Joint Circular No. 448-TT/LB guiding the implementation of regulations for military personnel upon discharge

CIRCULAR

JOINT MINISTRIES OF NATIONAL DEFENSE - LABOUR - INVALIDS AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS -
FINANCE

Guidelines for Implementing Regulations for Military Personnel Discharged from Service

Pursuant to Decision No. 595/TTg dated February 15, 1993 of the Prime Minister on regulations for military personnel and public security officers upon discharge from service, the Joint Ministries of National Defense - Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs - Finance hereby provide guidelines for implementing regulations for military personnel discharged from service as follows:

I. MILITARY PERSONNEL DISCHARGED FROM SERVICE RETURNING TO LOCALITIES OR GOING ABROAD FOR WORK OR STUDY
Military personnel who have not yet met the conditions for retirement benefits as stipulated in Article 13 of Decree No. 66/CP dated September 30, 1993 of the Government, when discharged from service to return to localities or go abroad for work, or study at schools (public, semi-public, private) within or outside the country shall be entitled to the following benefits:

1. Discharge allowance:

a. For officers and non-commissioned officers:

Discharge allowance = Number of years of service counted towards age x 1.5 months of salary

If there are fractional months (including both time counted towards age and not counted towards age), then:

- Less than 1 month does not qualify for discharge allowance.

- From 1 month to less than 6 months qualifies for discharge allowance equal to 1 month of salary.

- 6 months or more qualifies for discharge allowance equal to 1.5 months of salary.

+ In cases where there has been continuous employment as state civil servants or defense civil servants prior to discharge, such time shall be considered for discharge allowance as if they were state civil servants leaving their positions. Each year of employment entitles them to one month of salary.

+ The salary for calculating discharge allowance mentioned above includes: rank pay or professional grade pay, position allowance (if applicable) and seniority allowance (if applicable) currently being received before discharge.

Example 1: Comrade A, from March 1, 1977 to May 20, 1981 was a state civil servant, joined the military on May 21, 1981, and was discharged to the locality on June 25, 1994 with the rank of Major and Assistant. The discharge allowance is calculated as follows:

- Salary for June 1994 of Comrade A:

Rank pay for Major: 120,000 VND x 3.8 = 456,000 VND

Seniority allowance 13%: 456,000 VND x 13% = 59,280 VND

Total = 515,280 VND

- From March 1, 1977 to May 20, 1981 = 4 years 2 months as a state civil servant, entitled to 4 months of salary:

515,280 VND x 4 months = 2,061,120 VND

- From May 21, 1981 to June 25, 1994 = 13 years 1 month as a military personnel, entitled to:

13 years x 1.5 months = 19.5 months of salary:

515,280 VND x 19.5 months = 10,047,960 VND

- Fractional months of the two periods of employment: 2 + 1 = 3 months, entitled to 1 month of salary = 515,280 VND.

- Total discharge allowance that Comrade A receives is:

2,061,120 VND + 10,047,960 VND + 515,280 VND = 12,624,360 VND.

b. For non-commissioned officers and soldiers:

Discharge allowance = Number of years of active service x 2 months of minimum wage for state civil servants

If there are fractional months, then:

- From 1 month to less than 6 months qualifies for discharge allowance equal to 1 month of minimum wage.

- From 1 month to less than 6 months qualifies for discharge allowance equal to 1 month of salary.

- 6 months or more qualifies for discharge allowance equal to 2 months of minimum wage.

In cases where there has been continuous employment as state civil servants prior to joining the military, such time shall be considered for discharge allowance as if they were state civil servants leaving their positions: Each year of employment entitles them to 1 month of salary before joining the military. This month's salary is converted according to the current salary scale.

Example: Comrade B, from August 5, 1987 worked as a production worker at a cement bag factory, with a level 3 wage of 30,477 VND (according to Decision No. 203/HĐBT), joined the military on February 8, 1992, was discharged as a non-commissioned officer and soldier on February 8, 1994 (did not return to the old factory). The discharge allowance is calculated as follows:

- From August 5, 1987 to February 7, 1992 = 4 years 6 months as a state worker, with a wage before joining the military according to Decision No. 203/HĐBT dated December 28, 1988 of 30,477 VND, converted according to Decree No. 26/CP dated May 23, 1993 (scale A7 - Group I - Level 3) and Decree No. 05/CP dated January 26, 1994 is 194,400 VND. The discharge allowance corresponding to this period is:

194,400 VND x 4 months = 777,600 VND.

