-BQP dated October 5, 1996 of the Ministry of Defense; carry out the appraisal and resolution of social insurance benefits simultaneously; provide three additional Medical Appraisal Reports on work-related accidents and occupational diseases to implement compensation or allowances.

4. The levels of compensation and allowances specified in this Circular are the minimum levels; encourage employers to provide higher levels of compensation and allowances to employees suffering work-related accidents and occupational diseases than those stipulated in this Circular.

5. Persons who have suffered work-related accidents or occupational diseases since July 1, 2013 and whose work capacity has been reduced by 5% to less than 81% shall enjoy compensation and allowances for work-related accidents and occupational diseases according to this Circular. Employers at all levels are responsible for establishing files and procedures to retroactively grant benefits to eligible persons according to regulations.

6. For agencies and units under the budget for compensation, allowances, and medical expenses for employees who have suffered work-related accidents or occupational diseases, these costs are included in the annual operating budget of the agency or unit; settled according to the guidance of the Ministry of Defense's Financial Department; recorded in Category 460, Sub-item 468, Item 7250, Sub-item 7255, Section 00, Sector 00 in the State Budget Classification System applied in the Military.

For enterprises and public service units, the compensation, allowance, and medical expenses for employees who have suffered work-related accidents or occupational diseases are recorded in the enterprise or public service unit's expenses.

7. Subjects receiving compensation and allowances for work-related accidents and occupational diseases under this Circular still enjoy social insurance benefits for work-related accidents and occupational diseases (if they participate in mandatory social insurance) according to current regulations.

Article 11. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from December 25, 2015.

The compensation and allowance system guided in this Circular is implemented from July 1, 2013.

2. Circular No. 14/2004/TT-BQP dated February 16, 2004 of the Minister of Defense on guiding the implementation of compensation and allowance systems for military personnel, civil servants, defense workers, and contractual laborers who have suffered work-related accidents or occupational diseases ceases to be effective from the date this Circular takes effect.

3. In case the legal normative documents and provisions referred to for application in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced by new legal normative documents, the contents referred to shall be applied according to the new legal normative documents.

Article 12. Responsibility for Implementation

1. The Chief of General Staff, the Director of the Political General Department, commanders of agencies, units, enterprises, and public service units are responsible for implementing this Circular.

2. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, agencies, units, enterprises, and public service units shall report to the Ministry of Defense (through the Policy Department of the Political General Department) for consideration and resolution./.