Vietnam · Hiring guide
Low labor cost, plenty of engineers and line workers, many FTAs; but labor law strongly protects workers, dismissal is very hard and strikes are sensitive — firms that budget carefully and follow process benefit most.
The 2% trade-union fee is mandatory — you pay 2% of payroll even with no union. That’s why the employer side totals 23.5%, not the 21.5% most people assume.
Severance = 0.5 month’s wage × years of service (based on the average wage of the last 6 months); service from 2009 covered by unemployment insurance is not double-counted.
Example: Wage ₫30,000,000, 4 years (assumed counted): 0.5 × 4 × 30,000,000 = ₫60,000,000; if that service is under unemployment insurance, the fund pays the benefit instead and employer severance can be 0.
Source: Labor Code 2019, Art 36, 46–48
Supporting detail
18/18 decision blocks · verified 2026-08-16 · review by undefined
A label does not avoid employment status: paid work under another party’s management, direction and supervision is an employment contract. Use writing or a legally valid electronic form; only limited work under one month may be oral. Contracts are indefinite or fixed for up to 36 months. Continued work after expiry must be regularised within 30 days, normally with only one further fixed term.
Probation is once per job: up to 180 days for enterprise managers, 60 for roles requiring college-level professional skills, 30 for intermediate technical/business roles and six working days for other work. Pay must be at least 85% of the job wage and the result must be notified.
Normal hours are no more than eight per day and 48 per week (the State encourages 40). Overtime normally needs consent and is limited by daily rules, 40 hours/month and usually 200 hours/year; specified cases may reach 300 with notice. Minimum overtime pay is 150% on working days, 200% on weekly rest days and 300% on public holidays, plus at least 30% for night work and the statutory extra for night overtime.
Region 1 VND5,310,000/month from 2026 under Decree 293 (four regions); Region II is ₫4,730,000, III ₫4,140,000 and IV ₫3,700,000. Determine the region from the actual workplace and the Decree 293/2025 annex; do not reuse an old address map after administrative changes.
The statutory minimum is not a market offer. Displayed salary ranges are role samples and must show sample period, scope and percentiles. Recalibrate by city, language, seniority, sector and total cash/benefits; never present platform samples as government wage standards.
Pay fully, directly and on time under the agreed cycle; monthly wages need a stable pay date and a payslip showing wage, overtime and deductions. Cash or transfer may be used; where payment through a personal account is required, the employer bears account-opening and transfer costs. Deductions need a lawful basis and fines cannot replace labour discipline.
For tax year 2026, resident employment income uses five PIT bands (5/10/20/30/35%, monthly taxable thresholds ₫10m/30m/60m/100m), with ₫15.5m personal and ₫6.2m/dependent monthly deductions; non-resident employment income is generally 20%. Local statutory social contributions are usually 21.5% employer and 10.5% employee. The employer also pays a 2% trade-union levy; employee member dues must not be deducted from non-members by default. SI/HI and unemployment use different contribution caps.
The labour-cost calculator must separately handle regional minima, the ₫50.6m SI/HI cap, unemployment capped at 20× the applicable regional minimum, foreign-worker unemployment exemption, union-member dues, dependent deductions and the 2026 five-band PIT. Results split employee take-home from total employer cost.
After 12 months, normal work receives 12 working days’ annual leave; minors, disabled workers and heavy/hazardous roles receive 14 or 16. Shorter service is pro-rated and one day is added for every five years with the same employer. Qualifying unused leave is paid out on termination.
There are 11 statutory paid public-holiday days: New Year 1, Lunar New Year 5, Hung Kings 1, Reunification Day 1, Labour Day 1 and National Day 2. Foreign employees also receive one traditional-new-year and one national-day holiday of their country. Notify employees of the chosen 2026 Lunar New Year and National Day arrangements at least 30 days ahead; weekly-rest overlap is compensated under law.
Maternity leave is generally six months. Insured fathers receive 5–14 working days depending on the birth. Sickness, pregnancy loss/contraception and care for an ill child are social-insurance benefits whose days and amounts depend on coverage, work conditions, number of children and medical evidence; do not present them as one fixed company-paid leave.
