Every employer, including a wholly foreign-owned company, a branch and a representative office that hires staff, files a labour usage report in Vietnam twice a year (local advisers also call it the employment report): the half-year report before 5 June and the annual report before 5 December. Because the rule says "before 5 December", the last possible day for 2026 is Friday 4 December 2026. The report goes to the provincial Department of Home Affairs on Form 01/PLI of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP, through the National Public Service Portal or on paper if online filing is not possible, with notice to the regional social insurance office and, for staff in an industrial park or economic zone, to the zone management board (Article 71 of Decree 129/2025/ND-CP).
Foreign employees on a Vietnamese employment contract are listed in that same report. What no longer exists is the separate half-year and annual foreign worker report on Form 07/PLI that many guides still describe: it ended on 7 August 2025. This guide to labour reporting in Vietnam covers what a foreign-invested employer still has to file, what it can drop, and how to get the 2026 annual report right.
Where the labour usage report in Vietnam fits among three duties#
Article 12 of the Labour Code sets three duties that local staff often lump together as "the labour report":
| Duty | When | Where | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep a labour management book | Set up within 30 days of starting operations; update from each employee's first day | Kept at the head office, branch or representative office; shown on request | Article 3, Decree 145 |
| Initial labour-use declaration | Once, within 30 days of starting operations | Provincial business registration office, as part of the registration file | Article 4(1), Decree 145; Article 81(1), Decree 168/2025/ND-CP |
| Labour usage report (changes in the workforce) | Before 5 June and before 5 December each year | Department of Home Affairs; notice to the regional social insurance office; zone management board where relevant | Article 71, Decree 129/2025 |
The initial declaration is now folded into company, branch and representative office registration: the registration office takes it and shares the company's details and expected headcount with the Department of Home Affairs (Article 81(1) and (3) of Decree 168). Our reading is that a company set up through the normal enterprise registration route does not file a separate declaration. A representative office of a foreign trader, which is licensed outside that route, should ask the Department of Home Affairs how to declare.
The rest of this guide is about the third duty, the periodic labour usage report in Vietnam.
Who must file the labour usage report in Vietnam?#
Article 71 of Decree 129 applies to every "employer", which the Labour Code defines as any enterprise, agency, organisation, cooperative, household or individual that hires workers under an agreement (Article 3(2)). Ownership and size make no difference. Points the decree does not settle, with our reading:
- Branches in other provinces. The decree asks for notice to the social insurance office "where the head office, branch or representative office is located" but does not say which province's Department receives the report. The safe approach is for each unit with its own social insurance code to report its own staff to the Department in its province; according to social insurance software vendors (secondary sources), that is also how the portal asks you to choose the receiving Department.
- No employees yet. A company that has hired nobody is not yet an employer under the Labour Code, so in our reading there is nothing to report. If staff joined and left during the period, report.
- No changes in the period. The duty is described as reporting "changes", but Form 01/PLI lists every employee. For the first half of 2026, Hanoi said it would compile a list of units that had not reported, and Ho Chi Minh City said it would use filing records when confirming a unit's legal compliance. File both periods anyway.
- Secondees without a local contract. Form 01/PLI has columns only for employment contracts. An intra-company transferee who has no Vietnamese employment contract has no matching column; if you list such staff, say so in the remarks column.
A representative office of a foreign trader has one more report that Form 01/PLI does not replace: an annual report on recruiting and employing Vietnamese staff, on Form 02/PLII, due before 15 December each year and sent to the organisation the provincial People's Committee has authorised to recruit and manage Vietnamese workers for foreign organisations (Article 2(3)(dd), Article 22(1)(b) and Article 26(3) of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP). That part of Decree 152 is still in force, because Article 35(2) of Decree 219 ended only its foreign-worker provisions. The matching fine in Article 14 of Decree 283/2026 is not yet in force (Article 66(3)).
Labour usage report in Vietnam: 2026 deadlines and the March 2027 checkpoint#
The two deadlines in Decree 145 survived the 2025 reorganisation unchanged: before 5 June for the half year and before 5 December for the year (Article 71 of Decree 129).
- 2026 annual report: last day Friday 4 December 2026. "Before 5 December" means 4 December is the last day whatever weekday 5 December falls on. The Civil Code rule that moves a deadline to the next working day (Article 148(5)) applies only when the last day itself is a day off, which is not the case here.
