The Four Salary and Bonus Policies, and the Retirement Age Increase Effective December

Increased Retirement Age for Officers

The National Assembly has passed the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the People’s Army of Vietnam, which will take effect from December 1.

Regarding the maximum age of active service (retirement age) for officers according to their military ranks, the law stipulates an increase of 1-5 years compared to the current law. Specifically, the retirement age for officers at the Uy level is 50 years old; 52 for Thieu ta; 54 for Trung ta; 56 for Thuong ta; 58 for Dai ta, and 60 for general officers.

When the army is in need, officers who meet the political, moral, professional, and health qualifications and voluntarily agree can have their active service extended for no more than 5 years. In special cases, this can be further extended as per the regulations of the Minister of Defense.

The Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the People’s Army of Vietnam also stipulates the highest military ranks for the positions and titles of officers. Accordingly, the number of officers with the rank of General is limited to 3, including: the Minister of National Defense; the Chief of the General Staff and the Director of the General Department of Politics.

The number of officers with the rank of Upper General and Admiral is limited to 14, including: the Deputy Minister of National Defense, Admiral (no more than 6 people); the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, the Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics (each position has the highest rank of Upper General, no more than 3). In addition, there are also the Director and the Political Commissar of the National Defense Academy.

The positions and titles with the highest rank of Lieutenant General and Vice Admiral, and those with the rank of Major General and Rear Admiral, are limited to 398 in total.

Thus, the total number of senior officers with the rank of General is a maximum of 415 people.

Social Media Accounts Must Be Verified Before Posting Information

Decree 147/2024 on the management, provision, and use of the Internet and information on networks was issued by the Government, introducing new regulations on the responsibilities of foreign organizations, businesses, and individuals providing cross-border information services into Vietnam, using data storage rental services in Vietnam, or having a total monthly access count from Vietnam of 100,000 or more.

Accordingly, Point e, Clause 3, Article 23 of Decree 147/2024 stipulates the implementation of account verification for social media service users through their mobile phone numbers registered in Vietnam.

Only in cases where the user confirms that they do not have a mobile phone number in Vietnam will the foreign organization, business, or individual providing the social media service verify the account using the individual’s identification number as prescribed by the law on electronic identification and authentication.

In cases where the user uses the livestream feature for commercial purposes, the foreign organization, business, or individual providing the social media service must verify the account using the individual’s identification number as prescribed by the law on electronic identification and authentication.

The decree states that only verified accounts, either by phone number or identification number, are allowed to operate, including posting information (writing articles, commenting, livestreaming), and sharing information on social media.

For content that violates the law, the service providers must prevent and remove such content within 24 hours from the time of receiving a request from competent authorities.

For accounts, pages, community groups, or content channels that frequently violate regulations (within 30 days, there are 5 violations, or within 90 days, there are 10 violations, as requested by the Ministry of Information and Communications or the Ministry of Public Security), social media platforms must temporarily lock these pages for 7 to 30 days, blocking access from Vietnamese users.

In the event that an account, page, group, or channel is temporarily locked three times or posts content that infringes on national security, the social media platform must permanently block access from Vietnam.

Decree 147/2024 will come into force on December 25, and within 90 days from the effective date of the decree, foreign organizations, businesses, and individuals providing cross-border information services into Vietnam, as well as domestic organizations and businesses providing social media services, must verify the active accounts of social media users.

Officers and Military Personnel to Receive 8 Times the Base Salary as Bonus

Also taking effect from December 25, Circular 95/2024 of the Ministry of Defense guides the implementation of the regime of monetary rewards for individuals and units under the management of the Ministry of Defense.

Officers, professional soldiers, national defense workers, public employees in the army, those working in cryptography, and those working in other positions in the cryptography organization at the Government Cipher Committee are eligible for monetary rewards when assessed and ranked by competent authorities as having fulfilled their tasks and responsibilities.

The bonus amounts and the specific assessment and ranking criteria are as follows:

During the year, if officers, professional soldiers, national defense workers, etc., receive a salary from the state budget for 7 months or more, the bonus amount will be equal to the amounts mentioned above. If they receive a salary from the state budget for less than 7 months, they will be entitled to half of the above-mentioned bonus amounts.

The circular also states that the budget for implementing the bonus regime will come from the state budget allocated for national defense, and the budget estimation, execution, accounting, and settlement will be carried out following the current regulations of the State and the Ministry of Defense.

Administrative Unit Arrangements in 17 Localities

The National Assembly Standing Committee has passed resolutions on the arrangement of district- and commune-level administrative units for the period of 2023-2025 in 17 provinces, which will take effect from December 1.

The 17 localities include: Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Bac Lieu, Bac Ninh, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Kien Giang, Lang Son, Lam Dong, Long An, Quang Binh, Nghe An, Thai Nguyen, and Yen Bai.