'One foot inside, one foot outside' civil servants: Clearly define the field of work

The Draft Law on Public Employees (amended) is being submitted by the Government to the 15th National Assembly for comments at the 10th session. The Draft Law has many breakthrough innovations, which, according to Mr. Nguyen Tu Long, Deputy Director of the Department of Civil Servants and Public Employees (Ministry of Home Affairs), focuses on innovating the method of recruiting, using and managing public employees according to job positions. The Law determines to take the job position and professional title of public employees as the center.

People come to do administrative procedures at the Public Administration Service Center of Phan Rang Ward, Khanh Hoa Province. Photo: Nguyen Thanh/VNA

The draft law clearly stipulates that recruitment, management, placement, and use of civil servants must be based on the requirements of the job position and the capacity and effectiveness of the civil servant's performance; no examination or promotion of professional titles of civil servants is conducted. Innovate the recruitment of civil servants in the direction of clearly defining the form of competitive examination, public and equal recruitment, and the form of reception for high-quality human resources.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tu Long, one of the fundamental reasons for amending the Law on Public Employees is to ensure the use of public employees in accordance with the spirit of Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation. The current law allows public employees to engage in professional activities that do not violate regulations, but it is unclear about the rights and responsibilities of public employees and the authority of public employees in establishing and operating enterprises. The draft Law takes an approach that does not prohibit but follows specialized legal regulations.

The draft law expands the rights of civil servants by regulating the conditions for civil servants to sign contracts to perform professional activities at public service units other than the public service unit they are currently working for or at other non-public agencies, organizations, and units. Civil servants working in public science and technology organizations and public higher education institutions are allowed to contribute capital, participate in the management and operation of enterprises, work at enterprises established by such organizations, or participate in the establishment to commercialize research results created by such organizations with the consent of the head of the organization. In cases where the administrative officer is the head of a public science and technology organization or public higher education institution, the consent of the direct superior is required.

Whether or not to allow civil servants to have one foot in and one foot out is a matter of concern for many National Assembly deputies, experts, and researchers. Regarding this regulation, Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, National Assembly deputy of Hai Phong city, said that it is necessary to clearly define the scope of civil servants' participation in business activities. Civil servants in the fields of education, health, science and technology can participate in scientific enterprises and technology transfer, but should not arbitrarily expand to fields unrelated to their expertise.

In addition, a clear mechanism for controlling conflicts of interest should be established to avoid cases where civil servants take advantage of their positions, internal information or state resources to gain benefits while participating in enterprises. There should be guidance on responsibilities, obligations and income regimes when civil servants participate in enterprises or sign contracts outside the unit. It must be ensured that civil servants still fully complete their tasks at the agency, without affecting the quality of public service.

Likewise, Mr. Thai Quang Toan, former Head of the Department of Organization and Personnel (Ministry of Home Affairs) emphasized that there should be a mechanism for using civil servants so that they can develop their professional expertise, without the pressure of competition for authority. Civil servants can be "inside or outside" but must ensure that they fulfill the functions and tasks assigned by the agency. During working hours, civil servants must wholeheartedly serve the people, and outside working hours, they are allowed to do things according to the provisions of the law. Heads of agencies and units must regularly educate civil servants on the professional responsibilities of civil servants. If they are party members, they must comply with the regulations on what party members are not allowed to do.

According to current law, it is not forbidden for civil servants to have “one foot in, one foot out”, such as doctors, nurses, and technical staff, to work outside of their working hours in public hospitals, and to open their own clinics. Some people still serve their jobs well in public hospitals, and work in private clinics in their spare time.

Mr. Thai Quang Toan also said that when autonomy is promoted, in many health and education units, the income of civil servants, workers, and public employees is quite good, such as the K Hospital system, the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications, etc. Promoting financial autonomy will make the income of civil servants in the public sector better, and the problem of "one foot in, one foot out" will be reduced.

From the reality of his own story, "in the past, I was a civil servant. I signed contracts with outside schools to teach extra classes after hours because the salary was too low," Mr. Pham Tuan Khai, former Head of the Legal Department (Government Office) shared, "we raise the issue of civil servants working outside for money, for life only."

He proposed clarifying what a job position is in the law, redefining the concept of a job position, job positions in each industry and each field so that the Government can specify them. Regarding policies for civil servants and civil servant management policies, it is necessary to clarify what civil servants can and cannot do; the rights and obligations of civil servants.

However, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa, former Director of the Department of Criminal and Administrative Law, Ministry of Justice, expressed concern about the regulation at Point b, Clause 1, Article 13: civil servants are allowed to contribute capital, participate in the management and operation of enterprises, cooperatives, hospitals, educational institutions and non-public scientific research organizations, except in cases where the law on anti-corruption or specialized law has other provisions.

She explained that civil servants are people who work in public service units, providing public services. Therefore, they must be present regularly and on duty there to ensure that people's requests are met. "Now that we sign contracts with other places, where does the principle of signing contracts based on job positions go? Because job positions are to carry out these tasks," she wondered, at the same time thinking that this regulation is "a bit too broad". The people who suffer the most are the ones who receive public services.

Regarding the regulation that civil servants are allowed to participate in establishing and managing businesses, Ms. Thoa raised issues related to the field of medical examination and treatment. When doctors work in public hospitals and participate in establishing and managing private hospitals, it is very possible that there will be cases of patients being examined carelessly and then transferred to private hospitals. "This is a problem that many countries are very worried about, and Vietnam is even more worried about because of poor awareness of law compliance."

“When making laws, we must define where we can do things outside. If we allow people to manage, operate, and even manage research units that we ourselves established and contribute capital to public service units, I see that there are great opportunities for corruption and problems with law enforcement,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/vien-chuc-chan-trong-chan-ngoai-phan-dinh-ro-linh-vuc-duoc-lam-20251027112300471.htm