Circular No. 16/2023/TT-BLDTBXH detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Competition and Reward in the field of labor, war invalids, and social affairs.

CIRCULAR

Detailed regulations and guidance on implementing certain provisions of the Law on Encouragement and Reward in the labor, war invalids and social affairs sector

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Pursuant to the Law on Encouragement and Reward dated June 15, 2022;

Based on Decree No. 62/2022/NĐ-CP dated September 12, 2022 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs;

At the proposal of the Director of the Office of the Ministry;

The Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs issues this Circular detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Encouragement and Reward in the labor, war invalids and social affairs sector.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

1. This Circular details and guides the implementation of Clause 4 Article 24, Clause 3 Article 26, Clause 3 Article 27, Clause 3 Article 28, Clause 2 Article 71, Clause 6 Article 74, Clause 2 Article 75, and Clause 6 Article 84 of the Law on Encouragement and Reward.

2. This Circular applies to:

a) Cadres, civil servants, public officials, workers, and collectives within units under and directly subordinate to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) in the labor, invalids and social affairs sector (hereinafter referred to as the Sector);

b) Individuals, collectives, and households of Vietnamese citizens; individuals and collectives of Vietnamese citizens residing abroad; foreign individuals and collectives with achievements and contributions to the construction and development of the Ministry and the Sector.

Article 2. Criteria for awarding the title "Advanced Worker"

The title "Advanced Worker" is awarded annually to individuals working at units under and directly subordinate to the Ministry who meet the following criteria:

1. Completing tasks satisfactorily based on the assessment and classification of cadre, civil servant, public official, and worker quality conducted by the competent authority according to the Civil Servant Law, Public Official Law, and other guiding documents and related documents.

2. Being exemplary and strictly adhering to the Party's guidelines, state policies and laws, internal regulations, and rules of the agency or unit.

3. Actively studying politics, culture, professional knowledge, and participating in social activities.

4. Demonstrating self-reliance, self-strengthening, unity, mutual assistance, and actively participating in competitive campaigns initiated by the Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (hereinafter referred to as the Minister) or the head of the unit, or other competitive campaigns initiated by the competent authority as prescribed.

Article 3. Criteria and Recipients for the Award of the "Ministry Flag of Competition"

1. The "Ministry Flag of Competition of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs" is awarded annually to outstanding collectives leading the competitive campaign of clusters and competition groups initiated by the Minister, meeting the criteria stipulated in Clause 1 Article 26 of the Law on Encouragement and Reward, including:

a) Administrative units assisting the Minister in performing state management functions and public service units serving state management functions as prescribed by the Government;

b) Publicly owned service units and other units under the Ministry established in accordance with the law;

c) Departments of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of provinces and centrally-administered cities.

2. The "Ministry Flag of Competition of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs" is awarded to collectives leading specialized competitive campaigns initiated by the Minister and lasting three years or more when summarizing the competitive campaign, ensuring the criteria as guided by the Ministry.

Article 4. Criteria and Recipients for the Award of the "Outstanding Labor Collective"

1. The title "Outstanding Labor Collective" is awarded annually to collectives meeting the criteria stipulated in Clause 1 Article 27 of the Law on Encouragement and Reward.

2. The recipients for the award of the "Outstanding Labor Collective" include the following collectives:

a) Collectives specified in point a and point b Clause 1 Article 3 of this Circular;

b) Collectives under the Vietnam Vocational Education General Department, Overseas Vietnamese Labor Management Boards, publicly owned service units under the Ministry’s Office, and publicly owned service units under various Bureaus;

c) Collectives at the department level and equivalent under the units specified in point a of this clause;

d) Collectives at the department level and equivalent (if any) under the units specified in points b and c of this clause.

Article 5. Standards and Recipients for the Title of "Advanced Labor Collective"

1. The title of "Advanced Labor Collective" shall be awarded annually to collectives meeting the standards set forth in Clause 1, Article 28 of the Law on Encouragement of Competition and Rewarding Excellence.

2. The recipients for the title of "Advanced Labor Collective" are those collectives specified in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Circular.