- 2027 half-year report: last day Friday 4 June 2027.
- No cut-off date. Decree 145 does not set a data cut-off date. Our reading is that the list should run up to the date you prepare the report and include everyone who joined or left since the start of the period.
- Local letters. Departments may remind employers or extend a window. For the first half of 2026, Hanoi issued letter 3209/SNV-VLATLD of 18 May 2026 with a 5 June deadline, and Ho Chi Minh City said it would not accept reports after 5 June. As of 18 October 2026 we have not seen notices for the 2026 annual period, so do not wait for one.
- March 2027. Decree 129, which moved the report to the Department of Home Affairs, expires on 1 March 2027 unless the National Assembly extends it (Article 80(2)(a)). If a new law or decree on this procedure takes effect before then, the matching provision of Decree 129 lapses earlier, on the day the new instrument takes effect (Article 80(2)(b)). The text of Decree 145 still names the abolished labour department; our reading is that the report would then still go to the provincial labour authority named in Article 12(2) of the Labour Code, which is now the Department of Home Affairs. The 2026 annual report is unaffected; check the applicable text again before the June 2027 filing.
Filing the labour usage report in Vietnam: portal, provincial form, paper or eContract#
The decree mentions only the National Public Service Portal and paper. In practice, employers had four routes for the first half of 2026.
- National Public Service Portal (dichvucong.gov.vn). The Ho Chi Minh City notice names the linked procedure for adjusting compulsory social, health and unemployment insurance contributions and reporting labour usage. According to guides from social insurance software vendors (secondary sources), you log in with the company account and a digital signature token, register once the receiving Department of Home Affairs, your unit code and your social insurance office code, and the system then pulls workforce data from your social insurance filings. The report is therefore only as accurate as your insurance filings. Probationers, staff on contracts under one month and anyone outside compulsory social insurance may be missing; report them through route 2 or 3.
- The Department's own online form. In the first half of 2026, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City also accepted reports through an online form (a Google Form) with a signed and sealed scan of Form 01/PLI; Ho Chi Minh City also asked for an Excel file. Take the link only from the Department's own letter or website.
- Paper. If the portal cannot be used, send Form 01/PLI on paper to the Department of Home Affairs and notify the regional social insurance office (Article 71). Use registered post or get a receipt.
- eContract, for employers using electronic employment contracts. Article 19(1)(b) of Decree 337/2025/ND-CP lets employers use their eContract system to declare and report labour usage; the national platform had to be running by 1 July 2026 (Article 28(1)). Article 19(2) of Circular 08/2026/TT-BNV goes further: employers "are responsible for" reporting labour changes under Article 4(2) of Decree 145 through the national electronic labour contract platform. The circular applies only to parties that sign and perform electronic employment contracts (Article 2(1)). It does not say whether platform reporting replaces portal filing. Until the Ministry or the Department clarifies, our reading is to do both if you use e-contracts.
Two side notices are easy to miss: the regional social insurance office must be notified (route 1 does this through the insurance system; with routes 2 and 3, send them a copy and keep proof), and staff working inside an industrial park or economic zone must also be reported to the zone management board.
Filling in Form 01/PLI#
Decree 129 changed the recipient, not the form, so Form 01/PLI of Decree 145 is still the template for the employment report. It has a header and a 27-column employee table. In the header, address the report to the Department of Home Affairs and the regional social insurance office; the note on the original form still names the abolished labour department and district social insurance office. Section 1 gives the company name, address, contacts, enterprise code and main business lines. Section 2 is the table:
| Columns | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | Number, full name, social insurance number, date of birth, sex, ID card or passport number |
| 7 | Grade, position, job title, place of work |
| 8 to 11 | Job category: manager; high-level professional (university degree or above); mid-level professional (college or vocational level); other |
| 12 | Salary coefficient or salary amount |
| 13 to 17 | Allowances: position; seniority above scale (%); occupational seniority (%); salary allowance; other supplements |
| 18 to 19 | Start and end dates of heavy, hazardous work |
| 20 | Start date of an indefinite-term contract |
| 21 to 22 | Start and end dates of a fixed-term contract |
| 23 to 24 | Start and end dates of other contracts (under one month, probation) |
| 25 to 26 | Dates the employer started and stopped paying social insurance for the employee |
| 27 | Remarks |
The table ends with a total row and is signed and sealed by the employer's representative. For foreign-invested employers, three practical points:
- Enter foreign employees with their passport number and the contract dates; they are employees like anyone else.
