Labour Code No. 45/2019/QH14 (English summary)

• Full title: Labour Code, No. 45/2019/QH14
• Passed by: the 14th National Assembly at its 8th session, 20 November 2019
• In force from: 1 January 2021
• Structure: 17 chapters and 220 articles
• Replaces: Labour Code No. 10/2012/QH13 (Clause 1, Article 220)
• Amended by: Law No. 71/2025/QH15 on the Digital Technology Industry (new Clause 8a, Article 154, from 1 January 2026); Law No. 124/2025/QH15 on Vocational Education (Clause 3, Article 61, from 1 January 2026); Law No. 113/2025/QH15 on Population (Clause 1, Article 139, from 1 July 2026). The amendments are consolidated in Consolidated Text No. 18/VBHN-VPQH of 12 February 2026. As at 28 September 2026 no other law has amended the Code: LexData checked Laws No. 01/2026/QH16 to 24/2026/QH16 as published in the Official Gazette.
• Main implementing rules: Decree 145/2020/ND-CP on working conditions and labour relations; Decree 219/2025/ND-CP on foreign workers
• Official Vietnamese text: Consolidated Text 18/VBHN-VPQH, Official Gazette No. 131, 28 February 2026 · original text, Official Gazette Nos. 993+994, 26 December 2019

Note: this page is LexData’s own unofficial summary of the rules employers ask about most, based on the 2026 consolidated text. It is not the full text or a translation of the Labour Code. Only the Vietnamese text has legal effect.

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Scope and structure

The Code sets labour standards and the rights and duties of employees, employers and employee representative organisations (Article 1). It also applies to foreign nationals working in Vietnam (Article 2).

Chapter	Subject	Articles
I–II	General provisions; employment, recruitment and labour management	1–12
III	Labour contracts: conclusion, performance, termination, invalidity, labour leasing	13–58
IV–V	Vocational training; workplace dialogue, collective bargaining and agreements	59–89
VI–VII	Wages; working hours and rest periods	90–116
VIII	Labour discipline and material liability	117–131
IX–XI	Occupational safety; female employees; minors, foreign workers and other groups	132–167
XII–XIII	Social insurance; employee representative organisations	168–178
XIV	Labour disputes and strikes	179–211
XV–XVII	State management, inspection, implementation	212–220

Employers must keep a labour register and declare their workforce within 30 days of starting operations (Article 12). Under Article 71 of Decree 129/2025/ND-CP, workforce change reports go to the provincial Department of Home Affairs through the National Public Service Portal every six months (by 5 June) and annually (by 5 December).

Labour contracts: form, types and content

• Substance over label: an agreement under any name that covers paid work, wages and one party’s management and supervision is treated as a labour contract (Clause 1, Article 13). It must be signed before the employee starts work (Clause 2).
• Form: written, in two copies; an electronic contract (data message) counts as written. An oral contract is allowed only for terms under one month, with some exceptions (Article 14). Electronic labour contracts are governed by Decree 337/2025/ND-CP (in force 1 January 2026; from 1 July 2026 an electronic contract is signed on a connected eContract provider system and sent to the national electronic labour contract platform for an ID within 24 hours, Article 6(4)). See electronic employment contracts.
• Two types only (Clause 1, Article 20): indefinite-term, and fixed-term of up to 36 months. If the employee keeps working after expiry, a new contract must be signed within 30 days, failing which the contract becomes indefinite-term. A fixed-term contract may be renewed as fixed-term only once; after that it must be indefinite-term, except for some groups including foreign workers and older employees (Clause 2, Article 20).
• Mandatory content (Clause 1, Article 21) includes the job and place of work, term, wage, payment method and timing, allowances, pay rises, working hours and rest, protective equipment, social, health and unemployment insurance, and training. The parties may agree in writing on protecting trade and technology secrets and compensation for breach (Clause 2).
• An annex may not change the contract term (Clause 2, Article 22). A party asking to amend the contract must give at least 3 working days’ notice (Clause 1, Article 33).
• The employer signs through its legal representative or an authorised person, who may not sub-delegate (Clauses 3 and 5, Article 18).
• Employers may not keep original identity papers or diplomas, demand a cash or property deposit, or make an employee work off a debt (Article 17).
• Temporary reassignment to other work is capped at 60 cumulative working days a year unless the employee agrees in writing, needs at least 3 working days’ notice, and the new wage must be at least 85% of the old one. Business-need cases must be listed in the internal labour rules (Article 29).

