Maternity and paternity leave in Vietnam

How long is maternity leave in Vietnam?

A mother is entitled to six months of maternity leave for the birth of a child. For a multiple birth, the leave is extended by 30 days for each additional child — so twins give six months plus one month, and so on.1 It is a fixed statutory minimum: an employer may offer more in the contract or internal labour regulations, but never less.

The six months is not entirely free-floating. At least four of the six months must fall after the birth, which caps pre-natal leave at roughly two months. A mother who wants to may return to work after at least four months if she and the employer agree and a doctor confirms it is safe; the remaining leave is then forgone, though her social-insurance maternity benefit continues for the balance of the period.1 The leave base sits in the Labour Code's maternity-protection chapter, with the benefit itself governed by the Social Insurance Law.2

How much is maternity pay in Vietnam, and who qualifies?

Maternity pay is 100% of the mother's average monthly social-insurance salary, calculated over the six months of contributions immediately before she takes leave. Because it is paid at the full contribution salary rather than a reduced rate, maternity leave in Vietnam is far more generous than the partial-rate sick leave it sits alongside.1

There is one qualifying condition that overseas employers often miss. To draw the benefit, the mother must have contributed to compulsory social insurance for at least six months within the 12 months before the birth.1 A recent hire who has not yet built up six months of contributions may fall short, so it matters to confirm an employee's contribution history early. The same contribution salary that funds the benefit is the one on which compulsory social insurance in Vietnam is charged, up to the statutory ceiling.

How many days of paternity leave do fathers get in Vietnam?

A father who is himself covered by social insurance is entitled to paid paternity leave of 5 to 14 days, scaled to the type of birth, and it must be taken within 60 days of the birth. The 60-day window — widened from 30 days by the Social Insurance Law 41/2024 in force since 1 July 2025 — can be split rather than taken in one block, which helps fathers cover the arrival and a later period at home.1

Who pays for maternity and paternity leave in Vietnam?

This is the single point most foreign employers get wrong: in Vietnam, the state social-insurance fund pays the maternity and paternity benefit, not the employer. The employer does not pay the employee's salary during maternity leave; instead the fund pays the statutory benefit directly, based on the employee's contribution record.1 What the employer funds is the contribution that resources the scheme in the first place — part of the social-insurance element of monthly payroll.

Of the employer's 17.5% social-insurance contribution, a 3% slice funds the sickness-and-maternity sub-fund, which is what pays these benefits when a claim is made.4 In other words, maternity and paternity pay are pre-funded through the ordinary Vietnam payroll contributions every employer already makes, then drawn from the fund when an employee becomes a parent. The employer's role at claim time is administrative — confirming the birth, filing the claim and reconciling the benefit — rather than cash out of its own pocket.

Because the benefit is contribution-based, it behaves like the other social-insurance-funded entitlements. Statutory sick leave in Vietnam is paid by the same fund at 75% of the contribution salary, while paid annual leave in Vietnam is an employer-paid entitlement that runs on its own, separate rules — a distinction worth keeping clear when you budget a hire.

What pregnancy and nursing protections apply alongside the leave?

Maternity leave is only part of the picture. The Labour Code's maternity-protection chapter layers several duties on the employer before and after the leave, and an overseas employer has to build them into rostering and policy, not just the payroll.

An employer may not require a female employee to work at night, do overtime, or travel on long-distance assignments once she reaches the 7th month of pregnancy — the 6th month in upland, remote, border or island areas — or while she is raising a child under 12 months old, unless she herself agrees.3 If a pregnant employee does heavy, toxic or dangerous work, once she notifies the employer she must be moved to lighter or safer duties, or have her working day cut by one hour with no loss of pay, rights or benefits, until the child turns 12 months old.3

After the birth, a mother raising a child under 12 months is entitled to a paid 60-minute break every working day — to breastfeed, express and store milk, or rest — counted as working time at full pay.3 There is also a firm job-protection rule: an employer cannot dismiss, or unilaterally end the contract of, an employee because she marries, is pregnant, is on maternity leave, or is nursing a child under 12 months, save for narrow exceptions such as the employer ceasing to exist; and when such an employee's fixed-term contract expires, she must be given priority for a new one.3 No disciplinary action of any kind may be taken during that protected window either.3

A pregnant employee who has a doctor's confirmation that continuing to work would harm her pregnancy may also end or pause her own contract early, on giving the employer notice and the medical confirmation.3 These protections span working hours, discipline and termination, so they are set out in full on the dedicated guide to female employee rights in Vietnam, and they sit within the wider Vietnam labour-law framework.

Is there a longer entitlement for a second child?

Some 2025 commentary reported that a second child might attract an extra entitlement — additional paternity days, and a longer maternity period — possibly from the middle of 2026. As of October 2026 we have not found this confirmed in the implementing text, so we do not publish it as a rule.1 The verified entitlements set out above — six months of maternity leave at 100% of the contribution salary, and 5 to 14 days of paternity leave within 60 days — are what apply now. If you are planning around a second-child case, treat any longer figure as unconfirmed and check the position with Vietnamese counsel before you rely on it.

How does EOR Vietnam administer SI-funded parental leave?

As your legal employer of record in Vietnam, EOR Vietnam carries the whole parental-leave obligation for your hire. We register and maintain the employee's social-insurance record so the qualifying contribution is in place, confirm the entitlement when a birth is notified, file the maternity or paternity claim with the provincial social-security office, and reconcile the benefit paid by the fund — all while holding the employee's job open and applying the pregnancy, nursing and anti-dismissal protections above.1

Because the benefit is paid by the social-insurance fund rather than by you, parental leave does not add a salary cost on top of your employment bill — the ordinary social-insurance contributions already fund it.4 Our own fee does not move with any of this: it is a flat US$149 per employee per month for a Vietnamese national, the same regardless of salary, role, location or headcount, with no setup, onboarding, offboarding, contract or payslip fees (as of October 2026). Foreign nationals who need a Vietnamese work permit are quoted separately. A refundable security deposit equal to two months of the employee's employment cost — gross salary plus statutory employer contributions — is held for the engagement and returned at the end, less any unpaid amounts. To see where leave and contributions sit in the total, use the EOR Vietnam cost breakdown, read what an EOR in Vietnam is, or browse the full set of Vietnam employer guides.