Separate mandates from market benefits: statutory insurance, the employer 2% union levy, leave and overtime are not optional benefits. Tết/13th-month bonuses are not universally mandatory, but bonus rules should be published in company policy. Competitive offers often add meals, transport/phone, private medical, annual checks, training and performance bonus; label the market sample period.
Employer unilateral termination requires a statutory ground, evidence, notice and procedure. Common notice is 30 days for fixed and 45 for indefinite contracts, with three working days for specified short contracts. Settlement is normally within 14 working days, exceptionally 30. Severance is generally half a month per eligible service year after excluding unemployment-insured periods. Unlawful termination can mean reinstatement, back pay, contribution arrears and at least two months’ wages in damages.
A contractor label is not decisive. Ongoing paid work under scheduling, evaluation, direction, supervision or organisational discipline may be reclassified as employment even if titled “service/cooperation,” creating wage, contribution, tax and labour-right arrears. Document control, integration, substitution, tools, business risk and client concentration case by case.
Assess local contract rights, work permit/exemption, visa/TRC and social-insurance coverage separately for foreign workers. Decree 219/2025 replaced the old regime; an investor visa or company title does not automatically confer work rights. Hiring plans must allow for eligibility, document legalisation, permit/exemption confirmation and residence coordination.
Layer channels by role: public employment-service centres for official labour-market services, mainstream local platforms for general/white-collar roles, specialist platforms for tech, plus campus, referrals and licensed search. Lists are entry points—not unsupported “best/success-rate” rankings. Job ads and screening must avoid prohibited discrimination.
For normal conditions in 2026, retirement age is 61 years 6 months for men and 57 for women and continues rising under Decree 135/2020. Heavy/hazardous work, reduced capacity or special locations may qualify for earlier retirement; highly skilled professionals may continue longer. Date of birth alone does not automatically terminate employment.
Monthly: close attendance, payslips, pay, SI/HI/unemployment and the employer union levy. From the April 2026 tax period, employment PIT withholding is filed quarterly—without the former VND 50m cycle threshold—and employee, dependent and foreign-permit changes are reviewed. Semi-annually: file labour-use reports by the implementing-decree deadline. Annually: PIT finalisation, leave carry/pay-out, minimum-wage and contribution-base review, retirement age, holiday plan, contract expiries and permit expiries. Keep owner, deadline, receipt and exception-recovery evidence for each entity.
Transplanting home-country high-pressure management caused mass resignations.
What to do: Localize management; locals lead, expats support.
Vietnamese value life over work and resist forced overtime.
What to do: Use scheduling & incentives, not forced OT.
Vietnamese value rituals; events lifted belonging and retention.
What to do: Regular rituals + employer brand + competitive pay.
Firing without lawful grounds/process led to costly reinstatement.
What to do: Lawful grounds + due process + records; consult a local lawyer.
Vietnam caps probation length and requires ≥85% wage; overrunning it converted the hire into a full employee.
What to do: Respect the legal cap; confirm or lawfully end on time; pay ≥85%; document everything.
For a local employee on 30,000,000 ₫/month, employer monthly cost is about 37,050,000 ₫ (overhead +23.5%), ~444,600,000 ₫ annualized. Use the calculator as a budgeting estimate and verify payroll filings with the relevant authority.
Social-insurance basis: employer 21.5% / employee 10.5% (from Jul 2025). The employer also pays the 2% KPCĐ union fund, making the employer on-cost 23.5%; only union members pay the separate 1% employee dues. Bases are capped: SI+HI at 20× the reference level = VND 50,600,000 (from Jul 2026); unemployment separately at 20× the regional minimum wage (VND 106,200,000 in Region 1)
No. You need a lawful ground + due process + advance notice (indefinite ≥45 days); unlawful dismissal means reinstatement + back pay + at least 2 months’ compensation.
Weekday ≥150%, weekend ≥200%, public holiday ≥300%, night shift +30%; capped at ≤40 hrs/month and ≤200 hrs/year (300 in certain sectors).
Need someone on the ground to actually run it?
This guide tells you what the rules are. Execution still needs local demand generation, in-store conversion, and membership plus automation to turn buyers into repeat customers.
Deeply researched and maintained against official sources as of the verification date shown; rates and processes are for reference — for major decisions rely on each country’s authorities and local counsel.