Labour reporting, insurance and trade union obligations, registrations and inspection support for foreign-invested employers in Vietnam.
Part of Viettonkin's HR and People services
As of 31 December 2025, Vietnam had 45,416 valid foreign direct investment projects, according to the Foreign Investment Agency. Every one of those projects that employs people runs an employment compliance calendar of its own, and it reaches well beyond payroll.
Beyond the monthly pay run sit statutory reports on labour changes, occupational safety and occupational accidents, compulsory insurance contributions for each category of worker, the trade union contribution, registrations that have to be kept current and the records an inspection will ask to see. None of it is optional, the deadlines differ from one obligation to the next, and the information in each filing has to agree with the payroll and insurance records already held by the authorities.
Several of those obligations changed recently. The Social Insurance Law 2024 took effect on 1 July 2025 with new rules for foreign employees. The Law on Trade Unions 2024 took effect on the same day. The Law on Employment 2025 widened unemployment insurance from 1 January 2026 and made employers directly liable for benefits lost through unpaid contributions. Decree 219/2025/ND-CP abolished the periodic reports on foreign workers from August 2025, and labour administration moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs in the 2025 restructuring. A compliance calendar built before those changes is now partly wrong.
Payroll produces the numbers. Compliance is the set of obligations that use those numbers, on different cycles, for different authorities, and it is usually the part nobody owns until an inspection notice arrives.
The Labour Code 2019 requires every employer to keep an employee register, to declare its labour situation no later than 30 days after starting operations and then to report changes in its workforce periodically to the provincial labour authority and the social insurance agency. Occupational safety law adds its own reporting, and occupational accidents have to be recorded, investigated where serious and reported. Insurance contributions are monthly. The trade union contribution applies whether or not the company has a grassroots union.
Each of those obligations draws on the same underlying facts: who is employed, on what contract, at what pay, in which location, and whether they are Vietnamese or foreign. When the payroll team, the insurance filing and the labour reports are handled by different people or providers, the same headcount can appear three different ways, and inconsistency between filings is precisely what an inspector looks for. The practical answer is to produce every filing from one reconciled employee record.
The authorities also changed shape in 2025. Labour, wages, employment and social security policy moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs in the 2025 government restructuring, and provincial labour functions sit with the provincial Department of Home Affairs. Filings made through the National Public Service Portal follow that structure, and references to the old departments in internal procedures and templates should be updated.
The cadence below reflects the rules as checked on 17 September 2026. Exact submission windows are confirmed against the current regulation each cycle, because several of these reports have moved or been abolished in the past two years.
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| Obligation | Cadence | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Report on changes in the workforce | Twice a year: the six month report before 5 June and the annual report before 5 December | Provincial Department of Home Affairs through the National Public Service Portal, with notice to the social insurance agency |
| Initial labour declaration | No later than 30 days after starting operations | Provincial labour authority and the social insurance agency |
| Social, health and unemployment insurance | Monthly, by the last day of the following month | Social insurance agency |
| Trade union contribution | Periodic, calculated on the salary fund used for compulsory social insurance | Trade union organisation |
| Occupational safety and health report | Annual, for employers within the reporting requirement | Provincial labour authority |
| Occupational accident statistics | Annual summary, with serious accidents reported and investigated as they occur | Provincial labour authority |
| Occupational health report | Annual, for sectors where it applies | Local health authority |
| Periodic reports on foreign workers | Abolished from 7 August 2025 under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP | No longer filed; permit records are managed electronically |
Contributions are where compliance gaps cost money, because arrears carry interest and the employer now bears the employee's lost benefit directly.
From 1 January 2026 the Law on Employment No. 74/2025/QH15 extends compulsory unemployment insurance to employees on contracts of at least one month, where the previous threshold was three, and to part-time employees whose monthly pay reaches the lowest salary used for compulsory social insurance. Every worker category, including short-term and part-time staff, needs to be checked against the new scope.
Where an employee is not eligible for unemployment benefit because the employer failed to pay contributions in full, the employer must pay the employee an amount equal to the benefit they would have received. An unnoticed gap in registration is therefore a liability to the individual as well as to the fund.
Under the Social Insurance Law 2024, in force from 1 July 2025, foreign employees working under a contract of twelve months or more are within compulsory social insurance, except intra-company transferees, those who have reached retirement age when the contract is signed, and cases governed by a treaty. Foreign employees are not covered by unemployment insurance, so the combined rate for them is 20.5 percent for the employer and 9.5 percent for the employee.
Social and health insurance are calculated on a salary capped at twenty times the statutory reference level. Unemployment insurance is capped at twenty times the regional minimum wage for the work location, which rose on 1 January 2026, so the two ceilings move independently.
Monthly contributions are due by the last day of the following month. Late or insufficient payment attracts interest of 0.03 percent per day on the amount overdue, which is why arrears are regularised as soon as they are found rather than at the next annual review.
The rates below are percentages of the capped contribution salary. They apply to employees within the compulsory scheme; eligibility for foreign employees depends on the contract and the exceptions above.