Probation (Articles 24–27)

No probation for contracts under one month (Clause 3, Article 24), and only one probation per job (Article 25).

Position	Maximum probation
Enterprise manager under the Law on Enterprises	180 days
Roles requiring a college degree or higher	60 days
Roles requiring intermediate level, technical workers, clerical staff	30 days
Other work	6 working days

Probation pay is at least 85% of the job’s wage (Article 26). The employer must notify the result; during probation either party may end it without notice or compensation (Article 27).

Termination

Grounds and notice of termination (Articles 34 and 45)

Article 34 lists 13 grounds, including expiry, mutual agreement, dismissal, unilateral termination under Articles 35 and 36, redundancy for restructuring, economic reasons or M&A (Articles 42 and 43), expiry of a foreign worker’s work permit, and failed probation. The employer must give written notice of termination, except in the cases in Clauses 4–8 of Article 34 (Article 45).

Resignation by the employee (Article 35)

The employee needs no reason, only notice (Clause 1). No notice is needed if, for example, the employee is not given the agreed job, place or conditions, is not paid in full or on time, is mistreated or subjected to forced labour, suffers sexual harassment at work, reaches retirement age, or was given untruthful information by the employer (Clause 2).

Termination by the employer (Articles 36 and 37)

The employer may terminate only on the grounds in Clause 1, Article 36:

• (a) frequent failure to complete work, assessed under the employer’s performance evaluation rules (after consulting the employee representative organisation, if any);
• (b) illness or injury treated for 12 consecutive months (indefinite-term), 6 consecutive months (12–36-month contracts) or more than half the term (contracts under 12 months) without recovery;
• (c) natural disaster, fire, dangerous epidemic, enemy attack, or relocation or downsizing ordered by the authorities, forcing job cuts;
• (d) failure to return after a suspension of the contract (Article 31);
• (dd) reaching retirement age, unless agreed otherwise;
• (e) absence without good reason for 5 or more consecutive working days;
• (g) untruthful information given at hiring that affected the recruitment.

The employer may not terminate unilaterally while the employee is under treatment for illness, accident or occupational disease (except ground (b)), on annual or approved leave, pregnant, on maternity leave or raising a child under 12 months (Article 37).

Notice periods

Contract	Employee (Clause 1, Art. 35)	Employer on grounds (a), (b), (c), (dd), (g) (Clause 2, Art. 36)
Indefinite-term	At least 45 days	At least 45 days
Fixed-term, 12–36 months	At least 30 days	At least 30 days
Fixed-term, under 12 months	At least 3 working days	At least 3 working days
Long-term illness or injury (ground (b))	–	At least 3 working days

• No notice is needed for grounds (d) and (e) (Clause 3, Article 36). Certain jobs have Government-set periods: for enterprise managers, Article 7 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP requires at least 120 days (indefinite-term or 12 months or more) or a quarter of the term (under 12 months).
• Either party may withdraw a termination notice before it expires, in writing and with the other party’s consent (Article 38).

Unlawful termination (Articles 39–41)

• An employee who resigns unlawfully loses severance, pays half a month’s wage plus wages for the days of notice not given, and repays training costs (Article 40).
• An employer who terminates unlawfully must reinstate the employee, pay wages and insurance for the days not worked, plus at least 2 months’ wages, and, if the notice period was breached, wages for the notice days missed (Clause 1, Article 41). If the employee does not want to return, severance is also payable (Clause 2). If the employer does not want to reinstate and the employee agrees, the parties agree an extra payment of at least 2 months’ wages (Clause 3).

Severance, job-loss allowance and final payment (Articles 46–48)

	Severance allowance (Art. 46)	Job-loss allowance (Art. 47)
When	Termination under Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10 of Art. 34	Redundancy under Clause 11 of Art. 34 (Arts. 42–43)
Amount	Half a month’s wage per year of service	One month’s wage per year, minimum 2 months
Excluded	Employees eligible for a pension; absence under ground (e)	–

• Both require at least 12 months of regular work. Periods covered by unemployment insurance and periods already compensated are deducted, and the wage base is the average contractual wage for the last 6 months (Articles 46–47; Article 8, Decree 145/2020/ND-CP).
• All amounts must be settled within 14 working days, extendable to 30 days where the employer closes, restructures, cuts jobs for economic reasons, undergoes M&A or asset transfers, or faces disaster or epidemic (Clause 1, Article 48). On dissolution or bankruptcy, employees’ wages, insurance and severance rank first (Clause 2).

