Vietnam has introduced a series of significant employment and labor law reforms effective from 1 July 2026. The changes affect social insurance contributions, employee leave entitlements, payroll reporting obligations, public holidays, and the adoption of electronic labor contracts. Employers should review payroll, HR, and compliance processes to ensure readiness for the new requirements.
The year 2026 marks a major shift in Vietnam's regulatory landscape towards a more digital, data-driven and strictly enforced environment. Recent legislative overhauls in employment law and social insurance law, along with an updated framework for electronic labor contracts have created new obligations for employers.
Following are the key reforms: -
| Increase in statutory base salary (Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP dated 15 May 2026)
|
| Statutory base salary |
From 1 July 2026 |
Until 30 June 2026 |
|
|
VND 2,530,000
|
VND 2,340,000
|
The base salary change will have major implications on payroll calculations, social insurance caps, unemployment insurance contribution caps, health insurance, employee benefits and employer costs obligations.
| Changes in Social Insurance Contributions (Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP dated 15 May 2026)
|
Contribution ceiling limits have increased in line with the new base salary for Social Insurance, Health Insurance, Trade Union, and Unemployment Insurance.
| Maximum salary cap for contributions |
From 1 July 2026 |
Until 30 June 2026 |
|
|
VND 50.60 million
|
VND 46.80 million
|
Employers will face higher payroll costs, and employees will have increased deductions, but with improved future benefits.
| Maternity and Paternity Leave
|
Maternity and Paternity Leave enhancements (Article 139 of the Labor Code 2019 and Article 53 of the Social Insurance Law 2024 as amended by Clause 1, Article 14 of the Population Law 2025)
| Leave entitlement on the birth of second child |
From 1 July 2026 |
Until 30 June 2026 |
| Female employee
|
7 months
|
6 months
|
| Male employee
|
10 working days
|
5 working days
|
| New paid public holiday (Resolution No. 28/2026/QH16 dated 24 April 2026)
|
24 November is now a public holiday as'Vietnam Culture Day', and employees will be entitled to this day as paid leave effective 1 July 2026. Employees working on this day must be compensated in accordance with the regulations applicable to public holidays.
| Submission of PIT declarations (Resolution No. 66.16/2026/NQ-CP dated 7 April 2026 and Decision No. 1109/ QD-BTC dated 8 May 2026)
|
From April 2026, organizations and individuals withholding Personal Income Tax (PIT) from employment income are required to submit PIT declarations quarterly. The earlier requirement to submit monthly declarations has been abolished.
| Electronic labor contracts (Decree No. 337/2025/ND-CP dated 24 December 2025)
|
The government has encouraged employers and employees to replace traditional paper-based contracts with electronic labor contracts and comply with digital signature, timestamp services, and electronic identification regulations.
