The Vietnamese Government has issued Decree No. 233, establishing new regulations on evaluating and classifying the performance of public non-business units and civil servants. The decree takes effect on July 1.

Under the new regulations, evaluations and performance classifications must ensure democracy, transparency, fairness, openness, objectivity, and compliance with the proper authority, responsibilities, procedures and processes. Assessments will follow a continuous, comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach, based on clearly defined criteria and measurable work outcomes, while promoting the application of science, technology and digital transformation throughout the evaluation process.

Performance assessments for public non-business units and civil servants must be based on the evaluation framework stipulated in the decree, together with specific criteria issued by the competent agencies, organizations or units.

Civil servants will be classified into four performance levels.

Those scoring 90 points or above will be rated as "Outstanding completion of duties." Scores from 70 to under 90 points will be classified as "Good completion of duties," while scores from 50 to under 70 points will receive the rating "Completion of duties."

A civil servant will be classified as "Failure to complete duties" under any of the following circumstances: receiving an annual evaluation score below 50 points; being officially concluded by a competent authority to have shown signs of political, ideological or moral degradation, "self-evolution" or "self-transformation," violating Party regulations or responsibilities on exemplary conduct, thereby negatively affecting personal credibility and the reputation of the agency or unit; committing violations related to official duties resulting in disciplinary action ranging from a formal reprimand or more severe during the evaluation year; or, for managerial civil servants, directly supervising units involved in embezzlement, corruption or waste that are handled in accordance with the law.

Where a managerial civil servant has proactively detected, reported and promptly directed the handling of violations while fully remedying the consequences, the competent authority will consider the specific circumstances, nature, severity, consequences, causes and other relevant factors before making an objective, prudent and comprehensive evaluation and classification decision, taking responsibility for that decision under the applicable decentralization framework.

Annual evaluation scores will be determined based on monthly or quarterly performance assessments and will serve as the basis for final annual classifications. The specific scoring for each criterion prescribed under Articles 10 and 11 of the decree will be implemented according to each public non-business unit's evaluation regulations issued by its head.

The decree also stipulates that the proportion of civil servants receiving the rating "Outstanding completion of duties" must not exceed 20% of those classified as "Good completion of duties" within the same agency, organization or equivalent group of civil servants performing similar tasks.

Where a public non-business unit achieves exceptional and outstanding results, creates significant positive changes, exceeds assigned work plans and delivers practical value and effectiveness recognized by a competent authority as having "Outstanding completion of duties," the unit may apply a higher proportion of civil servants receiving the outstanding rating. However, this proportion must not exceed 25% of those classified as having "Good completion of duties."

The performance rating of the head of a unit must not exceed the overall performance classification of the unit itself.

Public non-business units will be assessed under a common evaluation framework worth a maximum of 30 points out of 100. The framework covers criteria including compliance with the Party's guidelines and policies, State laws and regulations; implementation of directives from higher authorities; capacity to develop and implement the unit's development strategies and plans; ability to identify and anticipate development trends while proactively adapting to changing environments; effectiveness in organizational and personnel management based on job positions; and efforts to build a professional, modern and transparent working environment that enables civil servants to maximize their capabilities.

A separate framework assessing task performance will account for a maximum of 70 points out of 100. This includes criteria covering fulfillment of assigned functions and responsibilities, quality of products and services, efficiency in resource utilization, and innovation and development.

The classification of public non-business units will also be based on evaluation scores. A unit will be rated as having "Outstanding completion of duties" if it scores at least 90 points and satisfies additional prescribed conditions. Scores from 70 to under 90 points will receive the rating "Good completion of duties," while scores from 50 to under 70 points will be classified as "Completion of duties."

A unit will be classified as "Failure to complete duties" if it scores below 50 points or falls into cases such as being officially concluded by a competent authority to have committed violations in personnel management, experienced internal disunity, factionalism, position-buying or power-buying, or completed less than 70% of its assigned annual work program or plan.

Ngan Anh