Employee benefits in Vietnam

What employee benefits are mandatory in Vietnam?

Vietnam's mandatory employee benefits are paid annual leave of at least 12 days, 12 paid public holidays, maternity, paternity and sickness leave funded by the social-insurance fund, and an employer-paid annual health check, alongside compulsory social and health insurance. The near-universal 13th-month Tết bonus is customary, not required by law.128

The distinction a foreign employer needs is between what the law compels and what the market expects. The statutory benefits are mostly inexpensive to the employer directly, because the big cash items — maternity, paternity and sick pay — are paid from the social-insurance fund the employer already contributes to. The customary 13th-month bonus is what makes an offer competitive, but it is a commercial choice unless written into a contract or policy. The table below summarises the split; each benefit then has its own guide for the detail.

Each statutory benefit, in brief

Annual leave. Employees get at least 12 days of paid annual leave a year under normal working conditions, rising to 14 or 16 days for younger, disabled or hazardous-work staff, plus one extra day for every five years with the same employer; accrued but untaken leave is generally paid out on termination (Labour Code 2019, Articles 113–114). The categories, pro-rating and worked examples are in the annual leave in Vietnam guide, and leave paid out at exit sits within terminating employees in Vietnam.1

Public holidays. Vietnam has 12 paid public holidays in 2026 — the 11 set by the Labour Code plus Vietnam Culture Day on 24 November, a new paid holiday from 2026 under Resolution 28/2026/QH16 (the paid entitlement already applies, though the Labour Code Article 112 list has not yet been formally amended to add it). The government's day-swap "long weekends" extend some breaks without adding to the statutory count. The full 2026 and 2027 calendar is in the Vietnam public holidays guide.134

Maternity and paternity leave. Maternity leave is six months, paid at 100% of the mother's average social-insurance salary, with an extra 30 days per additional child for a multiple birth; fathers covered by social insurance get 5 to 14 days of paid paternity leave, taken within 60 days of the birth. Both are paid by the social-insurance fund, not the employer directly (Labour Code Art. 139; Social Insurance Law 41/2024). Eligibility and the paternity bands are in the maternity and paternity leave guide.12

Sick leave. Statutory sick leave is paid from the social-insurance fund at 75% of the employee's contribution salary, for 30 to 70 days a year depending on contribution history and working conditions, with a half-day option since 1 July 2025 (Social Insurance Law 41/2024). The bands and the claim process are in the sick leave in Vietnam guide. Women also have further statutory entitlements — menstrual and nursing breaks and protected leave — set out in female employee rights in Vietnam.2

Annual health check. Every employer must give each employee a health check at least once a year — and at least twice a year for heavy, hazardous or dangerous jobs and for younger, older or disabled staff — paid for by the employer, and including a gynaecological examination for women (Law on Occupational Safety and Health 84/2015, Article 21). The frequency, who pays and the penalty for skipping it are in the mandatory employee health checks guide.8

Which employee benefits are customary rather than required?

The clearest customary benefit is the 13th-month (Tết) bonus — close to universal but not required by law. Other common extras, such as discretionary allowances, private health cover and additional paid leave, are also market practice rather than legal entitlements: each binds an employer only if it has been promised in a labour contract, collective agreement or published policy (Labour Code 2019, Article 104).1 Equity in a foreign parent's plan is another competitive extra for senior and technical hires; how it works and is taxed in Vietnam is set out in employee stock options (ESOP) in Vietnam.

The 13th-month bonus is typically about one month's salary, paid before the Lunar New Year and often pro-rated for those with under a year's service; how it is calculated, budgeted and taxed is set out in the dedicated 13th-month salary in Vietnam guide. Like other pay, it is taxable employment income subject to personal income tax withholding.

Is social insurance an employee benefit in Vietnam?

Social insurance is Vietnam's core employee benefit: it funds the pension, sickness, maternity and other allowances set out above. Vietnamese employees contribute 10.5% of salary and employers about 23.5% in total — 21.5% toward social, health and unemployment insurance5 plus a 2% trade-union fee6 — within statutory caps.

For the employee those contributions buy real entitlements — a state pension, the 75% sick pay, fully-funded maternity and paternity leave, and unemployment support — rather than being a pure tax, and they are the mechanism by which most statutory benefits reach the employee without a separate cash outlay at the point of leave. A fund-by-fund breakdown is in the social insurance in Vietnam guide. The full rate table, the ₫50,600,000 contribution cap and worked examples are on Vietnam payroll and employer costs; to run a total monthly figure, use the employer-cost calculator. The contribution base follows the applicable regional minimum wage as its floor.

What benefits do foreign employees get in Vietnam?

Foreign employees on a labour contract of 12 months or more join compulsory social and health insurance — roughly 9.5% from the employee and 20.5% from the employer — but are exempt from unemployment insurance. They also receive the same paid annual leave and public holidays, plus one traditional new-year day and one national day of their own country (Social Insurance Law 41/2024; Labour Code Art. 112).21

The two extra national-origin holidays are a genuine, often-overlooked statutory benefit for expatriate staff, on top of Vietnam's own 12 days. Because foreign employees are outside unemployment insurance, their combined contribution load is about 30% of capped salary against 32% for Vietnamese staff — the full foreigner position is in the social insurance for foreign employees guide. Some intra-corporate transferees remain exempt from social insurance, but that exemption was narrowed by Decree 219/2025,7 so each expatriate's position should be checked before hiring — alongside the work permit most foreign hires need. The contract and leave terms sit within the wider rules in Vietnam employment contracts and labour law.

A dedicated guide to each benefit

Every statutory and customary benefit on this page has its own sourced guide. Start with the one you need below, or browse all our Vietnam employer guides.