Restructuring and M&A (Articles 42–44)

• Structural or technological change means reorganising the structure or workforce, changing processes, technology or equipment, or changing products (Clause 1, Article 42). Economic reasons are economic crisis or recession, or State policy to restructure the economy or implement international commitments (Clause 2).
• If many employees’ jobs are affected, the employer must adopt and implement a labour utilisation plan (Clauses 3 and 4). Employees who cannot be redeployed receive the job-loss allowance (Clause 5).
• Redundancies may proceed only after consulting the employee representative organisation (if any) and giving 30 days’ notice to the provincial People’s Committee and the employees (Clause 6, Article 42).
• A division, split, consolidation, merger, sale, lease or conversion of the company, or a transfer of its assets that affects many jobs also requires a labour plan, and both the current and the successor employer must carry it out (Article 43).
• The plan lists who stays, is retrained, moves to part-time, retires or is terminated, plus each party’s duties and the funding. It must be disclosed to employees within 15 days of adoption (Article 44).

This is a standard item in M&A due diligence and corporate restructuring.

Invalid contracts (Articles 49–51)

A contract is wholly invalid if all its content is unlawful, the signatory lacked authority or breached the principles of voluntariness, equality, good faith and honesty, or the work is prohibited; it is partly invalid if the unlawful part does not affect the rest (Article 49). Only a People’s Court may declare a labour contract invalid (Article 50). A contract signed without authority is re-signed (Clause 2, Article 51).

Wages and working hours

• Wages may not be below the regional minimum wage set by the Government (Articles 90 and 91). Wages are paid in Vietnamese dong, but foreign employees may be paid in foreign currency (Clause 2, Article 95).
• Wage scales, payrolls and labour norms are set by the employer and are the basis for the wage agreed in the labour contract; labour norms must be trialled before formal adoption; the employer must consult the grassroots employee representative organisation (where there is one) and publish them at the workplace before applying them (Article 93). Article 93 does not require registering or filing the wage scale with any authority. Bonus rules are decided by the employer and published at the workplace after consulting that organisation, where there is one (Article 104). How to build one: salary scale in Vietnam.
• Force-majeure delays in paying wages may not exceed 30 days; a delay of 15 days or more carries at least one-month deposit interest (Clause 4, Article 97). Deductions are allowed only to compensate property damage, capped at 30% of the monthly net wage (Article 102).
• Overtime pay is at least 150% on normal days, 200% on weekly rest days and 300% on public holidays; night work earns at least 30% extra, and night overtime a further 20% (Article 98).

Item	Limit	Article
Normal hours	8 hours a day, 48 a week (weekly schedule: up to 10 hours a day)	105
Night work	10 pm to 6 am	106
Daily overtime	Up to 50% of normal daily hours; weekly schedule: normal plus overtime up to 12 hours a day	107
Monthly overtime	40 hours	107
Annual overtime	200 hours; 300 hours in listed sectors and cases	107

Overtime needs the employee’s consent (Point a, Clause 2, Article 107). The 300-hour cap covers export textiles, garments, leather, footwear, electrical and electronic goods, agricultural and seafood processing, power, telecoms, oil refining and water supply, work needing scarce high-skilled labour, and urgent or seasonal work. An employer using it must notify the provincial labour authority in writing, now the Department of Home Affairs (Clauses 3 and 4, Article 107; Articles 59–62, Decree 145/2020/ND-CP).

Public holidays and leave (Articles 111–115)

• At least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest (Article 111). Paid public holidays: New Year 1 day, Lunar New Year 5 days, 30 April 1 day, 1 May 1 day, National Day 2 days and Hung Kings’ Commemoration 1 day. Foreign employees get an extra day for their own traditional new year and one for their national day (Article 112). Outside the Code, from 1 July 2026 employees also have 24 November (Vietnam Culture Day) off on full pay every year (Article 2(1) of Resolution 28/2026/QH16), bringing paid public holidays to 12 days.
• Annual leave after 12 months: 12 working days (normal conditions), 14 (minors, employees with disabilities, heavy or hazardous work) or 16 (especially heavy or hazardous work), pro rata for shorter service. Untaken leave is paid out on termination (Article 113). One extra day for every 5 years of service (Article 114).
• Paid personal leave: own marriage 3 days, child’s marriage 1 day, death of a parent (including parents-in-law), spouse or child 3 days (Clause 1, Article 115).