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| Fund | Vietnamese employee: employer and employee | Foreign employee in the scheme: employer and employee |
|---|---|---|
| Social insurance | 17.5% and 8% | 17.5% and 8% |
| Health insurance | 3% and 1.5% | 3% and 1.5% |
| Unemployment insurance | 1% and 1% | Not applicable |
| Total | 21.5% and 10.5% | 20.5% and 9.5% |
These are not annual filings, which is exactly why they drift. Each one is triggered by a change in the business rather than by a date.
An employer with ten or more employees registers written internal labour regulations with the provincial labour authority within ten days of issue, after consulting the employee representative organisation where one exists. Crossing the ten employee threshold is the trigger most often missed by growing teams.
Pay scales are not registered, but they are posted at the workplace and every position has to be paid at or above the regional minimum wage. Decree 293/2025/ND-CP set VND 5,310,000 for Region I, VND 4,730,000 for Region II, VND 4,140,000 for Region III and VND 3,700,000 for Region IV from 1 January 2026, and each revision means checking the scale and the contracts against the new floor.
Joiners are registered and leavers de-registered each month, and each worker category is registered on the correct basis: local staff, part-time staff within unemployment insurance, and foreign employees within or outside the scheme according to their contract.
Under the Law on Trade Unions No. 50/2024/QH15, in force from 1 July 2025, enterprises pay a contribution of 2 percent of the salary fund used for compulsory social insurance, whether or not a grassroots union exists. Union members pay membership dues under the union statute, and foreign employees on contracts of twelve months or more may now join a grassroots union.
Safety training, occupational health records and workplace monitoring are kept where the activity requires them, with the occupational health service providers the sector calls for.
An inspection is a process rather than an event, and most of its outcome is decided by the state of the records before the inspectors arrive.
Preparation starts with the documents an inspection typically asks for: signed employment contracts for every employee, the internal labour regulations and their registration, the posted pay scale, insurance registrations and contribution records, the labour change reports, occupational safety records and, for foreign staff, work permits or exemption confirmations. We review them against the headcount and the payroll, list the gaps and close as many as possible before the inspection date.
During the inspection we act as the point of contact for the employer, prepare responses to queries and make sure what is provided is consistent with what has already been filed. The same applies to reviews by the social insurance agency of contribution records and by the tax authority of personal income tax withholding, where payroll, insurance and tax data have to reconcile.
Where gaps are found, remediation follows a written plan: late reports filed, insurance arrears and interest calculated and paid, registrations corrected and the underlying process changed so the same finding does not recur. The aim is to regularise the position within whatever period the authority sets, and to leave behind a calendar that someone owns.
The service is coordinated with payroll so that every filing comes from the same reconciled data.
The initial labour declaration where it is still outstanding, the six month and annual reports on workforce changes, and the notices that accompany them.
Occupational safety and health reports, occupational accident statistics and occupational health reports where the entity falls within them, with advice on what has to happen immediately when a serious accident occurs.
A review of every worker category against the current rules, monthly declarations and remittances, joiner and leaver registrations, benefit claims, the foreign employee assessment at onboarding, and the trade union contribution.
Internal labour regulations registration and revision, pay scale reviews after each minimum wage change, and personnel records kept to an inspection standard.
Pre-inspection review, representation during labour, insurance and tax reviews, and a remediation plan with back-filing and arrears calculations where they are needed.
Since 2009, Viettonkin has supported 2,000+ businesses, including Fortune 500 and VNR500 companies. In the engagements below, payroll, personnel and compliance work formed part of a wider mandate.
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 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 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 studyPractical answers on labour reports, insurance for each worker category and the trade union contribution.
Employers report changes in their workforce twice a year through the National Public Service Portal: the six month report before 5 June and the annual report before 5 December. They go to the provincial Department of Home Affairs, with notice to the social insurance agency.
Not the periodic ones. Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, in force from 7 August 2025, abolished the semi-annual and annual reports employers used to file on foreign workers. Work permits or exemption confirmations are still required for each foreign employee, and the employer still keeps the records.
No. Foreign employees within compulsory social insurance, generally those on contracts of twelve months or more, pay social and health insurance at the same rates as local staff but are not covered by unemployment insurance. The combined rate is 20.5 percent for the employer and 9.5 percent for the employee.
Yes. The Law on Trade Unions 2024 requires enterprises to pay 2 percent of the salary fund used for compulsory social insurance, whether or not a grassroots union has been established. Membership dues are separate and are paid only by union members.
Late or insufficient contributions attract interest of 0.03 percent per day on the amount overdue, and under the Law on Employment 2025 an employer whose unpaid contributions cost an employee unemployment benefit must pay that employee the equivalent amount. We calculate the arrears and interest, regularise the registration and fix the process that caused it.
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, the mix of local, part-time and foreign staff, your locations and what has been filed so far. We will map the reports, contributions and registrations that apply, and anything that needs to be brought up to date.