- From February 8, 1992 to February 8, 1994 = 2 years of active service. The discharge allowance corresponding to this period is:

2 months x 120,000 VND x 2 years = 480,000 VND.

- Fractional months of both periods of employment total 6 months, entitled to:

120,000 VND x 2 months = 240,000 VND.

Total discharge allowance that Comrade B receives is:

777,600 VND + 480,000 VND + 240,000 VND = 1,497,600 VND.

2. Vocational training allowance:

Military personnel upon discharge are entitled to vocational training allowance (or retraining allowance, or job placement support). The amount of the allowance is three months of minimum wage.

3. Upon discharge, military personnel are entitled to travel expenses (ordinary class) from the unit to their place of residence. Non-commissioned officers and soldiers also receive food allowance during travel.

4. Vocational training and job placement:

a. Military personnel upon discharge who wish to undergo vocational training or seek job placement shall be introduced by the management unit or district/municipal military office (where they reside) to vocational training centers of the military or other sectors, organizations, and localities for vocational training or job placement.

b. State vocational training centers shall prioritize the acceptance of military personnel upon discharge for vocational training or job placement.

II. MILITARY PERSONNEL DISCHARGED FROM SERVICE TRANSFERRED TO WORK IN ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATIONS, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, OR STATE ENTERPRISES

1. Military personnel transferred to work in administrative organizations, public institutions, state enterprises, or joint ventures of the state, party, or mass organizations:

a. They shall receive salary based on their new position and shall not be entitled to the discharge allowances and vocational training allowances specified above. They shall be provided with travel expenses (ordinary class) from the unit to their place of residence.

b. Continuous employment time prior to the issuance of Decree No. 34/CP dated June 22, 1993, Decree No. 66/CP dated September 30, 1993 of the Government, and time served in the military shall be considered as time already paid into social insurance.

b. The continuous period of work prior to the issuance of Decree No. 34/CP on June 22, 1993, Decree No. 66/CP on September 30, 1993, of the Government, and the time served in military service shall be counted as the period of social insurance contributions.

c. If, after transferring to another profession and ceasing work or retiring once with pension benefits, the time served on active duty for which retirement allowance is calculated shall be treated as the discharge allowance: for each year of military service, 1.5 months of salary paid before retirement under social insurance shall be granted. In cases where the salary prior to discharge is higher than the salary before ceasing work, the former shall be used to calculate the discharge allowance.

2. Military personnel discharged and transferred to enterprises or private organizations that participate in mandatory social insurance covering all five benefits, and who voluntarily choose not to receive discharge allowance or vocational training allowance upon discharge, shall enjoy benefits equivalent to those of military personnel transferred to administrative agencies, public institutions, or state-owned enterprises as stipulated above.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. Sources of payment:

a. Discharge allowance for officers and professional soldiers shall be paid from the social insurance fund.

b. Vocational training allowance, travel expenses for officers, professional soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, as well as discharge allowance and travel food expenses for non-commissioned officers and privates, shall be provided annually from the state budget into the defense budget. These amounts shall be disbursed in one lump sum to military personnel before their discharge by the unit managing them.

2. For cases where there are multiple stages during the course of employment (active service, work in state agencies, enterprises...) and previous stages did not receive demobilization or discharge allowances or cessation-of-service allowances, these stages may now be combined to calculate discharge allowance according to the provisions at point 1 - Section I above.

3. In cases where recruitment of young laborers is permitted, the period of employment shall be counted from the date of the recruitment decision; if assigned to work in the anti-American resistance in the South, this period of activity shall be considered as employment time; however, in both these cases, if they are military personnel, only the time after reaching 16 years of age shall be counted as military service.

4. This Circular takes effect from December 15, 1993. Previous regulations concerning demobilization, discharge, and transfer contrary to this Circular are hereby abolished.

5. Military personnel discharged from December 15, 1993 onwards who have not yet received the benefits stipulated in this Circular shall have the local district or county military authorities base the settlement of any difference to make up the shortfall according to the provisions of this Circular based on the demobilization or discharge decision.

6. Heads of agencies, sectors, localities, and military units are responsible for implementing this Circular. Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be promptly reported to the Joint Ministry for timely research and resolution.