ORDINANCE

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE ORDINANCE ON OFFICIALS AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
(No. 11/2003/PL-UBTVQH11)

Pursuant to the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10 of December 25, 2001 of the Xth National Assembly at its 10th session;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 12/2002/QH11 of December 16, 2002 of the XIth National Assembly, at its second session, on the Law- and Ordinance-Making Programs of the XIth National Assembly for its whole tenure (2002-2007) and for 2003;

This Ordinance amends and supplements a number of articles of the Ordinance on Officials and Public Employees enacted on February 26, 1998 by the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Ordinance on Officials and Public Employees

1. Article 1 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 1. Officials and public employees defined in this Ordinance are Vietnamese citizens who are on the payroll, including:

a/ People who are elected to hold posts for given terms in State agencies, political organizations or socio-political organizations at the central level, in the provinces or centrally-run cities (hereinafter collectively referred to as the provincial level), and in rural or urban districts, provincial capitals or cities (hereinafter collectively referred to as the district level);

b/ People who are recruited, appointed or assigned regular tasks in political organizations or socio-political organizations at the central, provincial or district level;

c/ People who are recruited or appointed into public employee’s ranks or assigned regular public duties in State agencies at the central, provincial or district level;

d/ People who are recruited or appointed into public servant’s ranks or assigned regular tasks in non-business units of the State, political organizations or socio-political organizations;

e/ Judges of the People’s Courts and procurators of the People’s Procuracies;

f/ People who are recruited, appointed or assigned regular tasks in agencies or units of the People’s Army but are neither officers, career military personnel nor defense workers; in agencies and units of the People’s Police but are neither officers nor career non-commissioned officers.

g/ People who are elected to hold posts for given terms in the Standing Boards of the People’s Councils or the People’s Committees; Party Committee Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries, and the heads of socio-political organizations in communes, wards or district capitals (hereinafter referred collectively to as the commune level).

h/ People who are recruited and assigned professional titles in the commune-level People’s Committees.

2. Officials and public employees specified at Points a, b, c, e, f, g and h, Clause 1 of this Article shall receive salaries from the State budget; officials and public employees defined at Point d, Clause 1 of this Article shall receive salaries from the State budget and non-business revenues as prescribed by law."

2. Article 5 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 5.

1. The National Assembly Standing Committee, political organizations and socio-political organizations shall detail the application of this Ordinance to elected people who do not fall into the subjects specified at Points a and g, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance.

2. The Government shall detail the application of this Ordinance to officers, career military personnel and defense workers in agencies and units of the People’s Army; officers and career non-commissioned officers in agencies and units of the People’s Police; members of the Management Boards, general directors, deputy general directors, directors, deputy directors, chief accountants and other managerial officials in State enterprises."

3. The following Article 5a is supplemented after Article 5:

"Article 5a.

The Government shall stipulate the titles, criteria, obligations, benefits, prohibited jobs as well as other regimes and policies for commune-level officials and public employees specified at Points g and h, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance."

4. To supplement the following Article 5b after Article 5a:

"Article 5b.

1. The regime of reserve public employees shall apply to agencies and organizations which employ officials and public employees specified at Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance.

People who are recruited to be reserve public employees must meet all the law-prescribed criteria and conditions.

2. Basing themselves on the provisions of this Ordinance, the Government shall prescribe the regime of recruitment and employment of reserve public employees as well as obligations, benefits, prohibited jobs and other regimes and policies for them."

5. Article 22 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 22.

People who are elected as specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance shall, when resigning from their posts, be assigned jobs suitable to their capabilities, strengths and professional qualifications and enjoy various regimes and policies applicable to officials and public employees."

6. Article 23 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 23.

1. When recruiting officials or public employees specified at Points b, c, e, f and h, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance, agencies and organizations must base themselves on the job demands and working positions of the officials or public employees titles as well as on their assigned payroll quotas.

2. When recruiting officials or public employees specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance, non-business units must base themselves on their job demands, payroll plans and financial sources. The recruitment shall be effected in the contractual form.

3. People who are recruited to be officials or public employees specified at Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance must undergo the regime of reserve public employees.

