Internal labour regulations, salary scales, employment contracts and ongoing labour law advice for foreign-invested companies in Vietnam.
Part of Viettonkin's HR and People services
Total registered foreign direct investment in Vietnam reached USD 38.42 billion in 2025, up 0.5 percent on the previous year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance. Capital on that scale becomes workforces, and a foreign-invested company that has incorporated, opened its accounts and started hiring has not finished setting up its employment framework. It has only started it.
Vietnamese labour law expects each employer to have its own rules in place before disputes test them. The Labour Code 2019 requires every employer with ten or more employees to issue written internal labour regulations and register them with the provincial labour authority within ten days of issue. Every employer has to build its own pay scale and payroll, consult the employee representative organisation where there is one and post them at the workplace before they apply. Employment contracts have to use one of the two permitted types and contain the mandatory terms, and a probation clause or an offer letter drafted to home country conventions can create obligations the employer did not intend.
The rules around that framework moved again in 2025 and 2026. The Law on Employment No. 74/2025/QH15 took effect on 1 January 2026 and widened unemployment insurance to contracts from one month. Decree 293/2025/ND-CP raised regional minimum wages from the same date. Decree 337/2025/ND-CP created a legal framework and national platform for electronic labour contracts, which are optional. Documents written before those changes need a review, not a reprint. HR Consultancy sets the framework up correctly and keeps it current as the workforce grows.
Most foreign employers arrive with an employee handbook and a contract template from head office. Neither is what Vietnamese law actually asks for, and the gap usually shows at the first dispute or inspection.
The core of the framework is short. Internal labour regulations set working hours and rest periods, workplace order, occupational safety, measures against sexual harassment, protection of assets and business secrets, the cases in which employees may be reassigned, the violations and disciplinary measures, material responsibility and who has authority to discipline. An employee can only be disciplined for a violation that is set out in the internal labour regulations, the employment contract or the labour laws, so an employer without proper regulations has very little it can enforce.
Pay is the second pillar. The Labour Code requires every employer to establish its own pay scale, payroll and labour productivity norms as the basis for recruitment, salary negotiation and payment, to consult the employee representative organisation where one exists, and to post them at the workplace before they take effect. Since the 2019 Code they are no longer registered with the labour authority, but every position still has to be paid at or above the regional minimum wage for its location, and the scale has to be reviewed each time those minimums change.
The third pillar is the contract set: the employment contract templates for local and expatriate staff, probation terms, and the offer letter that precedes them. These documents only work if they agree with one another and with the payroll. A contract that classifies an allowance one way while payroll treats it another, or a probation salary below the statutory floor, is a finding waiting to happen. We draft the framework as one set, in Vietnamese and English, and check it against the payroll structure before it is issued.
The table separates what the law requires from what is good practice. Both matter, but only the first carries a statutory consequence if it is missing.
Scroll the table horizontally on smaller screens.
| Document | What the law requires | When it becomes pressing |
|---|---|---|
| Internal labour regulations | Every employer issues its own rules. At ten employees or more they must be in writing and registered with the provincial labour authority within ten days of issue. | Before headcount reaches ten, and before any disciplinary action is taken. |
| Pay scale and payroll | Established by the employer after consulting the employee representative organisation where one exists, and posted at the workplace before implementation. No registration. | Before the first payroll run, and after every regional minimum wage change. |
| Employment contract | Indefinite or fixed term of up to 36 months, in writing, with the mandatory contents including job, pay, working hours, protective equipment, insurance and training. | Before each employee starts work. |
| Probation terms | One probation per job, capped by the type of role, with pay of at least 85 percent of the offered salary. | At offer stage, because the offer has to match. |
| Offer letter | Not a statutory document, but treated as a contract if it contains the agreement on a paid job, salary and management. | Whenever hiring starts. |
| Employee handbook | Not required by law. Useful for explaining entitlements and procedures, provided it does not contradict the regulations or the contracts. | Once the team is large enough that policies need to be written down. |
Registration is the visible part. The steps before it decide whether the regulations can actually be relied on when they are needed.
The regulations cover the matters the Labour Code lists, adapted to how the entity actually works: shift patterns, remote work, confidential information, company property and the specific conduct that would justify each disciplinary measure. A generic set that does not describe the real workplace is hard to enforce.
