JOINT CIRCULAR No. 39-TD/TC-LD Circular of the Joint Ministry guiding the award system for commendation titles and year-end performance bonuses.

JOINT CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES ON INCENTIVE REGIME FOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS AND END-OF-YEAR TASK COMPLETION AWARDS

All legitimate income of cadres, workers, civil servants, and employees mainly from salaries: basic salary, piece-rate salary, product-based salary, which includes benefits based on actual level and productivity.

An achievement award is recognition of outstanding labour performance by workers. Achievement bonus is an additional distribution form for those who have made contributions based on the benefits created. The assessment of achievement awards must be strict, taking into account the benefits created, and not be awarded indiscriminately.

To unify nationwide, with the agreement of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, the National Motivation Committee, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Labour provide guidelines for awarding achievement awards and end-of-year task completion awards as follows:

1/ Source of Awards

The award money for achievement awards in production and business units comes from the annual approved incentive fund of the unit.

The award money for achievement awards in administrative agencies and public service institutions is taken from 5% of the salary grade or position salary fund according to Article 7 of Decree 235-HDBT dated September 18, 1985, concerning improvements to the wage system for civil servants and armed forces personnel.

The achievement bonus for cooperatives and production groups is taken from their respective funds according to the resolution of the member congress.

Award money for achievement awards must be used strictly for incentives and cannot be evenly distributed among all cadres, workers, and staff members.

Higher-level management agencies shall not use the award money from production and business units to reward their own cadres and staff because these agencies already have incentive funds under state regulations.

2/ Usage and Distribution of Incentive Funds:

Each unit bases its distribution on its own incentive fund capacity, with the head discussing with the trade union as follows:

- A small portion to be used by the head to reward outstanding achievements

- A portion to reward advanced teams and socialist labour teams

- A larger portion to reward individuals achieving advanced worker status and model workers according to Circular Guidance 115-TĐTV dated December 9, 1985, issued by the National Motivation Committee, and end-of-year task completion awards according to the guidance circular of the Ministry of Labour

The award money for advanced teams and socialist labour teams is given to the collective at twice the rate of the award for advanced teams. The team will redistribute it to individuals based on their individual achievements and collective decision but shall not distribute equally.

Individual awards follow the principle that a grassroots model worker receives an award equal to twice the amount of an advanced worker each period, with a maximum of half a month's base salary (grade or position salary) of the awardee.

3/ Model workers at the district level and above only receive commemorative gifts (in cash or kind). Therefore, the award for higher-level model workers should not be significantly higher than that for grassroots model workers.

Gifts for model workers at the district, provincial, city, and national levels, if they are cadres or workers in production and business units, are funded from the unit's incentive fund according to the amount specified by the recognizing authority.

Gifts for model workers at the district, provincial, city, and national levels, if they are cadres or staff in administrative agencies and public service institutions, are decided and presented by the recognizing authority. If recognized by local authorities, the funding comes from the local budget. If recognized by central ministries, it comes from the ministerial fund. If there is no ministerial fund, it is covered by the central budget, approved by the Ministry of Finance.

4/ Several Points to Note When Selecting Awards and Assessing Rewards:

- Achievement awards are given to those who have outstanding achievements in production or work, exceeding assigned tasks. Therefore, those who are ill or on maternity leave for more than one month without special outstanding achievements (such as valuable initiatives, record-breaking productivity, bravery in protecting production and assets) are not eligible for awards.

- The disbursement of awards for advanced workers should be conducted every six months to promptly motivate the competition spirit.

- Unit heads must establish internal rules for using the unit's incentive fund annually, presenting them at the beginning-of-year meeting of workers and staff, specifying the allocation of various awards, and planning the scope and levels of various awards.