Circular No. 141/2011/TT-BTC on the regulations regarding the payment for annual leave for officials, civil servants, public employees, and contractual workers working in state agencies and public service units.

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the payment system for annual leave allowances for civil servants, public officials, and employees, contractual workers employed in state agencies and public service units

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Pursuant to the Labor Code dated June 23, 1994; Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Labor Code dated April 2, 2002;

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 195/CP dated December 31, 1994 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Labor Code regarding working hours and rest time;

To align with practical requirements, the Ministry of Finance hereby stipulates the payment system for annual leave allowances for civil servants as follows:

Article 1. Scope of Application

Article 1. This Circular regulates the payment system for annual leave allowances for civil servants, public officials, and contractual workers as defined by law (hereinafter referred to as civil servants) working in state agencies, public service units, political-social organizations, political-social-professional organizations, social organizations, and social-professional organizations funded by the state budget (hereinafter referred to as agencies and units).

Article 2. The scope of payment for annual leave allowances for civil servants as stipulated in this Circular includes the following items:

a) Travel expenses; travel allowance when taking annual leave.

b) Payment of salary or compensation for the days entitled to annual leave under the law but not taken or not fully taken according to the annual leave entitlement.

Article 4. Scope of Application:

Article 3. Subjects eligible for payment of travel expenses and travel allowance when taking annual leave:

a) Civil servants working in remote, mountainous, highland, and island areas with a regional coefficient of 0.5 or higher (as specified in Joint Circular No. 05/2005/TTLT/BNV-BLDTBXH-BTC-UBDT dated January 5, 2005 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and the National Ethnic Minorities Commission) who meet the conditions to take annual leave as prescribed by labor laws, and have been granted permission by the agency or unit head to take annual leave to visit family, parents, spouse, children, or hometown.

b) Civil servants working in other areas who meet the conditions to take annual leave as prescribed by labor laws, and have been granted permission by the agency or unit head to take annual leave to visit spouse, children, or parents (from either the husband's or wife's side) due to illness or death.

Article 4. Subjects eligible for payment of salary or compensation for the days entitled to annual leave under the law but not taken or not fully taken according to the annual leave entitlement:

a) Cases eligible for salary payment as stipulated in Article 10 of Decree No. 195/CP dated December 31, 1994 of the Government:

- Suspension of the performance of the labor contract to fulfill military service obligations;

- Expiration of the labor contract; unilateral termination of the labor contract; loss of employment due to changes in technology; dismissal; retirement; death.

b) Cases eligible for compensation due to work requirements where the agency or unit cannot arrange for civil servants to take leave:

Civil servants working in agencies and units that meet the conditions for annual leave benefits must be arranged and scheduled by the agency or unit to take leave according to the prescribed regulations; if due to work needs, it is impossible to arrange leave or the number of leave days arranged is insufficient, then the agency or unit shall decide to pay compensation to civil servants for the days of annual leave not taken.

If civil servants have been arranged and scheduled by the agency or unit to take leave according to the regulations but do not wish to take leave, they will not be paid compensation for the days of annual leave not taken.

Based on actual work conditions, the agency or unit has the responsibility to specify in the internal expenditure regulation the cases eligible for compensation for the days of annual leave not taken.

Article 3. Sources of funds for payment:

The funds for paying travel expenses and travel allowances when taking annual leave; paying salaries and allowances for days not taken as annual leave for the subjects specified in Article 2 above shall be allocated within the annual budget estimate assigned by the competent authority and from legitimate income retained according to the regulations of the agency or unit. For public service units operating under Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government on self-management and self-responsibility for implementing tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance for public service units; public science and technology organizations operating under Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government and Decree No. 96/2010/NĐ-CP dated September 20, 2010 amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government on the mechanism of self-management and self-responsibility for public science and technology organizations and Decree No. 80/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 19, 2007 of the Government on scientific and technological enterprises, the funds for paying travel expenses and travel allowances when taking annual leave; the funds for implementing the regime for days not taken as annual leave shall be included in the operational costs and reasonable expenses to determine the revenue-expenditure difference of the unit.

Article 4. Payment system for travel expenses and travel allowances when taking annual leave.

1. Content and level of payment:

a) Persons taking annual leave shall be paid travel allowances (equivalent to the current subsistence allowance under travel expense regulations) and travel expenses when taking annual leave.

b) Travel expenses include: Transportation fees (excluding air transport) of organizations and individuals engaged in passenger transportation according to the law, including: transportation fees from home to train stations, bus terminals; tickets for trains, buses transporting to the place of leave and vice versa.

Level of payment: According to the price marked on the ticket, receipt for purchasing the ticket; the ticket price does not include other service charges (tourism services, special services upon request). In cases where civil servants take annual leave using air transport with valid tickets, they will be reimbursed up to the fare for public passenger transport by road, rail, or waterway suitable for the route of the leave.