Before issuing or revising the regulations the employer consults the employee representative organisation where one exists. Employees must be told about the regulations and the main contents displayed where they are needed. Bilingual versions are prepared where there are expatriate staff.
An employer with ten or more employees submits the registration dossier to the labour authority of the province where it is registered within ten days of issuing the regulations. The dossier includes the application, the regulations, the comments of the employee representative organisation where there is one, and the employer's related documents on discipline and material responsibility.
If any content is found to be contrary to law, the provincial labour authority notifies the employer within seven working days of receiving the dossier and instructs it to revise and resubmit. Where the dossier is accepted, the regulations take effect fifteen days after the authority receives it.
An employer with branches or business locations in other provinces sends the registered regulations to the labour authorities there as well. When the regulations are revised, consultation applies again, and we assess whether the revision has to go back through registration.
Contract errors are among the most expensive in Vietnamese employment law, because they surface years later at termination when the cost of correcting them is highest.
An indefinite contract has no end date. A fixed-term contract runs for up to 36 months. If the employee keeps working after a fixed term expires and no new contract is signed in the 30 days after expiry, the existing contract becomes indefinite. The parties may sign only one further fixed-term contract, after which the next must be indefinite.
The contract identifies the parties and states the job and workplace, duration, pay and allowances with the payment method and date, promotion and pay rise arrangements, working hours and rest periods, protective equipment, social, health and unemployment insurance, and training. Confidentiality for roles with access to business secrets is agreed in writing.
We prepare separate bilingual templates for local and foreign employees. A foreign employee's contract cannot outlast the work permit, and several consecutive fixed-term contracts are permitted, so the expatriate template is built around the permit rather than the standard renewal rule.
Decree 337/2025/ND-CP took effect on 1 January 2026 and gives electronic labour contracts the same validity as paper ones when they meet its requirements, including certified digital signatures and submission to the national platform, which the Government was to bring into operation by 1 July 2026. Using electronic contracts is optional and paper contracts remain valid.
Probation end dates, fixed-term expiries and the point at which a second fixed-term contract must be followed by an indefinite one are tracked for every employee, and raised in advance so the decision is made deliberately rather than by default.
A dismissal can be justified on the facts and still be unlawful because the process was wrong. Vietnamese labour law is unusually procedural here, and the employer carries the burden of proof.
Article 122 of the Labour Code sets the principles. The employer must be able to prove the employee's fault, the employee representative organisation of which the employee is a member takes part, the employee is present and may defend themselves or be represented by a lawyer or the representative organisation, and the process is recorded in writing. The implementing rules require the employer to notify the participants at least five working days before the disciplinary meeting. Only one measure may be imposed for one violation, and no measure may be taken while the employee is on sick leave or other permitted leave, in custody, or during pregnancy, maternity leave or while raising a child under twelve months.
The permitted measures are reprimand, deferment of a pay rise for up to six months, demotion and dismissal. Fines and deductions from wages are forbidden. The time limit for taking action is six months from the violation, or twelve months for violations directly involving finance, assets or the disclosure of technological or business secrets. Dismissal is available only on the specific grounds the Code lists, which is why the internal labour regulations need to describe the conduct concerned.
Termination outside discipline has its own rules. Where the employer terminates unilaterally on the permitted grounds it gives written notice of at least 45 days for an indefinite contract, 30 days for a fixed term of 12 to 36 months and three working days for shorter fixed terms, with longer periods of at least 120 days for enterprise managers and certain special jobs. Severance of half a month's salary for each year of work applies on qualifying terminations after at least twelve months, excluding periods covered by unemployment insurance. Most individual disputes go to a labour mediator first, though disputes over disciplinary dismissal or unilateral termination can go straight to arbitration or court. We advise on the procedure as well as the merits, before the employer acts.
Each of these took effect in 2025 or 2026, and each touches at least one document in a typical employment framework.
The Law on Employment No. 74/2025/QH15, in force from 1 January 2026, extends compulsory unemployment insurance to contracts of at least one month and to part-time employees whose monthly pay reaches the lowest salary used for compulsory social insurance. Where an employee loses unemployment benefit because the employer did not pay contributions in full, the employer must pay the employee the equivalent amount directly.