Internal labour rules and registration (Articles 118–121)

• Every employer must issue internal labour rules; with 10 or more employees they must be in writing (Clause 1, Article 118).
• Required content (Clause 2): working hours and rest; workplace order; occupational safety; prevention of sexual harassment and the handling procedure; protection of assets, trade and technology secrets and IP; cases of temporary reassignment; disciplinary offences and sanctions; material liability; and who may impose discipline (see also Article 69, Decree 145/2020/ND-CP). The employee representative organisation (if any) must be consulted first (Clause 3).
• Registration (Article 119): an employer with 10 or more employees must file the rules within 10 days of issuing them with the provincial labour authority where it is registered, now the Department of Home Affairs. The legal basis is Clause 1, Article 3 of Resolution 190/2025/QH15 (agency names convert after the reorganisation) and Clause 1, Article 8 of Decree 150/2025/ND-CP (the Department advises on labour). If anything is unlawful, the authority asks for corrections within 7 working days. Branches in other provinces send the registered rules to the local labour authority there.
• Commune level replaces district level: Clause 5 of Article 119 allowed delegation to the district labour office. Since 1 July 2025, Article 67 of Decree 129/2025/ND-CP lets the provincial home affairs authority delegate registration to the home affairs office of the commune-level People’s Committee. The commune level registers the rules only once delegated; otherwise file with the Department of Home Affairs. Decree 129/2025 lapses on 1 March 2027 unless extended. As at 28 September 2026 no extension or replacement had been issued, so confirm the filing office at the time.
• Dossier (Article 120): a request, the rules, the representative organisation’s comments (if any), and any documents on discipline and material liability.
• Effect (Article 121): 15 days after the authority receives a complete dossier. An employer with fewer than 10 employees that issues written rules decides the effective date itself.

Discipline and material liability (Articles 122–131)

• Principles (Article 122): the employer must prove fault; the employee representative organisation of which the employee is a member takes part; the employee attends and may defend themselves or use a lawyer; minutes are kept; one sanction per offence. No discipline while the employee is on sick or approved leave, in custody, awaiting the outcome of an investigation into offences under Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 125, pregnant, on maternity leave or raising a child under 12 months (Clause 4). The procedure is in Article 70 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP, including notice of the disciplinary meeting at least 5 working days ahead.
• Limitation: 6 months from the offence, or 12 months for offences directly involving finance, assets or disclosure of trade or technology secrets (Article 123).
• Sanctions (Article 124): reprimand; deferral of a pay rise for up to 6 months; demotion; dismissal.
• Dismissal is allowed only for (Article 125): theft, embezzlement, gambling, intentional injury or drug use at work; disclosure of trade or technology secrets, IP infringement, serious damage, or sexual harassment at work as defined in the internal rules; repeat offences while a pay-rise deferral or demotion is still on record; or unjustified absence of 5 cumulative days in 30 days or 20 cumulative days in 365 days.
• Fines or wage cuts instead of discipline are prohibited, as is disciplining conduct not covered by the rules, the contract or the law (Article 127). Suspension pending investigation is limited to 15 days (90 in special cases), with a 50% wage advance (Article 128).
• Material liability (Article 129): for minor damage caused by negligence worth up to 10 months’ regional minimum wage, compensation is capped at 3 months’ wages, deducted in instalments. Loss of assets or excess use of materials is compensated at market value, under the rules or a liability contract, except in force majeure.

Female employees and maternity (Articles 137–140)

• No night work, overtime or long business trips for employees pregnant from the 7th month (6th month in remote, border or island areas), or for employees raising a child under 12 months unless they agree (Clause 1, Article 137).
• No dismissal or unilateral termination because of marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave or raising a child under 12 months, save in limited cases such as the employer ceasing operations; a contract expiring during this time gives priority for a new contract (Clause 3, Article 137).
• Maternity leave (Clause 1, Article 139, as amended by Clause 1, Article 29 of Law No. 113/2025/QH15 on Population, from 1 July 2026): 6 months, or 7 months for a second child; no more than 2 months before birth; one extra month for each child from the second in a multiple birth. Benefits are paid by social insurance.
• The employee may return early after at least 4 months with notice, the employer’s consent and medical confirmation (Clause 4, Article 139), and is guaranteed her former job without loss of pay or benefits (Article 140).