Article 6. Name of Commemorative Medal, Recipients and Standards for Awarding the Commemorative Medal of the Ministry

1. Name of Commemorative Medal: "For the Cause of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs" (hereinafter referred to as the Commemorative Medal).

2. Recipients of the Commemorative Medal: Individuals who have made significant contributions to the construction and development of the Sector. The Commemorative Medal has only one class and each individual can only be awarded once.

3. Individuals currently working in the Sector may be considered for the Commemorative Medal if they meet one of the following criteria:

a) Having worked for at least 15 years, always complying with the Party's guidelines, state policies and laws, and internal regulations of the organization. Time spent working in the labor, war invalids, and social affairs fields in other ministries, departments, or provinces before transferring to work in the Sector will be combined to calculate the total time worked in the Sector.

b) Leaders of the Ministry, leaders of units under the Ministry, and leaders of provincial Departments of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs who have continuously worked in the Sector for at least five years and are subsequently transferred to work in other ministries, departments, or provinces, or have been notified of retirement;

c) Heads of departments in units under the Ministry and equivalent positions, heads of departments in provincial Departments of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs and equivalent positions, and heads of district-level Departments of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs who have continuously worked in the Sector for at least ten years and are subsequently transferred to work in other ministries, departments, or provinces, or have been notified of retirement;

4. Individuals currently working outside the Sector may be considered for the Commemorative Medal if they have worked for at least five years (or at least one term of service for foreign individuals), closely cooperate with the Sector to effectively implement systems and policies, or achieve outstanding and sudden achievements in the labor, war invalids, and social affairs fields.

5. The awarding of the Commemorative Medal to individuals reaching retirement age as stipulated in points b and c, Clause 3 of this Article shall be carried out when there is a notification of retirement from the competent authority.

6. Individuals retiring before August 1995 will not be eligible for the Commemorative Medal, except in cases where they continue to participate in work or activities related to the labor, war invalids, and social affairs field after retirement (the time worked before retirement will be combined with the current working time for consideration).

7. Individuals meeting the conditions stipulated in Clause 3 and Clause 4 of this Article but disciplined with reprimand or lesser disciplinary measures will only be recommended for the Commemorative Medal after the disciplinary period ends. The disciplinary period will not be counted as working time for the Commemorative Medal award.

Article 7. Standards for Awarding Certificates of Merit of the Ministry

1. The Certificate of Merit of the Ministry shall be awarded to individuals who serve as exemplary models in complying with the Party's guidelines, state policies, and laws, and meet one of the following criteria:

a) Achieving outstanding results during mid-term and final evaluations of competition campaigns initiated by the Minister;

b) Achieving many results or outstanding results with influence in one of the areas under the Ministry's management;

c) Contributions to economic and social development, application of scientific and technological progress, social work, humanitarian aid;

d) Being awarded the title of "Model Worker" for two consecutive years or being recognized as having excellently completed tasks for two consecutive years or more, during which time two initiatives were recognized and effectively implemented within the unit or two scientific topics, research projects, or science and technology works were successfully reviewed and applied within the unit or the individual was a member of the editorial team or drafting committee for two normative legal documents, programs, or projects submitted to the Ministry level or higher and published, ensuring schedule and quality, or two articles were published in scientific journals with international standard ISSN codes;

đ) Having worked at the unit for at least ten years, making significant contributions to the development of the unit, and being considered for the award on the occasion of the unit's anniversary (full year);

e) Individuals working in units under the Ministry who have reached retirement age and have consistently performed their assigned tasks well for five consecutive years immediately prior to retirement and have not received a Certificate of Merit from the Ministry. The recommendation for the award will be made when the individual receives a retirement notice from the competent authority.

g) Other individuals determined by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of the law on encouragement of competition and rewarding excellence.

