Vietnam’s home affairs ministry proposes 4-day break for New Year holiday

The ministry is soliciting feedback from ministries and related agencies on the plan for the 2026 New Year holiday applicable to officials, public employees, and workers.

Under the proposal, employees would enjoy the statutory New Year’s Day on Thursday, January 1 and swap the working day on Friday, January 2 with a regular weekly day off on Saturday, January 10.

If approved, civil servants, public employees, and workers would have a four-day break from Thursday, January 1 to Sunday, January 4.

The break would consist of two consecutive days off resulting from the workday swap and two weekend days.

According to the ministry, the proposal aims to encourage employers to apply a similar New Year holiday schedule to workers as that enjoyed by civil servants and public employees, while still ensuring full legal entitlements and promoting arrangements that are more beneficial to workers.

As per the 2019 Labor Code, employees are entitled to a total of 11 fully paid days off during the Lunar New Year (Tet) and other holidays each year.

These include one day for the New Year holiday (January 1), five days for the Lunar New Year, determined by employers based on the prime minister’s decision and announced at least 30 days in advance, one day for the Hung Kings Commemoration Day (the 10th day of the third lunar month).

Also, employees enjoy one day off each for Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1), and two days for National Day (September 2 and one adjacent day before or after).

In 2026, New Year’s Day falls on a Thursday.

Many workers have expressed hopes that Friday, January 2 could be swapped with a Saturday, either December 27, 2025 or January 10, 2026 to create a longer holiday.