Social, health and unemployment insurance: who must join, the 21.5% and 10.5% contribution rates, ceilings, foreign employees, the trade union fee, the occupational accident fund and the cost of paying late

Three schemes, four laws and one collector

Compulsory insurance in Vietnam has three parts, each with its own statute. Social insurance covers sickness, maternity, occupational accidents and diseases, retirement and survivorship, under Law No. 41/2024/QH15 on Social Insurance, in force since 1 July 2025, and Decree No. 158/2025/ND-CP on compulsory social insurance. The occupational accident and disease fund sits within it but is financed under the Law on Occupational Safety and Health. Health insurance pays for medical treatment under the Law on Health Insurance No. 25/2008/QH12, most recently amended by Law No. 51/2024/QH15, with the rate set by Decree No. 188/2025/ND-CP. Unemployment insurance pays benefits and training support to Vietnamese employees who lose their jobs, under Law No. 74/2025/QH15 on Employment, in force since 1 January 2026, which replaced the unemployment insurance chapter of the 2013 Employment Law.

Vietnam Social Security and its provincial offices collect all three through a single monthly payment and a single electronic filing system, issue the electronic social insurance book and the health insurance card, and pay most benefits. The trade union fee is collected separately for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour. From the employer's perspective the obligations are to register each employee, calculate the correct insurance salary, deduct the employee's share, pay both shares on time, process benefit claims and report changes.

Who must be insured

For Vietnamese employees, compulsory social and health insurance apply to employees under labour contracts of one month or more, whatever the contract is called, and the 2024 law extended coverage to part-time employees whose monthly salary reaches the minimum contribution base. Enterprise managers who receive salary are also covered. Employees working under a separate probation contract are outside the scheme (Decree No. 158/2025/ND-CP). Unemployment insurance applies to Vietnamese employees under labour contracts as defined in Law No. 74/2025/QH15, with exceptions for employees already receiving a pension and certain others.

For foreign employees, Article 2(2) of Law No. 41/2024/QH15 requires participation where the employee holds a work permit, a practising certificate or a work permit exemption and works under a labour contract of 12 months or more with an employer in Vietnam. Three groups are excluded: intra-company transferees within the meaning of the foreign worker rules; employees who had reached retirement age under Article 169 of the Labour Code when they signed the contract; and cases where a treaty to which Vietnam is a party provides otherwise. The principal treaty is the social insurance agreement with the Republic of Korea, in force since 1 January 2024, under which a Korean employee seconded to Vietnam can be exempt from Vietnamese contributions for up to 60 months, extendable, on presenting a certificate of coverage. Foreign employees pay social and health insurance at the same rates as Vietnamese employees but are not covered by unemployment insurance (FAQ 56).

A foreign employee who is not covered, for example on an 11-month contract or as a secondee, is still subject to Vietnamese personal income tax, and the employer remains liable for workplace injury under the Labour Code. Private medical insurance is the norm for expatriates in any event, because the public scheme's benefits are designed around the Vietnamese public hospital system.

Contribution rates

The employer's 17.5% social insurance contribution comprises 3% to the sickness and maternity fund, 14% to the retirement and survivorship fund, and 0.5% to the occupational accident and disease fund; Decree No. 158/2025/ND-CP allows a reduced 0.3% for employers in high-risk sectors that meet prescribed safety conditions and apply for it. The employee contributes 8% to the retirement and survivorship fund. Health insurance is 4.5% of the insurance salary under Decree No. 188/2025/ND-CP, two-thirds (3%) from the employer and one-third (1.5%) from the employee; the law allows up to 6%. Unemployment insurance is 1% from each of employer and employee, with State support from the budget.

The totals are therefore 21.5% from the employer and 10.5% from the employee for a Vietnamese employee, and 20.5% and 9.5% for a foreign employee in the scheme. Employers sometimes agree to bear the employee's share for senior staff; that is permitted, but the amount borne is additional taxable income of the employee.

The insurance salary, the floor and the ceilings

Under Article 31 of Law No. 41/2024/QH15, the monthly salary on which contributions are paid for an employee under a labour contract comprises the salary for the job or title, salary allowances, and other supplements agreed in the contract and paid regularly in each pay period. Decree No. 158/2025/ND-CP excludes supplements that depend on or fluctuate with productivity, performance or work quality, and welfare items shown separately in the contract remain outside the base. The insurance salary may not be lower than the regional minimum wage for the workplace.

The ceiling for social and health insurance is 20 times the reference level. While the public-sector base salary exists, the reference level equals it; Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP raised the base salary from VND 2,340,000 to VND 2,530,000 from 1 July 2026, so the ceiling rose from VND 46,800,000 to VND 50,600,000 a month. The unemployment insurance ceiling is 20 times the regional minimum wage, VND 106,200,000 in Region I in 2026. For a highly paid employee the ceilings make the percentage cost of insurance fall steeply as salary rises, which is why the employer cost examples in Wages, minimum wage and payroll differ so much between a local and an expatriate employee.

The trade union fee and the occupational accident fund

Separately from insurance, every enterprise and organisation that employs staff must pay a trade union fee of 2% of the salary fund used as the basis for compulsory social insurance contributions, whether or not a grassroots union has been established. The fee is imposed by Law No. 50/2024/QH15 on Trade Unions, in force since 1 July 2025, and Decree No. 105/2026/ND-CP, in force since 16 May 2026, which requires monthly payment, allows a temporary suspension or a reduction of up to 20% for businesses in difficulty, and permits exemption only on dissolution or bankruptcy (FAQ 60). Where a grassroots union exists, part of the fee is returned to it to fund its activities. The fee is distinct from the dues that union members pay personally. Payment is made to the provincial or industrial-zone labour federation; failure to pay is enforced by the union through the labour inspectorate and, in principle, the courts. The union structure itself is covered in Internal labour rules, unions and disputes.

The occupational accident and disease fund is financed by the employer's 0.5% contribution and pays benefits for work accidents and occupational diseases, including commuting accidents, and supports prevention. The employer remains directly liable under the Law on Occupational Safety and Health for first aid, medical costs not covered by health insurance and full salary during treatment, and for compensation where the employer was at fault, so the fund does not replace the employer's own insurance for serious incidents.

Paying on time, and what happens if an employer does not

Under Article 34(4) of Law No. 41/2024/QH15 an employer contributing monthly must pay the month's contributions by the last day of the following month: contributions for October are due by 30 November. Registration of a new employee is due within 30 days of the employee becoming subject to the scheme (Article 28), and changes in salary or status must be reported promptly so that the base stays correct.

The 2024 law distinguishes late payment (Article 40) from evasion (Article 41), which includes failing to register employees, registering a salary lower than the real one and deducting the employee's share without paying it over. Both attract interest of 0.03% a day on the amount unpaid, and the employer must also pay the arrears. Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP, which replaced Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP on 10 September 2026, sets fines of 12% to 15% of the amount for late payment and 18% to 20% for evasion, capped at VND 75 million for an individual; under Article 7 of the decree fines for organisations are twice those for individuals. Failure to register employees is fined by the number of employees affected. Evasion above the thresholds in Article 216 of the Penal Code is a criminal offence for the enterprise and the individuals responsible. Late payers also lose eligibility for State commendations and may be named publicly by Vietnam Social Security, and an employer with unpaid contributions cannot complete a dissolution (Chapter 8).