Which medical staff are entitled to professional preferential allowances, new benefit levels?

Legal Consulting Department of Lao Dong Newspaper answers:

According to Decree 350/2026/ND-CP of the Government, Regulations on professional preferential allowances for medical staff, effective from September 9, 2026, applied from January 1, 2026 (according to Clause 1, Article 8).

Article 2, Decree 350/2026/ND-CP stipulates the regime of professional preferential allowances for medical staff who are officials and employees participating in health care and protection activities, working in fields under the state management scope of the health sector, including:

1. Civil servants and contract workers working at:

a) Public non-business units operating in the fields of: Disease prevention; medical examination, treatment, rehabilitation; traditional medicine; pharmaceuticals, cosmetics; food safety; medical equipment; medical examination, forensic, forensic psychiatry; population; social protection; prevention and control of social evils.

b) Commune, ward, and special zone health stations.

2. School health workers at public educational institutions.

3. Medical professionals of the armed forces.

According to Article 4, regulations on professional preferential allowance levels, including:

1. The 80% allowance level applies to

a) Medical professionals are assigned to regularly and directly perform the following tasks: Examination, treatment, testing, care for mental patients; forensic, forensic psychiatry; emergency resuscitation (including emergency, intensive care, anti-poison); pathology;

b) Officials working in medical expertise at commune-level health stations, preventive health facilities: in border areas, islands; in commune areas II (difficult communes), region III (especially difficult communes) ethnic minority and mountainous areas according to the Government's regulations.

2. The 70% allowance level applies to:

a) Officials working in medical expertise are assigned to regularly and directly perform the following tasks:

Examination, treatment, testing, care, nurturing, and assistance for people with particularly severe disabilities; people with leprosy, tuberculosis, group A infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, and newborns

Preserving and overseeing the body;

Working in grade III, grade IV biosafety laboratories;

Examination, testing, and treatment of opioid addiction.

b) Officials working in medical expertise at: commune-level health stations, preventive health facilities in the remaining areas; provincial and city disease control centers; provincial and city border health quarantine centers; preventive health institutes.

3. The 60% allowance level applies to medical professionals who are assigned regularly and directly to perform the following tasks:

Examination, treatment, care, nurturing, and assistance for people with infectious diseases (except for group A infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS), and elderly people who cannot serve themselves;

Tests to identify agents causing infectious diseases and toxins;

Antiretroviral testing for rabies, tetanus and snake venom

Radiation therapy; chemotherapy; molecular biology; nuclear medicine; preparation and dosage distribution of radioactive substances, cancer treatment drugs;

Monitoring and prevention of infectious diseases: monitoring cases, taking specimens in the community.

4. The 50% allowance level applies to medical professionals who are assigned regularly and directly to perform the following tasks:

Examination, treatment, care, nurturing, and assistance for severely disabled people, patients with anesthesia and resuscitation, burns, dermatology, pediatrics;

Imaging diagnosis; infection control; clinical pharmacy.

5. 40% allowance level applies to:

a) Officials working in medical expertise are assigned to regularly and directly perform the following tasks:

Testing; medical examination and treatment; patient care, rehabilitation; functional exploration; medical examination; traditional medicine; production, preparation of chemical pharmaceuticals; preservation, dispensing of drugs and drug ingredients, medical equipment; inspection and testing of drugs, vaccines, medical biological products, common chemicals, cosmetics, food; monitoring, analyzing and evaluating food safety risks, preventing and overcoming food safety incidents; nutrition in disease prevention, clinical nutrition; use, operation, inspection, maintenance, repair, inspection, standardization of medical equipment; reproductive health care; care, nurturing, assistance for subjects in need of urgent protection, elderly people, wounded soldiers, sick soldiers at nursing homes for people with meritorious services (except for cases specified in clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article);

b) Civil servants who do not directly perform medical expertise at specialized medical facilities in the fields of: infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, leprosy, tuberculosis, mental illness, pathology, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry; extrahospital emergency care.

6. 30% allowance applies to:

a) Public employees working in health education and population communication (except for cases specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article);

b) School health workers at public educational institutions

c) Civil servants who do not directly practice medical expertise at public non-business units operating in fields under the state management scope of the health sector.

7. For people doing jobs under labor contracts at public non-business units under the state management of the health sector, if they are ranked according to the salary scale of public employees prescribed by the State and are directly assigned to perform the jobs mentioned from clauses 1 to 6 of this Article, they are entitled to professional preferential allowances at the level corresponding to the job assigned in this Decree.

8. For people doing jobs under the remaining labor contract regime who are not subject to Clause 7 of this Article, who are directly assigned to perform the jobs mentioned from Clause 1 to Clause 6 of this Article, they shall be implemented according to the agreement in the labor contract.

Clause 2, Article 3 stipulates that professional preferential allowances are calculated as a percentage (hereinafter abbreviated as %) of the current salary coefficient plus leadership position allowance, reserve difference coefficient (if any), seniority allowance exceeding the frame (if any) of the beneficiaries.

Clause 3, Article 3 stipulates that professional preferential allowances are paid in the same monthly salary period and are not used to calculate social insurance contributions and benefits.

Thus, medical staff who meet the above conditions are entitled to professional preferential allowances; This Decree takes effect from September 9, 2026, and professional preferential allowance levels are applied from January 1, 2026.

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