Vietnam employment law advice for SMEs and foreign-invested companies

An employer with 10 or more employees must register its internal labour rules with the provincial labour authority where it is registered, within 10 days of issuing them (Clauses 1 and 2, Article 119 of the Labour Code). The provincial authority may delegate registration to the commune-level home affairs office (Article 67 of Decree 129/2025/ND-CP, which expires on 1 March 2027 unless extended). An employer with fewer than 10 employees need not have written rules but must agree on discipline and material liability in the labour contract (Clause 1, Article 69 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP).

Yes. A labour contract concluded electronically as a data message has the same value as a written contract (Clause 1, Article 14 of the Labour Code). From 1 July 2026, electronic contracts are concluded through an eContract system that meets the conditions of Decree 337/2025/ND-CP; the contract takes effect when the last party signs and the eContract provider certifies it, unless the parties agree otherwise (Articles 6, 7 and 28).

Only in the cases listed in Article 125 of the Labour Code, such as theft, embezzlement, disclosure of business secrets, sexual harassment at work as defined in the internal rules, repeating an offence before an earlier penalty is cleared, or unjustified absence for 5 cumulative days within 30 days or 20 cumulative days within 365 days. The employer must prove fault, involve the employee representative organisation the employee belongs to and keep minutes (Clause 1, Article 122), and give at least 5 working days’ notice of the disciplinary meeting (Point a, Clause 2, Article 70 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP). No discipline may be imposed on an employee on sick leave, a pregnant employee or an employee raising a child under 12 months (Clause 4, Article 122).

Where an employer terminates a labour contract unilaterally in breach of Article 35, 36 or 37 of the Labour Code (Article 39), it must take the employee back, pay salary and health, social and unemployment insurance for the days the employee could not work, and pay at least two further months’ salary under the labour contract; if it breaches the notice period, it also pays an amount equal to salary for the days of missing notice (Clause 1, Article 41). If the employee does not wish to continue, the employer must also pay severance allowance (Clause 2); if the employer does not want the employee back and the employee agrees, the parties agree additional compensation of at least two months’ salary, on top of severance allowance (Clause 3). For a dismissal imposed through a defective disciplinary procedure, or for conduct not set out in the rules, the contract or the law, Decree 283/2026/ND-CP requires the employer to take the employee back and pay the salary for the days off work (Point a, Clause 4, Article 25).

Decree 283/2026/ND-CP took effect on 10 September 2026 and replaced Decree 12/2022/ND-CP (Article 66). The amounts below are the fines for individuals; a company, branch or representative office is fined twice as much (Clause 1 and Point b, Clause 2, Article 7). Concluding a labour contract not in writing, of the wrong type or without the mandatory content is fined VND 2 million to 5 million for 1 to 10 employees, rising with the number of employees affected to VND 20 million to 25 million for 301 or more (Clause 1, Article 15). Disciplining or claiming compensation in breach of the required order, procedure or limitation period is fined VND 5 million to 10 million (Point đ, Clause 2, Article 25); disciplining conduct that is not set out in the internal rules, the contract or labour law is fined VND 20 million to 40 million (Point d, Clause 3, Article 25). Laying off employees for restructuring, technology or economic reasons without 30 days’ notice, or without a labour utilisation plan, is fined VND 5 million to 10 million (Points a and b, Clause 3, Article 18). Employers should have the file reviewed before a decision is issued rather than deal with the consequences afterwards.

No. Work permits, their extension and confirmations of exemption under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP are handled by our separate work permit service. Within this service, LexData drafts labour contracts for foreign employees whose term does not exceed the term of the work permit (Clause 2, Article 151 of the Labour Code).