Employers face fines of up to $1,900 for late wage payments in Vietnam

The government has issued Decree No. 283/2026 on penalties for violations in labor, social insurance and the sending of Vietnamese workers abroad under contracts.

Under the new regulations, employers whose late payment violations involve 301 or more employees will incur the highest fine, ranging from VND40 million to VND50 million ($1,521-1,900).

The same penalty framework applies to violations such as interfering with employees' right to decide how to spend their wages or forcing them to use their wages to purchase goods or services from the employer or an entity designated by the employer.

Notably, employers that pay wages below the regional minimum wage set by the government will face fines ranging from VND20 million ($760) to VND75 million ($2,868), depending on the number of underpaid employees.

In addition to fines, employers must pay employees the full amount of unpaid or underpaid wages, along with interest on the late or underpaid wages.

The interest will be calculated based on the highest demand deposit interest rate publicly announced by state-owned commercial banks at the time the penalty is imposed.

Similarly, employers that violate compulsory social, health or unemployment insurance regulations must pay employees an amount equivalent to the compulsory insurance contributions, along with interest calculated at the highest demand deposit interest rate publicly announced by state-owned commercial banks.

Employers that evade unemployment insurance contributions will face fines ranging from 18 to 20 percent of the total unpaid contributions, capped at VND75 million ($2,868).

Evasion includes declaring a wage used as the basis for unemployment insurance contributions that is lower than required, or failing to pay or underpaying the registered contribution amount more than 60 days after the latest deadline for making the unemployment insurance contribution despite being urged to comply by competent authorities.

The current monthly regional minimum wage rates are VND5.31 million ($202) in Region I, VND4.73 million ($180) in Region II, VND4.14 million ($158) in Region III and VND3.7 million ($140) in Region IV.

Employers will also face fines of VND5 million ($190) to VND10 million ($380) if they fail to establish or publicly post their wage scales, payrolls, labor productivity norms and bonus regulations at the workplace before applying them.

The penalties also apply to employers that establish wage scales and payrolls without consulting employee representative organizations, such as trade unions; fail to notify employees or provide wage statements as required; or engage in unequal pay.

The decree also stipulates fines ranging from VND10 million ($380) to VND100 million ($3,800) for labor outsourcing businesses that pay outsourced workers less than employees of the outsourcing client who have the same qualifications or perform the same work.

The penalties also apply to violations involving failure to provide proper benefits to workers who suffer occupational accidents or diseases, or failure to inform workers of the contents of labor outsourcing contracts or providing them with false information about such contracts.