Decree 293/2025/ND-CP set monthly minimum wages from 1 January 2026 of VND 5,310,000 in Region I, VND 4,730,000 in Region II, VND 4,140,000 in Region III and VND 3,700,000 in Region IV. Pay scales and contract salaries are checked against the minimum for each work location.
Decree 337/2025/ND-CP sets the conditions for electronic labour contracts and the national platform they are filed on. Companies that want to contract electronically need a compliant workflow; companies that do not can continue on paper.
The Law on Personal Data Protection No. 91/2025/QH15 applies from 1 January 2026, with rules on recruitment data and on keeping and deleting employee data at the end of employment. Personnel files and privacy notices are part of the framework now.
Labour administration passed to the Ministry of Home Affairs in the 2025 government restructuring, and provincial labour functions now sit with provincial Departments of Home Affairs. Registrations and correspondence are addressed accordingly.
Consultancy is scoped per engagement, as a one-off framework setup, as continuing advice, or both.
Internal labour regulations drafted, consulted on and registered where required; the pay scale and payroll designed at or above the applicable minimum wages and posted; bilingual contract and offer templates for local and expatriate staff; and an employee handbook where you want one.
Contracts prepared for each new employee from the agreed templates, bilingual signing coordinated, personnel records kept, and probation and fixed-term dates tracked. Where you contract electronically, the platform workflow is set up with your chosen provider.
Questions on working hours and overtime, leave, reassignment, the effect of the Law on Employment 2025 on your workforce, and how the Labour Code interacts with your own regulations.
Advice on the procedure and the grounds before action is taken, preparation of the notices and minutes, and support through mediation where a dispute arises, working with our legal team where litigation is in prospect.
A periodic review of regulations, contracts and policies against legal changes, with specific amendments recommended when a new law, decree or minimum wage requires them.
Since 2009, Viettonkin has supported 2,000+ businesses, including Fortune 500 and VNR500 companies. The engagements below involved the contracts, people and internal processes that an employment framework governs.
A Singaporean investor set up a medical firm in Hanoi. Viettonkin advised on the compliance procedures and supported the acquisition of a local business, including the transition of its contracts, human resources, tax and internal processes.
Read the case study
A Canadian corporation established a legal entity in Vietnam for an aircraft components production line. The engagement extended to factory rental, staff recruitment and accounting and tax procedures, with Viettonkin acting as legal representative and handling contract drafting and review.
Read the case study
A Singaporean company with a presence across Southeast Asia and America sought advice on dissolving a business. Viettonkin proposed the approach for the dissolution together with the payroll administration, accounting and tax work that has to be completed alongside it.
Read the case studyPractical answers on labour regulations, pay scales, contracts and discipline.
Every employer issues its own internal labour regulations. Once you employ ten or more people they must be in writing and registered with the labour authority of the province where the company is registered, within ten days of issue. Registered regulations take effect fifteen days after the authority receives the dossier, unless it asks for revisions first.
No. Since the Labour Code 2019 the pay scale and payroll are no longer registered with the labour authority. The employer still has to build them, consult the employee representative organisation where one exists and post them at the workplace before they apply, and every position has to be paid at or above the regional minimum wage.
Two. A fixed-term contract can run for up to 36 months, the parties can sign one further fixed-term contract, and if the employee continues after that the next contract must be indefinite. Foreign employees are the main exception, because their contracts follow the work permit.
No. Decree 337/2025/ND-CP makes electronic labour contracts valid when they meet its conditions, including submission to the national platform, but using them is optional and paper contracts remain valid. If you choose to contract electronically, the contracts have to follow the decree.
No. The Labour Code forbids fines and wage deductions as discipline. The permitted measures are reprimand, deferment of a pay rise for up to six months, demotion and dismissal, applied through the statutory procedure, within the time limit and only for violations set out in the regulations, the contract or the law.
Regulatory points checked on 17 September 2026; market statistics checked on 11 September 2026. Requirements depend on the entity, the activity and the date of filing.
Tell us your headcount, your locations and the documents you use today. We will show you what the law requires for your workforce, what is missing or out of date, and how we would put it right.
