An employment contract may be terminated at any time by either party by giving written notice to the other party in advance, as follows:
A party that fails to comply with the notice period provisions is required to pay compensation worth the employee's salary for the remaining notice period from the termination date to the other party. An employee who does not comply with the notice period requirements must pay half a month's salary to the employer.
Foreign nationals who wish to work in Vietnam require a work permit issued by the People's Committee. Applicants must provide the following documents:
The maximum duration of a work permit is 2 years, with a possible 2-year extension.
Employees are entitled to fully paid annual leave after 12 months of service with an employer:
Annual leave increases by 1 day for every 5 years of employment with the same employer. Employees who have worked for less than 12 months are entitled to paid leave proportional to the number of months worked.
In the case of employment termination, job loss, or other reasons, an employee who has not used or not entirely taken their annual leave is entitled to receive compensation for the unused leave days. Employees who work during their annual leave are entitled to their normal wages for the work performed and cash compensation for the unused annual leave days, calculated at the employee’s contractual daily wage. This results in a payment equivalent to 200% of the normal daily wage. Overtime during paid leave is paid at a rate of 300% of the normal daily wage.
The regular working hours cannot exceed 8 hours per day (up to 10 for those on a weekly schedule) and 48 hours per week. The working hours of employees under 15 cannot exceed 4 hours per day and 20 hours per week, and employees from 15 to under 18 cannot exceed 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, and cannot perform night work or hazardous work. The statutory hours for a workweek may not be above 48 hours, but the state encourages employers to implement a 40-hour workweek. The working hours of employees under 15 cannot exceed 4 per day and 20 per week.
Employees who have paid social insurance premiums for 6 months or more within 12 months before childbirth are entitled to 6 months of paid maternity leave. In the case of a previous birth or multiple births, the mother is entitled to one additional month off for each child from the second child onwards. Maternity leave cannot begin earlier than 2 months before the expected date of delivery.
Employees adopting a child younger than 6 months of age are entitled to take paid maternity leave until the child turns 6 months old. Employees are also entitled to paid leave when they experience miscarriage, abortion, or stillbirth.
An employee can return to work before the end of the maternity leave period with approval from her employer if she has taken at least 4 months' leave.
Under the Labor Code of Vietnam, an employee's salary may not be below the minimum wage. Statutory minimum wages are minimum wages of employees who do the simplest jobs in normal working conditions, sufficient to support them and their families, and appropriate for socio-economic development. The laws stipulating region-based minimum wages applied to employees working under labor contracts require that a skilled worker be paid at least 7% more than the region-based minimum wage.
Current minimum wage rates are as follows (effective January 2026):
|
|
Minimum monthly wage (Vietnamese Dongs, VND) |
Minimum hourly wage (Vietnamese Dongs, VND) |
|
Region I (urban Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) |
5,310,000 |
25,500 |
|
Region II (rural Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, along with Da Nang) |
4,730,000 |
22,700 |
|
Region III (Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, and other provinces, not included in Regions I and II) |
4,140,000 |
20,000 |
|
Region IV (other regions) |
3,700,000 |
17,800 |
Get the full Country Snapshot with 25 sections of information about labor law in Bahrain.
Your request has been received. We'll be emailing you the country snapshot shortly.
Get the full Country Snapshot with 25 sections of information about labor law in Vietnam.
Your request has been received. We'll be emailing you the country snapshot shortly.
