Dismissal of employees in Vietnam: what makes it lawful?

Dismissal of employees in Vietnam is lawful only if four things hold at once. The conduct falls under one of the four grounds in Article 125 of the Labour Code, is already written into the internal labour rules or the labour contract, and the employer can prove the fault. The employee is not in a protected period or protected for a barred reason (Article 122(4) and (5)). The decision is signed inside the time limit of 6 or 12 months. And the disciplinary meeting, minutes and decision follow Decree 145/2020/ND-CP. If any one is missing, the dismissal can be treated as an unlawful dismissal in Vietnam: the employer must take the employee back, pay wages and insurance for the days not worked and pay at least two more months of salary (Article 41), and may also be fined under Decree 283/2026/ND-CP.

This article is for HR and legal teams of foreign-invested companies and SMEs. It covers disciplinary dismissal in Vietnam only. Ending a contract because of poor performance, long illness, restructuring or other Article 36 grounds is a different mechanism, covered in our article on terminating an employment contract in Vietnam.

Grounds for dismissal of employees in Vietnam: the four groups in Article 125#

Disciplinary dismissal in Vietnam is one of four sanctions in Article 124, alongside a reprimand, a delay of up to 6 months in the next pay rise, and demotion. The contract then ends under Article 34(8), not under the employer's termination right in Article 36, so the grounds and procedure differ: four groups of conduct in Article 125 and a disciplinary meeting (Article 122; Article 70 of Decree 145), no advance notice period to end the contract (Article 45 does not require a separate notice; only at least 5 working days' notice of the meeting), and no severance allowance (Article 34(8) is not among the cases in Article 46(1)). The Code does not say whether the contract ends on signing or another date, so state the effective date in the decision.

The two routes overlap on unauthorised absence: Article 125 allows dismissal for cumulative absence (group 4 below), while Article 36(1)(e) allows termination for 5 or more consecutive working days of unauthorised absence. Choose one route and follow its own procedure.

Our reading is that the list in Article 125 is closed. Internal labour rules may spell out the conduct inside each group (Article 69 of Decree 145) but cannot add a new ground. The one exception we found is domestic workers (Article 89(6) of Decree 145 adds a dismissal ground for ill-treatment, beating, insults or conduct harming the health, dignity or honour of the employer or household members); this article does not cover that group.

Group	Conduct under Article 125	Practical note
1	Theft, embezzlement, gambling, intentionally causing injury, or using drugs at the workplace	No value threshold is set for property. Conduct directly related to finances or property has a 12-month time limit
2	Disclosing business or technological secrets, infringing the employer's intellectual property, causing serious damage or threatening to cause especially serious damage to the employer's property or interests, or sexual harassment at work as defined in the internal labour rules	The law does not quantify "serious", so the rules should set clear criteria. Sexual harassment is a ground only if the rules cover it; Article 84 of Decree 145 defines it and Article 85 sets the required content of the anti-harassment provisions
3	Repeat offence after a sanction of delayed pay rise or demotion, before the sanction is cleared	A repeat means repeating the same conduct already sanctioned. Under Article 126 a sanction is cleared after 3 months (reprimand), 6 months (delayed pay rise) or 3 years (demotion) without a new violation. A reprimand followed by a repeat does not by itself fall in this group
4	Unauthorised absence for 5 cumulative days in 30 days, or 20 cumulative days in 365 days, counted from the first day, without a justified reason	Justified reasons include natural disasters, fire, illness of the employee or a relative certified by a competent medical facility, and other cases set in the internal labour rules

Each violation attracts one sanction only; for several violations at once, only the highest sanction for the most serious one applies (Article 122(2) and (3)). Fines or wage cuts instead of discipline are banned (Article 127(2)); compensation for property damage is a separate mechanism (Articles 129 and 130).

Who cannot be dismissed? Employees protected from discipline#

Article 122(4) bars any disciplinary action, including dismissal, while the employee is in one of these periods:

• on sick leave or convalescence, or on leave approved by the employer (point a);
• detained or in custody (point b);
• waiting for the result of an investigation or conclusion by a competent authority on conduct in Article 125(1) or (2) (point c);
• a pregnant female employee, or an employee on maternity leave or raising a child under 12 months (point d).

