Decree No. 338/2026/ND-CP amends and supplements Clause 2, Article 2 of Decree No. 21/2009/ND-CP, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 52/2025/ND-CP, stipulating regimes and policies for retired officers.
Raising allowances for demobilized officers
The Decree adjusts the regime for officers who stop serving in the army but do not meet the conditions for retirement, retire according to the sick soldier regime or cannot transfer to another sector and must be demobilized.
According to new regulations, when demobilized, in addition to enjoying social insurance benefits and other regimes as prescribed, officers are entitled to job creation allowances equal to 3 months of salary, and are also supported with vocational training or job introduction at job introduction organizations.
Discharged officers also receive a one-time allowance, for each year of work with compulsory social insurance contributions, they are entitled to an allowance equal to 1.5 months of salary.
Compared to previous regulations, the job creation allowance level has been changed from 6 months of basic salary to 3 months of current salary.
Meanwhile, the demobilization allowance for the working period with compulsory social insurance contributions is increased from 1 month to 1.5 months of salary for each year of working.
Increase allowance for each year of early retirement
According to this new regulation, officers retiring early at the highest age according to military rank are redundant due to organizational changes or changes in organizational charts and staff according to the decision of competent authorities; officers who have reached the age limit to hold command and management positions that the Army no longer needs to arrange and use are entitled to a one-time allowance equal to 5 months of salary for each year of early retirement.
This allowance level also applies to officers who stop holding leadership and management positions or are appointed to lower positions due to organizational restructuring, restructuring, and improving the quality of the contingent of cadres, who wish to retire before the age limit and are approved by competent authorities.
For officers who do not fall into the above cases but in the year immediately preceding or the year of early retirement consideration, competent authorities conclude that they no longer meet the health standards for serving in the Army, when retiring early, they are also entitled to a one-time allowance equal to 5 months of salary for each year of early retirement.
Thus, compared to previous regulations, Decree No. 338/2026/ND-CP has increased the allowance level for each year of early retirement from 3 months to 5 months of the current salary.
No pension rate deduction, additional one-time allowance from social insurance
In addition to the allowance based on the number of years of early retirement, officers in the above cases when retiring early at the highest age according to military rank are not deducted the pension rate due to early retirement age.
Officers retiring early are also entitled to social insurance benefits and preferential policies for people with meritorious services to the revolution (if any) according to current legal regulations.
At the same time, officers are entitled to an additional one-time allowance based on the working time with compulsory social insurance contributions.
Specifically, people with 20 years of compulsory social insurance contributions or more are entitled to a 5-month salary allowance for the first 20 years; from the 21st year onwards, each year is entitled to an additional 0.5-month salary allowance.
In case there are 15 years to less than 20 years of working with compulsory social insurance contributions, they are entitled to a one-time allowance equal to 5 months of salary.
The new regulations are aimed at better ensuring the rights of officers retiring before the age limit in the context of the Army implementing organizational restructuring, restructuring and improving the quality of the contingent of cadres.
