Ms. Nguyen Thi Doan Trang is a grade III high school teacher from December 1, 2015, until now, if not counting the probation period of 9 years of work. During this period, she took 9 months of unpaid leave for personal reasons.
Ms. Trang has a university degree. Currently, her school is having a promotion consideration for high school teacher rank II. Ms. Trang asked, is her case qualified to hold a professional title for 9 years?
Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Education and Training said:
According to the provisions of point b, clause 2, Article 3 of Decree No. 77/2021/ND-CP dated August 1, 2021 of the Government stipulating the seniority allowance regime for teachers, the time of non-payment leave continuously from 1 month or more is not counted for seniority allowance for teachers.
At the same time, according to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 6 of Decree No. 182/2026/ND-CP dated May 22, 2026 of the Government stipulating the regime of professional preferential allowances for teachers, educational institution managers and educational support personnel working in public educational institutions, continuous non-payment leave from 01 month or more is not counted for enjoying professional preferential allowances.
In addition, according to the provisions of point c, clause 1, Article 2 of Circular No. 08/2013/TT-BNV dated July 31, 2013 of the Minister of Home Affairs guiding the implementation of the regime of regular salary increases and early salary increases for cadres, civil servants, public employees and laborers (which has been amended and supplemented in some articles in Circular No. 03/2021/TT-BNV dated June 29, 2021), the time off work without salary is not counted for regular salary increases.
Thus, the time off work without pay from 1 month or more is currently not included in the working time, continuous teaching to enjoy regimes and policies for teachers. In the case of Ms. Nguyen Thi Doan Trang, it is proposed to contact the competent management agency in the locality for specific guidance.