In point (d) only "pregnant" is tied to female employees; maternity leave and raising a child under 12 months are written for any "employee", so they apply to male employees in those situations too. Article 122(5) adds that no discipline applies to a violation committed while suffering from a mental or other illness that removed the ability to understand or control behaviour. The law also bars dismissal or discipline because of marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave or raising a child under 12 months (Article 137(3)); because of forming, joining or running an employee representative organisation (Article 175(1)(b)); and because of preparing for or taking part in a strike, including strike leaders (Article 208(4); Article 30(3)(a) of Decree 283).

Dismissing a pregnant employee in Vietnam#

Dismissing a pregnant employee in Vietnam is blocked twice, which makes it the highest-risk case: Article 122(4)(d) and Article 137(3). Article 137(3) leaves only narrow exceptions: an individual employer who dies, loses civil capacity or goes missing, or a non-individual employer that ceases to operate. The misconduct is not erased. Under Article 123(2) the time limit is extended by up to 60 days from the end of the protected period. Our reading is that the employer may still act inside that extension if the evidence is intact; confirm this with the competent authority in a live case. The fines are in the table in the unlawful dismissal section.

Sick leave, detention and pending investigations#

Do not hold the meeting during sick leave, convalescence or approved leave; if misconduct is found just before the leave, record the evidence at once and recalculate the time limit.

The "waiting for a competent authority" ground applies only to Article 125(1) and (2) conduct. The law says only "waiting for the result" of an investigation or verification and does not say who starts it. Our reading is that it applies when the matter is under investigation by a competent authority, for example after the company reported it to the police, and that the company should not discipline in parallel. A long investigation can use up the time limit: once the conclusion arrives, the company has at most 60 days if the limit has expired or has less than 60 days left (Article 123(2)). Prepare the file and the notice in parallel.

The time limit for dismissal of employees in Vietnam: 6 months, 12 months and a 60-day extension#

• 6 months from the date of the violation; 12 months if the conduct directly relates to the employer's finances, property, technological secrets or business secrets (Article 123(1)).
• Extension: when a protected period under Article 122(4) ends, and the limit has expired or less than 60 days remain, it is extended by up to 60 days from the end of that period (Article 123(2)).
• The decision must be issued within these periods (Article 123(3)).

The clock runs to the date the decision is issued, not the date of the meeting. A meeting held in time but a decision signed late is a time limit violation, fined under Article 25(2), point dd of Decree 283 (the fifth point of that paragraph; Vietnamese lettering has a separate letter between d and e). Article 70 of Decree 145 also requires the meeting itself to fall inside the limit. The Code does not say when the clock starts for conduct that spans several days, such as cumulative absence; the cautious approach is to count from the first day of the series. For conduct found late, Article 123(1) still counts from the date of the violation, not discovery.

The disciplinary meeting in Vietnam, step by step#

The disciplinary meeting in Vietnam must meet the four requirements of Article 122(1); Article 70 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP details them.

1. Record the violation or collect evidence. If the violation is seen when it happens, draw up a violation record and notify the employee representative organisation of which the employee is a member; if found later, collect evidence of the fault (Article 70(1)). The employer bears the burden of proof (Article 122(1)(a)).
2. Send notice of the meeting at least 5 working days ahead, stating the content, time and place, the employee's name and the violation, and make sure everyone who must attend receives it; keep proof of sending and receipt (Article 70(2)(a)). If a required attendee cannot attend, the employee and employer agree a new time or place, and if they cannot agree the employer decides (Article 70(2)(b)).
3. Hold the meeting. The participants are the employer; the employee, who must be present and may defend themselves or have a lawyer or the employee representative organisation do so; and the employee representative organisation of which the employee is a member. If a required participant does not confirm or is absent, the employer may still proceed (Article 70(2)(c)).
4. Keep minutes, approved before the meeting ends and signed by the participants; if someone refuses to sign, the note-taker records the name and the reason (Article 70(3)).
5. Issue and send the decision within the time limit to those who had to attend (Article 70(4)). The decision is signed by whoever may sign labour contracts for the employer under Article 18(3), or the person named in the rules (Article 69(2)(i) of Decree 145).

