The Ministry of Home Affairs will propose increasing the minimum wage for public servants and members of the armed forces to help ensure their basic living needs.

The ministry will also propose changes to the Government payroll system and to policies involving allowances or other additional payments for employees. The move follows a ministry survey showing that over 98 percent of staff in the ministries of Education and Training, Science and Technology, and Health, as well as local governments in 15 cities and provinces, said the current minimum wage was too low.

The survey was conducted as part of a UNDP-funded project to assess the implementation of wage policy reform for public servants since 2003 and reform plans for 2012-20.

The minimum wage has been increased from VND210,000 (USD10.50) per month in 2003 to VND830,000 (USD41.50) currently, with periodic increases based on inflation and State budget resources.

Participants in a workshop held in the northern city of Haiphong on September 25 agreed that high inflation and other economic difficulties since the global financial crisis in 2008 have increased pressures on low-paid workers trying to meet basic living conditions.

They proposed that the minimum wage for public servants be increased to the same level or higher than that for workers in the private sector to encourage public servants to perform their duties more effectively.