Circular No. 766-TC/HCP stipulates the regulations for employees hired on a temporary basis under contracts

 CIRCULAR
Regulations on the treatment of contract-based employees

Since the Government has adopted the policy of suspending recruitment of new cadres and staff to streamline the organizational structure and stabilize the official establishment to reduce the number of people脱离生产而减少行政开支 the practice of hiring temporary staff under contracts for periods of one month, three months, or six months has been developing in various agencies.

The wage payment system stipulated in Circular No. 05-VP/B dated January 14, 1957, of the Ministry of Interior is calculated based on actual working days, with pay given for each day worked, no pay for non-working days, and no other allowances.

However, some agencies have been hiring monthly but still paying daily wages of 1,500 dong, 1,600 dong..., resulting in the daily wage of contract-based employees being higher than the salary of a relatively good cadre within the official establishment (at level 12, 11...). Some places demand maternity benefits for those temporarily hired under contracts as stipulated in Circulars No. 16-TT/LB and 19-TT/LB of the Joint Ministry of Labor - Finance for construction sites and factories.

To address this situation, our Ministry hereby sets out the following principles:

1) Clearly distinguish between employees recruited into the official establishment under the previous contractual wage system and temporary employees hired under contracts since the policy of not recruiting new staff into the official establishment was implemented:

a) Employees recruited under the previous contractual system were due to work requirements and were officially recruited into the establishment at relatively high salaries compared to other cadres and staff, making it inconvenient to follow the general wage system then in effect. Currently, there are still individual cases of recruitment into the official establishment, which are considered similar to certain technical cadres in necessary sectors.

b) Temporary employees hired under contracts since the suspension of new recruitments are those temporarily hired by agencies to perform specific tasks for a short period outside the official establishment, thus they are paid for each day worked, no pay for non-working days, and upon completion of the task or expiration of the contract, they cease work without severance pay.

2) Employees of type a mentioned above shall enjoy all rights and benefits as cadres and staff within the official establishment because, in reality, they are also cadres within the official establishment despite being recruited under a contract.

As for employees of type b, they shall only be entitled to wages or living expenses according to the number of actual working days specified in the contract, and shall not be entitled to any additional allowances or standards.

3) The wage payment system for temporary employees hired under contracts can be calculated in two ways:

a) Daily wage is 1,150 dong, 1,250 dong, or 1,350 dong per day depending on the workload.

b) Monthly wage will be calculated by multiplying the daily wage by 25 days. For those hired under monthly contracts, if they work all 30 days in a month, they shall be paid for all 30 days (not calculated by multiplying the daily wage by 25).

The above wage level is the maximum amount to be paid to temporary employees hired into agencies, and should not exceed this limit, as even those engaged in more strenuous labor at construction sites currently only receive this wage level.

At present, the establishment of agencies is quite large, with most having excess personnel, especially administrative and management staff. Therefore, the practice of hiring temporary staff under contracts must be strictly limited to avoid unnecessary expenditures; it should only be done in cases where truly necessary work cannot be handled by transferring personnel from other departments or waiting staff. Before hiring personnel, central agencies need to obtain agreement from the Joint Ministry of Interior - Finance; local agencies need approval from the Administrative Committee and financial authorities.

Absolutely no temporary hiring should be done to replace staff who are on urgent business trips, sick leave, or maternity leave.

We request that all agencies at all levels review the hiring of temporary staff of type b mentioned above: if any case is found to be unnecessary or can be replaced by transferring personnel from other departments, such newly hired personnel should be terminated.

When reviewing budgets, financial agencies will pay special attention to cases of hiring staff under contracts (checking the agency's contract papers), and if unreasonable practices are discovered, budget allocation will not be approved.