Two points need care. First, Article 122(1)(b) requires the participation of the employee representative organisation of which the employee is a member (the grassroots trade union or a worker organisation at the enterprise, Article 3(3)). Our reading is that where the employee belongs to no such organisation, or the company has none, there is nobody to invite; the minutes should say so. Second, Decree 145 lets the employer hold the meeting if the employee is absent, but Article 122(1)(c) still says the employee "must be present". To limit risk, send notice by traceable means, offer a reasonable alternative date and record everything in the minutes. Article 127(1) also bans harming the health, honour, life, reputation or dignity of the employee during discipline. The law gives no template for the notice, minutes or decision; the decision should state the conduct, basis, sanction and effective date (our recommendation, not a legal requirement).

Suspension from work before dismissal#

Where keeping the employee at work would make verification of a complex case difficult, the employer may suspend the employee after consulting the employee representative organisation of which the employee is a member, in writing or in person (Article 128; Article 41(2) of Decree 145). Suspension may last up to 15 days, or 90 days in special cases, after which the employee must be taken back. The employee receives an advance of 50% of the previous salary; if disciplined, the advance is not repaid, and if not, the employer pays the full salary for the suspension (Article 128(2), (3) and (4)).

Internal labour rules in Vietnam: no valid rules, no safe dismissal#

Every dismissal rests on the internal labour rules (see also our guide to internal labour rules in Vietnam):

• 10 or more employees: the rules must be in writing (Article 118(1); Article 69(1) of Decree 145) and cover the essential content: violations and sanctions, material liability, who may discipline and sexual harassment prevention (Article 118(2); Article 69(2)(d), (g), (h), (i) of Decree 145). The employer must consult the employee representative organisation where there is one, inform employees, post the main content (Article 118(3) and (4)) and register the rules within 10 days of issue; they take effect only 15 days after the authority receives the full file (Articles 119 to 121).
• Fewer than 10 employees: written rules are not mandatory, but the employer must agree the content on discipline and material liability in the labour contract (Article 69(1) of Decree 145). If it does issue written rules, they take effect as the employer decides in the rules and need not be registered (Article 121, second paragraph).

Registration is with the provincial labour authority where the employer is registered (Article 119(1)). Decree 129/2025/ND-CP names it as the specialised body for home affairs under the provincial People's Committee (Article 67). Labour management now sits with the Ministry of Home Affairs (Article 1 of Decree 276/2026/ND-CP), so in practice the provincial Department of Home Affairs is the point of contact (Article 71 of Decree 129); confirm locally before filing. Decree 129/2025 expires on 1 March 2027 unless extended or replaced (Article 80(2)).

A bigger risk than the fine is that rules for 10 or more employees are treated as having no effect when a court looks at the ground for dismissal; that is our inference from Articles 121 and 127(3), without case law or official guidance.

Foreign-invested companies: bilingual rules, a signatory abroad, work permits#

The Labour Code applies to foreign employees working in Vietnam (Article 2(3)); we found no separate disciplinary procedure for them. A global code of conduct is a basis for discipline only if the conduct is in the rules that apply in Vietnam or in the labour contract (Article 127(3)). Article 118 sets no language for the rules; for staff who do not read Vietnamese, the prudent practice is a bilingual version, stating that the Vietnamese version is the one registered, with a signed acknowledgement (a practical recommendation, not a legal requirement). If the person signing the decision is abroad, check the power of attorney under Vietnamese law first (Article 18(3) or the rules). A work permit ceases to be valid when the labour contract ends (Article 156(2)); the employer must recover it and return it to the issuing authority within 15 days of expiry, with a report, or state why it cannot be recovered (Article 30(1) and Article 31(1) of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP). For a certificate of work permit exemption, Article 32 of Decree 219 does not list the end of the contract among the revocation grounds, so ask the issuing authority. See our guides on what a work permit in Vietnam is and on work permit exemption.

