Regional allowances to be calculated based on base salary under new circular

The Ministry of Home Affairs is proposing to adjust and supplement the regional allowance regime for newly formed commune-level localities created through the reorganization of administrative units. Under the draft Circular, the regional allowance would be calculated based on the base salary rather than the minimum wage as currently regulated.

Draft Circular to amend Joint Circular No. 11/2005

The Ministry is drafting a Circular to amend and supplement certain provisions of Joint Circular No. 11/2005/TTLT-BNV-BLĐTBXH-BTC-UBDT, issued by the Ministers of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Committee for Ethnic Minorities, which provides guidance for implementing the regional allowance regime.

The Ministry said the draft is prepared in the context of the Government’s enactment of the 2025 Law on Civil Servants and the 2025 Law on Public Employees, which take effect on July 1, 2026 and eliminate the concept of apprenticeship (probationary period).

The Ministry also cited Conclusion No. 206-KL/TW of the Central Committee and Government Resolution No. 74/NQ-CP, under which the Minister of Home Affairs issued Circular No. 23/2025/TT-BNV to amend and supplement parts of Joint Circular No. 11/2005/TTLT-BNV-BTC-BLĐTBXH-UBDT, effective from January 1, 2026.

Scope and beneficiaries

The Ministry said the Circular aims to adjust and supplement the regional allowance for newly formed commune-level localities created from the reorganization of existing communes that previously enjoyed regional allowances. It added that no new localities will be added.

Under the draft Circular, the Ministry proposes to define beneficiaries more clearly, including civil servants, public employees, and contracted workers paid according to the pay scale prescribed by the State, working in state agencies and in state-funded public-service units established by competent authorities.

The category “full-time officers and civil servants at communes, wards, and towns” will be removed because it has been integrated. The Ministry said these changes are intended to align with the 2025 Civil Servants Law.

Replacing “general minimum wage” with “base salary”

A key change in the draft is the replacement of the phrase “general minimum wage” with “base salary.”

Under current regulations, the regional allowance amount equals the regional allowance coefficient multiplied by the general minimum wage. The allowance is set at seven levels: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 relative to the general minimum wage. The 1.0 level applies only to particularly difficult and hardship islands, such as the Spratly Islands belonging to Khanh Hoa province.

The Ministry said replacing the minimum wage with the base salary is appropriate and consistent with current regulations.

Adjustments to filing and local-government terminology

The Ministry noted that Joint Circular No. 11/2005 sets out a territorial management principle under which agencies and units file a document locally with the district/urban district/town provincial city People’s Committee. It states that the district People’s Committee is responsible for proposing to the provincial People’s Committee for consideration and synthesis, after which the president of the provincial People’s Committee sends a document to the Ministry of Home Affairs for review and decision.

In the new draft Circular, the Ministry proposes replacing the phrase describing the filing process with a formulation aligned to the two-tier local government framework: “the People’s Committee of communes, wards, special districts with a written proposal.”

At the same time, the draft proposes replacing “commune, ward, town” with “commune, ward, special district” throughout the Circular to reflect the current two-tier local government structure and to accommodate the reorganization of communes.

Allowance proposal referenced in related coverage

In related content, the Ministry of Home Affairs’ proposal also mentions an additional allowance for experts, leading scientists, senior managers, and high-level professionals recruited into state agencies. The proposal states the allowance would equal 300% of the base salary for five years from the recruitment date.