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To hire employees in Vietnam, first determine who will employ the worker and where they will work, then confirm the applicable rules for their nationality and role. Put the employment terms in a compliant written agreement, meet the minimum wage for the employer’s operating locality, and configure payroll for the worker’s applicable insurance and tax obligations. The 2026 regional wage floors are established, but rates, contribution bases, tax deadlines, and foreign-worker procedures must be checked against current rules before you run payroll or authorize work.
How do I hire employees in Vietnam?
Use this sequence to identify the decisions that shape a hire. It is an employer-facing orientation, not advice for a particular company or worker: nationality, work location, hiring entity, role, and employment arrangement can change what applies.
- Choose the employing arrangement. Determine whether your business has a Vietnam entity that will employ the person, or whether you need local employment and payroll support. Confirm who will sign the agreement and who is responsible for employer administration; the right structure depends on the business and cannot be determined from the worker’s location alone.
- Classify the worker and role. Confirm nationality, job, work location, expected contract duration, and whether the person will work in Vietnam. For a foreign worker, check the authorization route for that specific arrangement before work begins.
- Set written employment terms. Draft an agreement that addresses the relevant Labor Code topics, including the parties, job, workplace, term, salary, payment arrangements, working and rest time, protective equipment, insurance, and training.
- Identify the applicable minimum wage region. Use the official locality list and account for the employer’s operating location; do not assign a region based on a city name alone.
- Configure payroll before the first pay run. Confirm which insurance schemes apply, the contribution bases and ceilings, treatment of pay components, income-tax withholding, and current filing deadlines.
- Verify administration and recordkeeping. Check current rules for contract form and signatures, storage, employee records, payslips, registration, and any required electronic filing before rolling out a process.
If you lack local HR or payroll capacity, local employment or payroll support may be worth evaluating. Compare who is legally responsible for the contract, payroll, insurance, taxes, filings, employee support, and exit administration; do not assume a service provider takes on every employer obligation.
What should a Vietnam employment contract include?
The Government’s consolidated Labor Code document 18/VBHN-VPQH, dated 2026-02-12, is a current starting point for reviewing contract topics. Its listed content includes the employer’s and employee’s identities; work and workplace; contract duration; salary and payment method and timing; allowances and other salary additions; advancement or review; working and rest time; protective equipment; insurance; and training. See the official consolidated Labor Code document.
Use those topics to build a clear agreement, not as a substitute for checking the rules that govern the particular hire. Contract form, duration, signatures, and any later implementing requirements can depend on the circumstances. Verify the exact statutory language and current requirements before adopting a standard contract template across different worker categories.
- State the job and actual workplace clearly, including where the employee is expected to perform the work.
- Make salary, allowances or additions, payment method, and payment timing unambiguous.
- Set out expected working and rest time, as well as any relevant equipment and training arrangements.
- Describe insurance terms consistently with the applicable law and payroll treatment; do not use contract language to assume an exemption.
What is the minimum wage in Vietnam in 2026?
Vietnam’s minimum wage is regional, not one nationwide monthly figure. Government Decree 293/2025/NĐ-CP was issued on 2025-11-10 and took effect on 2026-01-01. It sets the following monthly and hourly floors:
| Wage region | Monthly floor | Hourly floor |
|---|---|---|
| Region I | VND 5,310,000 | VND 25,500 |
| Region II | VND 4,730,000 | VND 22,700 |
| Region III | VND 4,140,000 | VND 20,000 |
| Region IV | VND 3,700,000 | VND 17,800 |
These are the floors in the Government’s decree, effective from 2026-01-01; they are not a guide to total payroll cost or a statement of any individual employee’s full compensation. Check the decree’s official locality appendix to identify the correct region, especially if the employer operates in more than one place or in an industrial zone. The official record for Decree 293/2025/NĐ-CP contains the governing document and locality rules.
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What payroll taxes and social insurance does an employer pay in Vietnam?
Payroll must be configured for the specific employee category and current rules. Determine the applicable social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance coverage; the contribution base and any ceiling; and how allowances and additional pay are treated. These details should be verified before calculating employer cost or setting deductions.
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Do not rely on older unemployment-insurance instructions without checking their current status. Employment Law No. 74/2025/QH15 took effect on 2026-01-01 and replaced the 2013 law subject to transition provisions. Consult the Government policy and law portal’s text of Employment Law No. 74/2025/QH15 and applicable current implementing rules when determining coverage and procedures.
No complete, authoritative 2026 rate table, contribution-base and ceiling schedule, or filing calendar is established by the official sources cited here. The same applies to detailed personal income-tax withholding, employer tax declarations, and year-end reconciliation steps. Confirm those figures and deadlines with current official guidance or a qualified Vietnam payroll or tax professional rather than using an unverified online rate or calendar.
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Do foreign employees need a work permit in Vietnam?
Foreign-worker authorization depends on the person’s work arrangement and role; it is not safe to assume that every foreign hire follows the same permit process or that all foreign workers are exempt. Official foreign-worker rules cover multiple arrangements, including labor contracts, intra-company transfers, service contracts, and managerial, specialist, or technical roles.
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The Ministry of Justice legal database provides the text of Decree No. 152/2020/NĐ-CP on foreign workers. That 2020 text alone does not establish the current amended rules or a complete permit and exemption workflow. Before the person starts work, confirm the latest applicable requirements and filing route with the responsible local authority for the worker’s specific role and arrangement. Do not infer an exemption, deadline, or fee from the decree title or a generic checklist.
What should be checked before the first payroll run?
Keep a short pre-launch checklist for each hire and revisit it when the worker’s role, location, or arrangement changes:
- Employer and responsibility: Identify the entity or local support arrangement that signs the agreement and owns each payroll, tax, insurance, filing, and recordkeeping task.
- Worker and authorization: Record nationality, role, workplace, and duration; confirm any foreign-worker permission or exemption using current rules where applicable.
- Contract: Review the written terms against the Labor Code topics and the rules for that worker’s contract form and duration.
- Wage region: Match the operating locality to the official appendix and test pay against the applicable 2026 floor.
- Payroll setup: Verify coverage, rates, bases, ceilings, pay-component treatment, tax withholding, and filing deadlines from current authoritative guidance.
- Records and administration: Confirm signature, storage, payslip, registration, and employee-record requirements, including any applicable electronic process.
Review the setup with a qualified local adviser when a worker is foreign, works across locations, has a non-standard arrangement, or falls into a category whose insurance or tax treatment is unclear.
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