Unlawful dismissal of employees in Vietnam: what the employer owes and the fines#

Article 73 of Decree 145 closes the gap left by Article 39: if the employer imposes disciplinary dismissal in breach of the law, then in addition to its duties in complaints or disputes it must comply with Article 41 of the Labour Code:

• The employee wants to return: take the employee back under the existing contract; pay wages and social, health and unemployment insurance for the days not worked; pay at least 2 months of salary on top. After reinstatement the employee repays any severance or job-loss allowance already received. If the position no longer exists but the employee still wants to work, the parties agree to amend the contract (Article 41(1)).
• The employee does not want to continue: the amounts above plus severance under Article 46 (Article 41(2)).
• The employer does not want to take the employee back and the employee agrees: the amounts above, severance under Article 46, plus further compensation agreed by the parties of at least 2 months of salary (Article 41(3)).

Decree 283/2026/ND-CP, in force from 10 September 2026 and replacing Decree 12/2022/ND-CP, states fines for individuals; a company, branch or representative office pays twice as much (Article 7). The table shows both:

Conduct	Individual	Company	Source
Not notifying the rules to employees or not posting their main content	VND 1-3 million	VND 2-6 million	Article 25(1)
No written rules at 10 or more employees, not registering, using rules not in force, not consulting the representative organisation; discipline in breach of procedure or time limit; overlong suspension or no consultation before it	VND 5-10 million	VND 10-20 million	Article 25(2)
Discipline for conduct not in the rules or contract; several sanctions for one violation; discipline during sick leave, detention or a pending investigation; fines or wage cuts instead of discipline; harming health or dignity	VND 20-40 million	VND 40-80 million	Article 25(3)
Discipline of a pregnant employee or one on maternity leave or raising a child under 12 months; dismissal because of marriage, pregnancy, maternity or raising a young child	VND 10-20 million	VND 20-40 million	Article 26(2)(h) and (i)
Ending the contract of, or disciplining, an employee or strike leader for preparing for or taking part in a strike	VND 5-10 million	VND 10-20 million	Article 30(3)(a)
Dismissal or discipline because of forming, joining or running an employee representative organisation	VND 15-30 million	VND 30-60 million	Article 40(1)(d)
No written agreement with the leadership of the representative organisation, or the next-level trade union, before dismissing a leader or part-time union officer; breaching the notice period to the provincial labour authority	VND 10-20 million	VND 20-40 million	Article 39(2)(a), (b), (c)
After the contract ends: late or short payment, not confirming insurance contribution periods and returning documents, not providing copies of work records on request	VND 1-2 million (1 to 10 employees) up to VND 15-20 million (301 or more)	Twice that	Article 18(2)
Foreign employee: not recovering or returning the work permit as required	VND 5-10 million per employee, capped at VND 75 million	VND 10-20 million per employee, capped at VND 150 million	Article 13(2)(b) and (c) (the 150 million cap is inferred from Article 7(1) and Article 24 of the Law on Handling Administrative Violations)

For the dismissal-related breaches in the table, the remedy is an order to take the employee back and pay full wages for the days off (Article 25(4)(a); Article 26(3)(c); Article 30(4)(a); Article 39(4)(a)). A public apology and payment of treatment costs apply only where the harm caused injury to the body requiring treatment at a medical facility (Article 25(4)(c)); the fines for harming health or dignity apply only below the level of criminal liability. Conduct that began and ended before 10 September 2026 is handled under the rules in force at the time (Article 67(1)).

Dismissing a member of the employee representative organisation's leadership#

Article 177(3) of the Labour Code requires written agreement with the leadership of the grassroots employee representative organisation before dismissing one of its leaders; if they cannot agree, the parties report to the provincial labour authority and the employer may decide only 30 days after reporting. For part-time trade union officers, Article 39(2)(b) of Decree 283 fines a failure to obtain written agreement from the next-level union before dismissal, unless the parties cannot agree. Article 39(2)(c) of Decree 283 cites Article 28(2) of the Law on Trade Unions together with Article 177(3) of the Code for the notice period to the provincial labour authority. Article 28(2) of Law 50/2024/QH15 on Trade Unions (in force from 1 July 2025) points the same way: an employer may not terminate, dismiss or reassign a part-time trade union officer without the written agreement of the next-level union; if they cannot agree, they report to the competent authority, and 30 days after the report the employer may decide and bears responsibility for its decision. We read the full text as published on the Government portal, not the Official Gazette copy, and have not checked whether any later text amends it; confirm the current version before relying on it in a live case.