Foreign workers (Articles 151–157)

• Conditions (Clause 1, Article 151): aged 18 or over with full legal capacity; qualified, experienced and in good health; not serving a sentence, with no unspent conviction and not under criminal prosecution; and holding a work permit, unless exempt under Article 154. The labour contract may not outlast the permit, and the parties may sign successive fixed-term contracts (Clause 2).
• Eligible positions (Article 152): only managers, executive directors, experts and technical workers for roles Vietnamese workers cannot yet fill. The employer must justify its demand and obtain written approval before hiring. Under Article 22 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, the application is filed between 60 days and at least 10 days before the start date, and the authority approves the demand and issues the permit in one step within 10 working days.
• Working without a permit leads to forced departure or deportation of the worker and sanctions for the employer (Article 153).
• Exempt from a work permit (Article 154), including: owners or capital-contributing members of limited liability companies, and chairs or members of the board of joint-stock companies, whose contribution meets the Government threshold (Article 7 of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP: VND 3 billion or more); heads of representative offices or projects, or persons chiefly responsible for the activities, of international organisations and foreign NGOs in Vietnam; stays of under 3 months to offer services or fix complex technical problems; foreign lawyers licensed in Vietnam; treaty cases; foreigners married to Vietnamese citizens and living in Vietnam; and other cases set by the Government.
• New Clause 8a, Article 154 (from 1 January 2026): high-quality digital technology industry personnel are also exempt (added by Clause 4, Article 49 of Law No. 71/2025/QH15). The Government sets the criteria for this group (Clause 1, Article 19 of that Law), currently in Articles 5–10 of Decree 353/2025/ND-CP of 31 December 2025, in force 1 January 2026. Neither Decree 353 nor Decree 219/2025/ND-CP yet sets a separate procedure for confirming the exemption for this group.
• Permit term: up to 2 years, extendable once for up to 2 years (Article 155). A permit lapses in cases such as expiry, termination of the labour contract, a contract or actual work that does not match the permit, recall by the foreign party, closure of the employer, or revocation (Article 156).
• The Government sets the procedure for issue, re-issue, extension and revocation (Article 157), currently Decree 219/2025/ND-CP. See work permits in Vietnam.

Labour disputes (Chapter XIV)

• Individual disputes go to a labour mediator, the labour arbitration council or the court (Article 187). Mediation is compulsory first, except for disputes over dismissal or unilateral termination, compensation, termination allowances, social insurance and certain others; the mediator must finish within 5 working days (Article 188).
• Time limits from discovery of the alleged breach (Article 190): 6 months for mediation, 9 months for arbitration, 1 year for the court.

Entry into force and related rules

• In force from 1 January 2021. Existing contracts and collective agreements that comply with the Code or are more favourable to employees continue to apply (Article 220). Employers with fewer than 10 employees follow the Code but are exempt from some procedures as set by the Government (Article 218).
• Related instruments: Decree 145/2020/ND-CP, Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, Decree 337/2025/ND-CP (electronic labour contracts), Decree 129/2025/ND-CP (powers under the two-tier local government) and Decree 283/2026/ND-CP (administrative penalties in the labour field, in force 10 September 2026, replacing Decree 12/2022/ND-CP). Employee personal data is also governed by the Law on Personal Data Protection.

For a review of your contracts, internal rules or a redundancy plan, see Vietnam employment law advice.

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Official sources

• Consolidated Text No. 18/VBHN-VPQH of the Labour Code — Official Gazette No. 131, 28 February 2026 (official Vietnamese text)
• Labour Code No. 45/2019/QH14, original text — Official Gazette Nos. 993+994, 26 December 2019
• Decree 353/2025/ND-CP guiding the Law on Digital Technology Industry — Official Gazette No. 51, 23 January 2026 (official Vietnamese text)
• Resolution 190/2025/QH15 on issues arising from the reorganisation of the State apparatus — Official Gazette Nos. 363+364, 28 February 2025 (official Vietnamese text)