- Make columns 3, 25 and 26 match your social insurance records exactly.
- In our reading, list everyone employed during the period, including leavers with their end dates, rather than only new joiners and leavers.
The table contains employee personal data, so send it only through official channels and limit internal access to the file.
Is there still a foreign worker report?#
There is no longer a periodic one. Article 6 of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP used to require employers of foreign workers to report every half year and year, before 5 July and 5 January, on Form 07/PLI. All of Decree 152's foreign worker provisions, as amended by Decree 70/2023, ceased to apply on 7 August 2025 (Article 35(2) of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP). Decree 219 has no equivalent; its only periodic report is from the provincial People's Committee to the Ministry of Home Affairs by 15 December (Article 36(8)(c)).
What a foreign-invested employer still has to file on foreign staff:
| Obligation | Timing | Basis | Fine for an individual (companies pay double) |
|---|---|---|---|
| List foreign employees with a local contract in Form 01/PLI | Before 5 June and 5 December | Article 4, Decree 145; Article 71, Decree 129 | VND 5 to 10 million for not reporting (Article 11(2)(c), Decree 283) |
| Explain the need for a foreign worker | Inside the work permit application or extension request on Form 03 | Article 18(1), Decree 219 | No separate fine; it is a mandatory part of the file |
| Notify the authority of exempt workers who need no exemption certificate, or of a permit or certificate holder working in another province | At least 3 working days (exempt workers) or 3 days (other provinces) before work starts | Article 9(4) and (5), Article 22(5), Decree 219 | VND 1 to 3 million (Article 13(1), Decree 283) |
| Collect and return a work permit that has lapsed for a reason in Article 156(2) to (7) of the Labour Code (contract ended, secondment withdrawn, employer closed and similar; not simple expiry of its term), with a written report | Within 15 days of the permit lapsing | Article 30(1), Article 31(1), Decree 219 | VND 5 to 10 million per worker, capped at VND 75 million (Article 13(2)(b), Decree 283) |
For the permit itself, see our guides to work permit extension and work permit exemption.
Fines for missed labour reporting in Vietnam under Decree 283/2026#
Decree 283/2026/ND-CP replaced Decree 12/2022/ND-CP on 10 September 2026. Article 11 sets:
| Violation | Individual | Company, branch or representative office | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| No initial labour-use declaration | VND 1 to 3 million | VND 2 to 6 million | Article 11(1)(a) |
| Labour book incomplete, or not shown on request | VND 1 to 3 million | VND 2 to 6 million | Article 11(1)(c) and (d) |
| Not reporting changes in the workforce | VND 5 to 10 million | VND 10 to 20 million | Article 11(2)(c) |
| No labour book, set up late or missing basic content | VND 5 to 10 million | VND 10 to 20 million | Article 11(2)(d) |
Companies pay double because Article 11 is not on the list of organisation-level fines in Article 7(1), and Article 7(2)(b) expressly covers branches and representative offices of foreign enterprises. The limitation period for labour violations is one year (Article 3(4)(a)). The decree has no separate violation for late filing; in our reading a late report may still count as not reporting for that period, so filing late is better than not filing but does not guarantee no fine.
A timeline for the 2026 annual report#
Illustration. A foreign-owned company has its head office in Hanoi, a branch in Da Nang and three foreign managers on local contracts. This timeline is our suggestion, not a legal requirement.
| By | Action |
|---|---|
| 20 November 2026 | Reconcile the labour book with each unit's social insurance increase and decrease filings; add probationers, foreign staff and leavers |
| 27 November 2026 | Prepare a separate Form 01/PLI for the Hanoi head office and the Da Nang branch; check both Departments' websites for this period's channel and link |
| 30 November to 3 December 2026 | File through the portal or the Department's channel; also report through eContract if you use e-contracts; send to the zone management board if relevant |
| 4 December 2026 | Last day |
| After filing | Keep receipts, screenshots, the signed PDF and the Excel file with HR records for at least the one-year limitation period |
If you would like the labour book, internal labour rules and annual reports reviewed together, see our Vietnam employment law advice service.
