What changed in Vietnam employment law in 2026

What employment-law changes took effect in Vietnam in 2026?

Across 2026 Vietnam raised the regional minimum wage (1 January), raised the statutory base salary and the social-insurance cap (1 July), moved resident income tax to five bands with higher deductions, made income-tax withholding quarterly, refreshed tax-free allowance caps, and added Vietnam Culture Day as a paid public holiday. Three 2025 reforms — social insurance, trade unions and work permits — still apply.

The table below is the year at a glance, newest change first; each row links to the guide that covers it and is sourced in full in the sections beneath.

What changed for pay and tax in Vietnam in 2026?

From 1 January 2026, Decree 293/2025/ND-CP lifted the four regional minimum wages by about 7.2%, to ₫5,310,000 a month in Region I. From 1 July 2026, Decree 161/2026/ND-CP raised the statutory base salary to ₫2,530,000, which lifted the social- and health-insurance contribution cap to ₫50,600,000 (20× the base).12 See the minimum wage and payroll and employer-cost guides.

Resident income tax changed for the 2026 tax year: five bands from 5% to 35% under PIT Law 109/2025/QH15, with the personal deduction up to ₫15,500,000 a month and ₫6,200,000 per dependant (Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15); non-residents still pay a flat 20%.3 From 1 July 2026, employers declare withheld income tax quarterly (Decree 252/2026/ND-CP) and the tax-free cash meal allowance rose to ₫1,200,000 a month (Decree 253/2026/ND-CP).45 The same Decree 253/2026 also deferred the tax on an employee share plan to the point of sale — see how employee share plans are taxed in Vietnam. See personal income tax for 2026 and tax-free allowances.

What changed for social insurance and the trade union?

The Social Insurance Law 41/2024/QH15 took effect on 1 July 2025. It pegs the contribution reference level to the base salary, allows half-day sick leave, and extended the window for taking paternity leave to 60 days after the birth — the leave itself stays at 5 to 14 days depending on the birth.6 Decree 219/2025/ND-CP (7 August 2025) also narrowed the intra-corporate-transferee exemption, so fewer seconded expatriates stay exempt from Vietnamese social insurance.7 See social insurance and social insurance for foreign employees.

The Trade Union Law 50/2024/QH15 (1 July 2025) keeps the 2% employer union-fund contribution that every employer pays whether or not it has an in-house union, and for the first time lets a foreign employee on a 12-month-or-longer contract join — though not lead — a grassroots union.8 Union membership dues for enterprise members were separately cut from 1% to 0.5% of the social-insurance salary (VGCL Decision 61/QĐ-TLĐ, effective 1 July 2025), but these are paid only by employees who choose to join, not by the employer.9 See the 2% trade-union fee.

What changed for work permits in 2026?

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, in force since 7 August 2025, rewrote the foreign-worker permit regime that runs through 2026. It folded the demand-justification step into a single work-permit application, dropped the periodic foreign-employment reports, moved authority to provincial People's Committees, eased the “expert” test to a degree plus two years' experience, and widened exemptions to 15 categories — including stays of under 90 cumulative days a year. A permit now runs up to two years and can be extended once.7 See Vietnam work permits.

What changed for contracts and data protection?

Decree 337/2025/ND-CP (in force 1 January 2026, platform from 1 July 2026) sets up a national Electronic Labour Contract Platform run by the Ministry of Home Affairs. An electronic contract carries the same validity as a written one; choosing an electronic contract stays optional, but from 1 July 2026 any electronic contract must be concluded through the platform.10 The Personal Data Protection Law 91/2025/QH15 and its Decree 356/2025/ND-CP — both in force from 1 January 2026 and Vietnam's first comprehensive data-protection regime — reach foreign organisations that process Vietnamese employees' data, require a cross-border-transfer impact assessment filed within 60 days of the first transfer, and carry penalties up to 5% of prior-year revenue.11 See electronic labour contracts and PDPL and HR data.

Is there a new public holiday in Vietnam in 2026?

Yes. Since 2026, 24 November is Vietnam Culture Day — a paid public holiday for all employees under Resolution 28/2026/QH16, effective 1 July 2026. It is a permanent, recurring entitlement and takes the total to 12 paid public-holiday days a year: the 11 Labour Code days plus Culture Day. In 2026 the day off is Tuesday 24 November, with no working-day swap.12 The Labour Code list (Article 112) has not yet been amended to insert it, so the paid day is in force through the Resolution. The full schedule is on Vietnam public holidays.

Watch items still settling (October 2026)

These are on the horizon or not yet settled as of October 2026 — flags to confirm, not current obligations. We will update this log as each is pinned down.

How EOR Vietnam keeps your hire current with these changes

As the legal employer, EOR Vietnam applies each change as it takes effect — the new base salary and cap in the July 2026 payroll runs, the five-band income tax and quarterly filings, the narrowed foreign-worker exemption, the union contributions, and the data-protection duties on employee records — so you do not track them yourself.

Our fee does not move with any of this. It is a flat US$149 per employee per month for a Vietnamese national (as of October 2026), the same whatever the salary, role or headcount, with no setup, onboarding, offboarding, contract or payslip fees and no hidden fees; a foreign national who needs a work permit is quoted separately. A refundable security deposit equal to two months of the employee's employment cost is held for the engagement and returned at the end, less any unpaid amounts, and salary and statutory contributions are passed through at cost. For the recurring deadlines, see the compliance calendar, or request a costed quote.