2. The Certificate of Merit of the Ministry shall be awarded to collectives that serve as exemplary models in complying with the Party's guidelines, state policies, and laws, maintaining internal unity, and meeting one of the following criteria:

a) Achieving outstanding results during mid-term and final evaluations of competition campaigns initiated by the Minister;

b) Achieving many results or outstanding results with influence in one of the areas under the Ministry's management;

c) Contributions to economic and social development, application of scientific and technological progress, social work, humanitarian aid;

d) Being recognized as having excellently completed tasks for two consecutive years (completing 100% of assigned, supplementary, and urgent tasks within the scheduled timeframe and achieving required quality; proactively advising and proposing to competent authorities to effectively perform assigned functions and tasks). Or achieving the title of "Excellent Labor Collective." Effectively implementing democratic regulations at the grassroots level, organizing competition campaigns well; caring for the material and spiritual lives of members of the collective; practicing thrift; combating waste, corruption, and negative practices;

đ) Achieving outstanding results in the process of building and developing the unit for at least ten years, and being considered for the award on the occasion of the unit's anniversary (full year);

e) Other collectives determined by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of the law on encouragement of competition and rewarding excellence.

3. The Certificate of Merit of the Ministry shall be awarded to families that serve as exemplary models in complying with the Party's guidelines, state policies, and laws, and have made significant contributions to localities and society in the labor, war invalids, and social affairs fields.

4. In a year, each individual or collective may only propose to the Minister to confer a Commendation Certificate once based on merit. For individuals or collectives who have been awarded a state-level commendation form in that year, they shall not be proposed for a Commendation Certificate from the Ministry in that year and the following year, except in cases of exceptional commendation.

Article 8. Criteria for awarding Certificates of Merit

1. The heads of units with legal personality under the Ministry award a Certificate of Merit to individuals within their management authority who meet the following criteria:

a) Completing tasks well or better;

b) Possess good moral character, unity, exemplary compliance with the Party's guidelines, state policies and laws, internal regulations, and work rules of the agency or unit; actively participate in competitive movements initiated and implemented by the agency or unit;

c) Continuously studying to improve professional knowledge and skills.

2. The heads of units with legal personality under the Ministry award a Certificate of Merit to collectives within their management authority who meet the following criteria:

a) Completing tasks well or better;

b) Internal unity, without complaints or denunciations; effectively implement grassroots democracy regulations. Organize the implementation of competitive movements well;

c) Caring for the material and spiritual life of members in the collective, practicing thrift, and combating waste;

d) Fully implement policies and systems for members of the collective.

3. The heads of units with legal personality under the Ministry award a Certificate of Merit to individuals, collectives, and households who serve as models in complying with the Party's guidelines, state policies and laws, and make significant contributions in labor, war invalids, and social fields related to the functions and tasks assigned by the Ministry.

Article 9. Number of files

The number of files for proposing to award commendation titles and forms of commendation within the authority of the Minister includes 01 set (original) and electronic documents of the commendation file, excluding documents containing state secrets.

Article 10. Responsibilities of organizations and individuals in competition and commendation work

1. The heads of units under the Ministry directly lead, direct, and are responsible for competition and commendation work, identify individuals and collectives with outstanding achievements to propose to the Minister for commendation or submit to competent authorities for commendation; promote exemplary models; evaluate achievements and bear responsibility for the proposal for commendation.

2. Responsibilities of relevant agencies, organizations, units, and individuals:

a) Strictly comply with legal provisions and regulations of agencies, organizations, and units in competition and reward work;

b) Bear legal responsibility for declaring and reporting achievements, establishing files for commendation proposals; have the responsibility to preserve and store commendation items.

3. The communication agencies of the Ministry are responsible for publicizing the Party's guidelines, state policies and laws, and those of the Ministry and Sector regarding competition and commendation; regularly publish slogans and contents of competition; popularize and set examples for individuals and collectives with outstanding achievements, exemplary models, good people and good deeds in competitive movements; publicize the results of competitive movements and commendation work; promptly reflect and combat violations of laws on competition and commendation.

Article 11. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from February 15, 2024.

2. This Circular replaces Circular No. 08/2019/TT-BLDTBXH dated March 8, 2019, issued by the Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, guiding competition and commendation work in the Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs sector.

Article 12. Responsibility for Implementation

1. The Office of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the heads of agencies, organizations, and units under and subordinate to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; ministries, sectors, central agencies; People's Committees and Departments of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of provinces and centrally-administered cities; relevant agencies, units, organizations, and individuals are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular.

2. During the process of implementation, if there are difficulties, it is requested that agencies, units, and individuals report them promptly to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for research and appropriate amendments and supplements./.