4. To be recruited people must possess moral qualities, full meet the required criteria and pass recruitment examinations; particularly, the recruitment into non-business units, in highland, remote, deep-lying, border areas or islands or in order to meet the requirement of building a contingent of officials and public employees in ethnic minority areas, can be effected through selection.

The Government shall detail the recruitment, examination and selection regimes."

7. Clause 1 of Article 32 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. Officials and public employees specified at Points b, c, d, e, f and h, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance shall be allowed to give up their jobs and enjoy the severance regime in the following cases:

a/ Due to reorganization and payroll reduction under decisions of competent agencies, organizations or units;

b/ They wish to give up their jobs and it is approved by competent agencies, organizations or units;

The Government shall prescribe the severance regime and policies applicable to the cases specified in this Clause."

8. Article 33 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 33.

The contents of management of officials and public employees include:

1. Promulgating, and organizing the implementation of, legal documents, rules and regulations on officials and public employees;

2. Elaborating plannings and plans on building up a contingent of officials and public employees;

3. Prescribing the titles and criteria of officials and public employees;

4. Deciding on the payrolls of officials and public employees in State agencies at the central level; setting the administrative and non-business payroll quotas of the People’s Committees; and guiding the payroll quotas in the State-run non-business units at the central level;

5. Organizing the management, employment and decentralization of management of officials and public employees;

6. Promulgating the regulations on recruitment, rank promotion as well as the job probation and apprenticeship regimes;

7. Training, fostering and evaluating officials and public employees;

8. Directing and organizing the implementation of the salary regime as well as the entitlement, commendation and disciplining regimes and policies for officials and public employees;

9. Gathering statistics on officials and public employees;

10. Inspecting and examining the implementation of the law provisions on officials and public employees;

11. Directing and organizing the settlement of complaints and denunciations related to officials and public employees."

9. Article 36 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 36.

1. The Government shall decide on the payrolls and manage officials and public employees working in State administrative agencies at the central level; set the administrative and non-business payroll quotas of the People’s Committees; and guide the payroll quotas of the State-run non-business units at the central level.

2. The Ministry of the Interior shall assist the Government in managing officials and public employees specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the People’s Committees of the provinces or centrally-run cities shall manage officials and public employees according to the Government’s decentralization and the provisions of law."

10. Article 38 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"If officials or public employees specified at Points b, c, d, e, f and h, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance record outstanding achievements in the performance of their tasks or public duties, they shall be considered for salary rank and grade promotion ahead of time according to the Government’s regulations."

11. Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 39 are amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. If officials or public employees specified at Points b, c, d, e, f and h, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance violate law provisions but not so seriously to be examined for penal liability, they shall, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations, be subject to one of the following disciplinary forms:

a/ Reprimand;

b/ Caution;

c/ Salary reduction;

d/ Rank lowering;

e/ Demotion;

f/ Forcible job severance.

The disciplining shall fall under the competence of the agencies, organizations or units that manage such officials and public employees.

2. The removal from office or disciplining of officials specified at Points a and g, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance shall comply with the law provisions and the charters of political or socio-political organizations."

12. Article 42 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"When officials or public employees specified at Points b, c, d, e, f and h, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance are disciplined, they may lodge complaints about the disciplining decisions against them with competent agencies, organizations or units according to the provisions of law.

When officials or public employees specified at Points b, c, d, e, f and h, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance, who hold the posts of departmental director, equivalent or lower posts, are forced to resign, they may initiate administrative lawsuits at courts according to the provisions of law."

13. Paragraph 1 of Article 43 is amended and supplemented as follows:

" When officials or public employees specified at Points b, c, d, e, f and h, Clause 1, Article 1 of this Ordinance are disciplined in the form of reprimand, caution or demotion, they shall have their salary-raising duration prolonged for one year; when they are disciplined in the form of from reprimand to demotion, they shall not be appointed to higher posts within at least one year after the issuance of the disciplining decisions."

Article 2. This Ordinance takes effect as from July 1, 2003.

Article 3.

1. The Government shall detail and guide the implementation of this Ordinance.

2. On the basis of this Ordinance, political organizations and socio-political organizations shall detail the implementation thereof towards officials and public employees under their management.