Joint Circular No. 14/2006/TTLT-BGTVT-BNV-BTC guides the implementation of Decision No. 70/2006/QD-TTg on special sea allowance for civil servants, public officials, workers, and employees on maritime search and rescue vessels and Decision No. 179/2006/QD-TTg on occupational preference allowances for maritime search and rescue forces.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for implementing Decision No. 70/2006/QĐ-TTG dated March 29, 2006 of the Prime Minister on special sea allowance for civil servants, officials, workers, and staff on search and rescue ships at sea, and Decision No. 179/2006/QĐ-TTG dated August 7, 2006 of the Prime Minister on occupational preference allowances for search and rescue forces at sea.

Pursuant to Decision No. 70/2006/QĐ-TTg dated March 29, 2006 of the Prime Minister on special sea allowance for civil servants, officials, workers, and staff on search and rescue ships at sea, and Decision No. 179/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 7, 2006 of the Prime Minister on occupational preference allowances for search and rescue forces at sea; following the opinion of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs in Circular No. 4402/LĐTBXH-TL dated December 6, 2006, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance provide guidance as follows:

civil servants, workers, employees on search and rescue vessels for maritime traffic

I. SCOPE, OBJECTS, AND PRINCIPLES OF APPLICATION

1. Special sea allowance:

Civil servants, officials, workers, and staff on search and rescue ships at sea (including civil servants and officials not included in the establishment of the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center).

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2. Occupational preference allowance:

Civil servants, officials, and workers employed in search and rescue units funded by state budget funds shall enjoy occupational preference allowances including:

a) Seamen and workers working on dedicated search and rescue ships who are paid according to Pay Scale B5, Group III issued together with Decree No. 205/2004/NĐ-CP dated December 14, 2004 of the Government;

b) Civil servants and officials of the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center engaged in command coordination of search and rescue operations, duty watch communication (including search and rescue duty watch), technical management, and monitoring guidance training for maritime search and rescue.

3. Principles of application:

a) The objects specified in Clause 1, Section I of this Circular shall be entitled to special sea allowance during actual participation in drills, training, and search and rescue operations on ships.

b) The objects specified in point a and point b of Clause 2, Section I of this Circular shall not be entitled to occupational preference allowance during the following periods:

Time spent on overseas assignments, work, or study receiving 40% of salary as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 8 of Decree No. 204/2004/NĐ-CP dated December 14, 2004 of the Government;

Time spent on domestic assignments or study not directly related to maritime search and rescue work for three months or more continuously;

Time off without pay for one month or more continuously;

Time off due to illness or maternity leave exceeding the period prescribed in the current Social Insurance Regulations;

Time suspended from work (including cases of suspension from search and rescue work).

II. AMOUNT OF ALLOWANCE, CALCULATION METHOD, SOURCE OF FUNDS, AND PAYMENT

1. Special sea allowance:

a) The amount of special sea allowance is 110,000 VND/person/day (equivalent to 7 USD/day).

b) Special sea allowance is calculated based on the actual number of days worked at sea.

c) Source of funds and payment: Special sea allowance is paid after each drill, training, or search and rescue operation or paid concurrently with monthly salary and is not used to calculate contributions or benefits under social insurance or health insurance;

Special sea allowance is implemented according to Decision No. 70/2006/QĐ-TTg dated March 29, 2006 of the Prime Minister and is allocated in the annual budget of the Ministry of Transport as provided for in the State Budget Law.

2. Occupational preference allowance:

Occupational preference allowance is calculated monthly as follows:

a) Amount of allowance:

A rate of 50% applies to the objects specified in point a of Clause 2, Section I of this Circular;

A rate of 15% applies to the objects specified in point b of Clause 2, Section I of this Circular;

b) Calculation method:

Occupational preference allowance is calculated using the following formula:

Amount of occupational

preference allowance =

Basic salary

minimum

common

Example: Mr. Nguyen Van A, Head of Department currently classified as a specialist grade with level 9 out of 9, salary coefficient of 4.98, seniority allowance exceeding the framework at 6%, and leadership position allowance of 0.4;

Mr. Nguyen Van A receives a vocational preference allowance at a rate of 15%, then the amount of the vocational preference allowance that Mr. Nguyen Van A receives from October 2006 is:

450,000 VND/month x ((4.98 + 0.4) + 4.98 x 6%) x 15% = 383,319 VND/month

a) Amount of allowance:

The vocational preference allowance is paid concurrently with the monthly salary and is not used to calculate contributions or benefits under social insurance or health insurance schemes;

The vocational preference allowance is implemented according to Decision No. 179/2006/QD-TTg dated August 7, 2006 by the Prime Minister, and is budgeted annually in the State Budget of the Ministry of Transport in accordance with the State Budget Law;

III. EFFECTIVE DATE AND IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

2. The Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Center shall base on the guidelines set forth in this Circular to compile statistics on eligible individuals and directly pay them to civil servants, officials, workers, employees, and laborers.

In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, units shall report to the Ministry of Transport for coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance to study and resolve them.