Asia-Pacific employment law bulletin 2025

Vietnam

It has been a relatively quiet year for employment law in Vietnam, both in terms of legislative development and market practice. However, there are a couple of developments which are worth mentioning.

Increase of minimum wages

There are two kinds of minimum wages in Vietnam, i.e. (i) Common Minimum Wage; and (ii) Regional Minimum Wage. Both were increased from 1 July 2024.

Common Minimum Wage is used to calculate salaries for employees working in the public sector but is also used to calculate the threshold for mandatory social insurance contribution for all private enterprises including foreign invested enterprises (the maximum contribution is 20 times this wage). After two years of discussions, the National Assembly decided to significantly increase the Common Minimum Wage in Vietnam by 30% from VND1,800,000 (approx. USD 72) to VND2,340,000 (approx. USD 94) from 1 July 2024. In addition, there is also a plan to remove the Common Minimum Wage in the future (which may affect the threshold for mandatory social insurance contribution for the private sector), though it is still not entirely clear at this stage when this will happen.

Regional Minimum Wage is applicable to all non-State enterprises and includes four different levels applicable to four groups of administrative zones. From 1 July 2024, The Government has also increased the Regional Minimum Wage levels from VND3,250,000 - VND4,680,000 (approx. USD130 – 187.2) to VND 3,450,000 - 4,960,000 (approx. USD138 – 198.4).

Other potential changes to personal data protection regulations

In 2023, the Government issued Decree 13/2023/ND-CP, which serves as the first comprehensive law on personal data protection. Now there is a plan to issue a Law on Personal Data Protection (PDPL), which will have higher legal validity and that can amend the existing Decree 13/2023/ND-CP.

Under the draft PDPL published by the Government, special attention is given to personal data processing in specific fields, including in employee monitoring and recruitment. Accordingly, employers can only request information which is publicly disclosed in recruitment documents or when collecting information for employees’ profile. Of note, foreign companies recruiting Vietnamese employees and processing personal data, must comply with Vietnamese laws on personal data protection, must have agreements with local companies with regard to data protection of such Vietnamese employees, and must provide necessary data copies to local companies in order to comply with the law as necessary. The processing of personal data must use lawful technology and management measures, ensuring employee awareness and consent.

In addition, among other changes, this draft PDPL also introduces additional requirements for consent by data subjects, beyond those listed in Decree 13/2023/ND-CP. Specifically, the draft PDPL states that consent must not be given for conditions that require the data subject to agree to the transfer of their personal data for unrelated services, and data subjects must have the option to refuse such conditions. Moreover, consent must be given through a clear and specific affirmative action, and when it has been given to one company within a corporate group this does not mean that it is extended to other companies in the group, for data processing purposes.

Employers with operations in Vietnam should monitor the developments related to PDPL, which is currently expected to take effect in 2026, as it may impact the collection, processing and the transfer of personal data collected from their employees as well as from third parties in Vietnam.