For sections of the journey where there are no transportation means of organizations and individuals engaged in passenger transportation according to the law and the person taking leave must hire other transportation means, the head of the agency or unit shall consider and decide to reimburse the transportation rental fee based on the transportation rental contract or payment receipt issued by the transportation owner according to the actual kilometers traveled and the quota rate stipulated in the internal expenditure regulation of the agency or unit.

If the person taking annual leave travels independently using their own personal means of transportation, they shall be reimbursed a quota for independent transportation expenses based on the actual kilometers traveled, corresponding to the common transportation fare of public transportation in the locality but not exceeding the quota for independent transportation expenses when on official business and must be stipulated in the internal expenditure regulation of the agency or unit.

In cases where the person taking annual leave combines official business with visiting family members, only travel allowances will be reimbursed, and travel expenses for leave will not be reimbursed since they have already been covered in the official business expenses.

2. Conditions, deadlines, and procedures for payment:

2.1. Conditions and deadlines for payment:

a) Annual leave travel expenses can only be paid once a year.

b) Leave for a given year can only be paid in that year; if the head of the agency or unit allows the postponement of leave to the following year due to work, it can still be paid, but only within the budget adjustment period until January 31 of the following year.

For civil servants working in remote, mountainous, highland, and island areas with a regional allowance coefficient of 0.5 or higher, if required, they may combine two years' leave into one leave; if combining three years' leave, they must obtain the employer's consent and be paid annual leave expenses according to the provisions of this Circular.

2.2. Procedures for payment:

In addition to the documents stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, persons taking annual leave must have the following documents as the basis for reimbursement:

a) An annual leave certificate issued by the head of the agency or unit.

b) For the subjects specified in point b, Clause 1, Article 2: They must submit an application and obtain confirmation from the local government where the family member resides or the healthcare facility that the family member is ill and receiving treatment at a healthcare facility, long-term home treatment, or has passed away.

Article 5. Payment regime for annual leave wages and allowances for days of annual leave as prescribed by law but not taken or not fully taken.

1. Conditions and payment documents:

a) Cases stipulated in Article 10 of Decree No. 195/CP dated December 31, 1994 of the Government:

Based on the conscription notice; labor contracts; retirement decisions; death notices; confirmation from agencies or units regarding unilateral termination of labor contracts, loss of employment, dismissal.

b) Cases due to work requirements where agencies or units cannot arrange time for officials and civil servants to take annual leave:

There is a leave application but confirmed by the head of the agency or unit directly managing the officials and civil servants that due to work requirements, they could not be arranged time for annual leave or were not allocated the full number of annual leave days.

2. Payment amount and method of payment:

a) Cases stipulated in Article 10 of Decree No. 195/CP dated December 31, 1994 of the Government:

- The head of the agency or unit decides to pay wages for unused annual leave days according to the salary grade, position, and allowances for position, years of service, regional allowance, hazardous duty allowance (if applicable) currently enjoyed by each official or civil servant.

- Payment shall be made no later than one month from when the official or civil servant ceases work.

b) Cases due to work requirements where agencies or units cannot arrange time for officials and civil servants to take annual leave:

- Annually, based on the financial capacity and the total number of unused annual leave days of officials and civil servants, the head of the agency or unit decides to provide support in the form of allowances for those who have not taken their annual leave or have not taken the full number of annual leave days.

- The level of support is specified in the internal expenditure regulations of the agency or unit, but shall not exceed the overtime wage rate for Saturday and Sunday work as currently prescribed.

- Payment period: It shall be carried out once a year and settled within the fiscal year according to the State Budget Law.

Article 6. Implementation Organization

1. Subjects prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 2 shall be paid travel expenses and travel allowances when actually taking annual leave as prescribed. In cases of fraud detected during implementation, in addition to returning the received money to the agency or unit, violators will also be subject to disciplinary action according to the law.

2. The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense are responsible for guiding the implementation of the annual leave payment regime for subordinate agencies and units in accordance with the specific nature of each force.

3. Units and organizations not using state budget funds may apply the provisions of this Circular for implementation and must be recorded in labor contracts or collective agreements. The payment for travel expenses for annual leave; payment of wages and allowances for unused annual leave days or insufficient leave days shall be accounted for as production and business costs of enterprises.

Article 7. Effective date.

This Circular takes effect from January 1, 2012, replacing Circular No. 108 TC/HCVX dated December 30, 1993 of the Ministry of Finance on the allowance for travel expenses for state officials and employees taking annual leave. The annual leave payment regime prescribed in this Circular applies to leave days from 2012 onwards. During implementation, if any difficulties arise, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for guidance on implementation.

In the course of implementation, if any difficulties arise, please promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for research and guidance on implementation./.