On November 5, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army. Delegates all agreed on the proposal to raise the maximum age limit for officers in active service.
National Assembly delegate Thai Thi An Chung (Nghe An delegation) said that the maximum age limit for officers serving in the army according to military rank is stipulated in the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on People's Army Officers in 2008. Accordingly, the age limit for lieutenant officers is 46 years old, majors is 48 years old, lieutenant colonels is 51 years old, senior colonels is 54 years old, colonels is 57 years old for men and 55 years old for women and generals is 60 years old for men and 55 years old for women.
According to the delegate, in recent times, with the change in retirement age stipulated in the 2019 Labor Code, the gap between the active service age of officers and the retirement age of workers in society has become increasingly large.
Not only that, the age of active service of officers and professional soldiers is stipulated in the Law on Professional Soldiers, workers and civil servants of the National Defense also has a difference. The delegate gave an example, with the current retirement age of lieutenant officers being 46 years old, by 2024, lieutenant officers will have to retire 10 years earlier than civil servants, public employees and workers for women and 15 years for men and 6 years earlier than professional soldiers.
“Thus, it can be seen that, in the same armed forces, in the same unit, professional soldiers holding staff positions have a longer working time. While officers who are commanders, leaders, managers, and assistant officers responsible for advising and directly implementing tasks retire earlier, this is a disadvantage,” said the delegate.
The delegate added that, according to the provisions of the Law on Social Insurance, early retirement makes the pension of officers low. According to the feedback of voters in the military sector in Nghe An, from 2018 to now, at the Nghe An Provincial Military Command, among retired officers, up to 41% of officers enjoy a pension rate of 56 to 66%, 44% enjoy a pension rate of 67 to 75%...
"At the early retirement age of 48 to 51 years old at the rank of Major or Lieutenant Colonel, the burden of income to support the family and pay for children's education still remains, especially when the trend of getting married and having children late is like today" - the delegate said.
However, according to delegates, it is not easy for them to find suitable jobs so they mainly have to do manual labor jobs.
"Therefore, raising the age of active service for officers means raising the pension rate of officers when they retire, which will contribute to increasing average income, improving living standards and boosting spending," the delegate suggested.
Delegate To Van Tam (Kon Tum Delegation) also agreed to increase the service age of officers.
“Currently, officers from Lieutenant Colonel and below according to the Social Insurance Law who reach retirement age have not paid insurance for 35 years, so they do not receive 75% of their pension. The age increase is to approach the provisions of the Labor Code and the Social Insurance Law so that officers can enjoy full benefits when they retire,” said the delegate.
According to the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army, for the rank of Lieutenant, the maximum age limit for active officers (retirement age) will increase from 46 to 50 years old; Major from 48 to 52 years old; Lieutenant Colonel from 51 to 54 years old; Senior Colonel from 54 to 56 years old; Colonel from 57 years old (for men) and 55 years old (for women) to 58 years old (regardless of gender). The rank of General remains at 60 years old for men, and increases from 55 to 60 years old for women.
