Reader Dinh Thi Ha in Thanh Son commune, Phu Tho province asked: As far as I know, the state agency is currently rearranging villages and residential groups. So has the state agency proposed a new allowance level for village heads? If so, what is the allowance level?
Answering this content, lawyer Nguyen Thu Trang - Deputy Director of Heva Law Company Limited - said that the Ministry of Home Affairs has just submitted a draft decree on the organization and operation of villages and residential groups; regimes and policies for non-specialized workers in villages and residential groups.
According to the draft, the number of titles specified in Article 10 includes: Village Head or Neighborhood Group Leader; Party Cell Secretary; Head of the Fatherland Front Work Committee.
The number of non-specialized personnel in villages and residential groups does not exceed 3 people.
Regarding the allocation fund for non-specialized workers in villages and residential groups in Article 11, the draft stipulates that the State budget allocates funds, including support for social insurance and health insurance contributions, to pay monthly allowances to these subjects.
Specifically, for villages with 700 or more households; residential groups with 1,000 or more households; villages and residential groups belonging to key commune-level administrative units on national defense according to decisions of competent authorities; villages and residential groups belonging to commune-level administrative units in border and island areas will be allocated a subsidy fund equal to 8 times the base salary.
For villages and residential groups that do not fall into the above cases, the allocation fund level is equal to 6.5 times the base salary.
The draft also clearly states that, based on the allowance fund contracted by the State budget for each village and residential group; the balancing capacity of the local budget; relevant legal regulations and the specific characteristics of each area, the Provincial People's Committee will submit to the People's Council of the same level to specifically stipulate the allowance level for each title of non-specialized personnel in villages and residential groups.
The allowance level is determined to ensure reasonable correlation with the salary grade 1 of specialists.
According to Decree 161/2026/ND-CP, from July 1, 2026, the base salary will increase to 2.53 million VND/month. Thus, the allowance fund for these subjects ranges from about 16 million VND to more than 20 million VND/month.
Regarding the specific allowance level for village heads, the Provincial People's Committee will submit it to the People's Council of the same level for consideration and decision according to regulations and actual conditions of each locality.
According to the draft, the allowance level for village heads will be built in reasonable correlation with the level 1 salary of specialists. From July 1, 2026, the level 1 salary of specialists is about 5.9 million VND/month.
Explaining this proposal, the drafting agency said that the draft is built on the basis of inheriting the principle of contracting allowance funds from the State budget.
In which, the draft proposes to adjust and increase the allowance fund from 6 times the base salary to 8 times the base salary for villages and residential groups with specific factors; increase from 4.5 times to 6.5 times the base salary for the remaining villages and residential groups.
The draft also stipulates flexibility in the implementation of concurrent positions; assigning provincial-level People's Committees to submit to the People's Councils of the same level to specifically stipulate the allowance level, the allowance level for concurrent positions to suit the practical conditions of each locality.
