Employer of record in Vietnam: costs and rules

What sets Vietnam apart for an employer

Four things in Vietnam catch out companies used to US payroll.

• Contributions are capped by a government base salary. Social and health insurance and the 2% union fee are charged on salary up to 20 times the base salary (luong co so). That base rose from VND 2,340,000 to VND 2,530,000 on July 1, 2026 (Decree 161/2026), lifting the monthly cap from VND 46,800,000 to VND 50,600,000. Every raise in the base salary raises your cost on well-paid staff.
• The minimum wage depends on the region. From January 1, 2026 (Decree 293/2025/ND-CP) it is VND 5,310,000 a month in Region I, 4,730,000 in Region II, 4,140,000 in Region III and 3,700,000 in Region IV. The 2025 province mergers changed which areas sit in each region, and we have not yet checked the new map.
• Probation is set by job level, not by contract. The ILO EPLex 2026 profile lists up to 180 days for enterprise managers, 60 days for college-level roles, 30 days for intermediate-level roles and 6 working days for other jobs (Labor Code art. 25).
• Notice follows the contract type. On permitted grounds an employer gives 45 days on an indefinite contract, 30 days on a 12 to 36 month contract and 3 working days under 12 months (art. 36). Severance is half a month's salary per year of service not covered by unemployment insurance (art. 46), and restructuring triggers a job-loss allowance of one month per year, at least two months (art. 47).

The Tet bonus, often called a 13th month, is customary but not required by law. Budget for it anyway if you want to hire in a competitive market. The Labor Code items above come from ILO EPLex, a secondary source; we have not yet read them on a Vietnamese government page. The same goes for the 12 days of annual leave (art. 113) and 11 public holidays (art. 112) shown in the summary box: both are not yet confirmed.

Employment costs and rules in Vietnam

What an EOR charges to employ someone in Vietnam

The monthly bill for a VND 87.5 million salary

This is the cost of one employee at the sample salary in our data, roughly USD 40,000 a year at an assumed 26,250 VND per USD (a rate we have not confirmed).

Because the salary sits above the cap, the effective rate is 14.0%, not 23.5%. Before July 1, 2026 the lower VND 46.8 million cap made the same bill VND 11,405,000 a month. A hire earning under VND 50.6 million pays the full 23.5%. Unemployment insurance has its own, higher cap tied to the regional minimum wage, which we have not confirmed.

Add the EOR fee and any Tet bonus you promise. Run other salaries in the international employee cost calculator, or compare Vietnam with the other countries in the EOR cost index.

Contractors in Vietnam: when the label stops working

Paying a Vietnamese developer as a contractor skips the 14.0% to 23.5% insurance bill, which is why so many US companies start that way. The risk grows when the person works only for you, on your schedule, with your tools: that looks like employment, and the unpaid insurance and severance become the cost of fixing it. If you keep contractors, pay them through a contractor management platform with written scopes, or use a contractor of record that takes on the classification risk for a fee.

Using an EOR versus opening a Vietnamese company

At $599 a month, the EOR fee is $7,188 a year per person, so ten staff cost $71,880 a year in fees alone. A local entity removes that fee but adds registration, local accounting and a payroll you run yourself under the cap rules above. The EOR or own entity comparison walks through the break-even.

Choosing an EOR for Vietnam

Our scores, built from published terms with our scoring method, put Multiplier first (79) and Oyster second (64). Multiplier lists $459 a month on annual billing or $499 monthly and says it owns its entities; Oyster charges $699 and asks for a deposit of at least one month of service cost. Remote (62) and Deel (54) list $599. Read the Oyster review, the Remote review and the Deel review, or see the full ranking of the best employer of record services.

For Vietnam, ask each provider two things in writing: which cap it used in the quote (it changed on July 1, 2026), and whether its Vietnamese entity is owned or a partner.