HCM CITY— HCM City should have methods to evaluate the actual work effectiveness of civil servants in order to fairly decide salary increases, according to many representatives and experts.

At a meeting on Friday to collect opinions from experts and others in society regarding raising average incomes for civil servants in the city held by HCM City’s Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee, many suggested that income hikes should not be the same for all civil servants.

The project is one of several special policies which would allow the city to make more independent decisions, approved by the National Assembly.

Deputy head of the city Department of Finance Lê Ngọc Thùy Trang said that the productivity of the city’s civil servants was 1.5 times higher than those in the rest of the country.

However, their income was not corresponding to their productivity and could not cover their daily expenditures, Trang added, suggesting a roadmap for raising income year-by-year.

Under the roadmap, their salary would be raised by a maximum of 60 per cent this year and 120 per cent in 2019 and 180 per cent in 2020.

Most of the meeting’s attendees agreed with the suggestion, but were worried about potential problems.

Assoc. Prof Võ Trí Hảo of HCM City University of Economics said that the existing method of assessment for civil servant was qualitative, not yet based on the real effectiveness of their work.

Châu Minh Tỷ, former director of the city Department of Home Affairs, noted that a more exact assessment should be carried out to raise incomes of the right civil servants.

Under the existing assessment, all civil servants recieve the same salary increases.  

Dr Huỳnh Thế Du of Fullbright University Việt Nam suggested that the city should focus on encouragement, not creating pressure to work.

Civil servants who work well would have their salaries raised, Du said, adding that those who do not work well would be punished.

Hảo suggested that the State offices should pay more attention to applying IT to increase the effectiveness of work and save costs. This saved cost should be used to pay for the salary increases of civil servants.

Assos. Prof Trần Hoàng Ngân, director of HCM City Officer Academic, said that in 2019, civil servants’ income should be raised by 1.8 times instead of in 2020 because the time for the implementation of the special policies, which the National Assembly allows the city, would not be long.

Lê Anh Tuấn, deputy head of Laws and Policy Board under HCM City Labour Federation, said that many civil servants worked in the city, but were not paid a salary by the city’s budget, including those working in police, social security and others.

They should benefit from the city’s special policies, including raising incomes.

Đỗ Văn Đạo, deputy director of the Department of Home Affairs, admitted that there was a problem in the assessment of the effectiveness of work.

Heads of the state offices know their staff’s capacity and effectiveness in working, Đạo said, adding that they should be fair in assessing each staff member. –VNS