After the dismissal of employees in Vietnam: severance, final payments and claims#

Is severance payable? No. Article 46(1) requires severance only when the contract ends under Article 34(1), (2), (3), (4), (6), (7), (9) and (10); Article 34(8), disciplinary dismissal, is not on the list. The employer must still settle all amounts relating to the employee's rights within 14 working days of the end of the contract (Article 48(1)), confirm the social insurance contribution period, return original documents, provide copies of work records on request (Article 48) and update the labour register (Article 3(2) of Decree 145). For pay for unused annual leave, Article 113(3) speaks of "termination or loss of job"; our reading is that it also covers a dismissed employee. Article 67(3) of Decree 145 and Article 23 of Decree 283 use the same wording and do not exclude dismissal, so the risk of a fine for non-payment is real; confirm with counsel before refusing payment.

Complaints and claims. The employee may complain to the employer or a competent authority, or ask for resolution of a labour dispute (Article 131; Article 73 of Decree 145). Disputes over disciplinary dismissal do not have to go through conciliation first (Article 188(1)(a)); the parties may ask the labour arbitration council, by consent, or go to court (Articles 188(7) and 189). The time limits run from the date the claimant discovers the act alleged to infringe their rights: 6 months for a labour conciliator, 9 months for the labour arbitration council and 1 year for the court (Article 190).

Because the employer must prove the fault, the file (rules in force, violation record, proof of the meeting notice, signed minutes) has to be complete on the day the decision is signed. Evidence from cameras, monitoring software or system logs is also subject to data protection law: technological measures may be applied only if lawful and with the employee knowing about them, and personal data from unlawful measures may not be processed (Article 25(3) of Law No. 91/2025/QH15). Employee personal data must be deleted when the contract ends unless agreed otherwise or the law provides otherwise (Article 25(2)(c)), so record the basis for keeping the disciplinary file; see our handbook entries on employee personal data and CCTV and camera surveillance. Court admissibility is a procedural question this article does not assess.

Two hypothetical examples#

The figures and dates below are ours, for illustration only, and none is a real case.

Example 1. Dismissing a pregnant employee for property misconduct. Ms C, an accountant, misappropriates funds on 15 March 2026. That is the date of the violation, and so the start of the time limit (Article 123(1)), even if the company discovers it later. She is pregnant and gives birth on 1 June 2026. The time limit is 12 months because the conduct directly relates to finances, so it would run to 15 March 2027. But from pregnancy through maternity leave until the child is 12 months old (1 June 2027), the company may not discipline her (Article 122(4)(d)). When the protected period ends the 12 months have expired, so under Article 123(2) the limit is extended by up to 60 days from the end of that period: counting from 1 June 2027 gives 31 July 2027, and the safe date to work to is 30 July 2027. The meeting and the decision must both fall inside that window, so the meeting notice (at least 5 working days ahead) should go out early, and the file must show that the ground is the misappropriation and not the pregnancy (Article 137(3)). This is our reading of Articles 122 and 123 and should be confirmed before acting.

Example 2. What an unlawful dismissal in Vietnam can cost. Company D dismisses Mr E, whose contractual salary is VND 20 million a month, without holding a disciplinary meeting; after 8 months a court holds the dismissal unlawful. If Mr E wants to go back, the company owes 8 months of wages (VND 160 million), insurance for those 8 months and at least 2 more months of salary (VND 40 million): at least VND 200 million before insurance (Article 41(1)). If the company does not want him back and he agrees, it owes severance under Article 46 (which deducts time covered by unemployment insurance, Article 46(2), so it may be zero) and an agreed extra payment of at least 2 months of salary (Article 41(3)): at least VND 240 million (160 + 40 + 40) before insurance and severance.

LexData can support dismissals from the first review: we check your internal labour rules and registration file, draft meeting notices, minutes and decisions, and assess the risk of each case before a decision is signed. See our Vietnam employment law advice service, and for foreign employees our work permit service. The legal texts are summarised in Decree 145/2020/ND-CP, Decree 283/2026/ND-CP and Decree 219/2025/ND-CP.