Employer of Record (EOR) in Vietnam

Hire in Vietnam in days, with no entity and no exposure to getting Labour Code 2019 compliance wrong. We place you with the right vetted EOR partner, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Operational in days

What an Employer of Record does for you in Vietnam

An Employer of Record is a company that legally employs your Vietnamese staff on your behalf. You choose the person and direct their work day to day. The EOR is the legal employer on paper, which is what lets you build a team in Vietnam without forming your own company. In practice the EOR partner takes on everything that needs a Vietnamese legal entity and local expertise: a compliant employment contract under the Labour Code 2019, monthly payroll with income tax and social, health and unemployment insurance withheld on the capped bases, employer contributions and statutory filings to the Vietnam Tax Department (Tong cuc Thue) and Vietnam Social Security, statutory benefits and leave, work-permit sponsorship where needed (Decree 219/2025), and lawful notice and severance on exit. We are not the EOR: we are your independent advisor, placing you with the right vetted partner and staying on your side for the life of the arrangement.

01

Legal employer, on paper

A compliant Vietnamese employment contract under the Labour Code 2019, with all statutory terms correct from day one.

02

Compliant from day one

Monthly payroll, income tax and social-insurance withholding on the capped bases, employer contributions, and the agreed contractual allowances, all remitted and filed on the statutory schedule.

03

No entity required

Statutory benefits, annual leave, and lawful notice under the Labour Code 2019 — including the statutory severance and retrenchment allowances Vietnamese law attaches to terminations — administered correctly for you.

How it works: four steps to a compliant hire

From first call to a compliant Vietnamese hire at work, usually in days.

01 — Scope & quote

We map the role, salary, and start date, and come back with a clear all-in monthly cost. No guesswork, no hidden extras.

02 — Compliant contract

Your employment contract is drafted to Vietnamese standards by the partner, and we sanity-check the terms and pricing before you sign. Compliant from day one.

03 — Onboard in days

A correct Vietnamese contract is issued under the Labour Code 2019, with all statutory terms from day one. Your hire can start in days.

04 — Payroll & compliance run

Income tax and social insurance calculated and withheld each month, payslips issued, statutory filings made to the Vietnam Tax Department (Tong cuc Thue) and Vietnam Social Security. You direct the work; the compliance just runs.

What EOR in Vietnam costs

Two parts: the statutory cost of employing someone, and the EOR partner fee. In Vietnam the statutory employer cost is a flat percentage of a capped contribution base — predictable once the cap and the separate foreign-employee rates are applied correctly — plus any agreed contractual allowances, which foreign employers often forget to budget. We make both transparent before you commit.

Employer social security

For Vietnamese employees the employer contributes approximately 21.5% of the capped contribution base — 17.5% social insurance, 3% health insurance and 1% unemployment insurance — with 10.5% withheld from the employee (Social Insurance Law 41/2024); the trade-union fund contribution is separate and additional where applicable. For foreign employees, the compulsory social-insurance component is around 17% employer and 8% employee. A 13th-month or Tet bonus is customary where agreed: contractual, not statutory. Fully costed before you commit.

Minimum wage (2026)

Regional: VND 5.31m / 4.73m / 4.14m / 3.70m a month across Regions I–IV from 1 January 2026 (Decree 293/2025), with published hourly equivalents. The region follows the place of work.

Income tax (employee)

Employment income is withheld at source under the 2026 five-band monthly regime (Law 109/2025/QH15): 5% up to VND 10 million of monthly taxable income, then 10% to 30 million, 20% to 60 million, 30% to 100 million, and 35% above that — after a VND 15.5 million personal deduction and VND 6.2 million per registered dependant. Non-resident employees pay a flat 20% on Vietnam-source employment income. Provisional remittance runs monthly or quarterly with an annual finalisation; joint returns are not available.

EOR partner fee

A transparent per-employee monthly fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

We know which EOR partners are genuinely strong in Vietnam, by sector and by complexity. We place you with the right one, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

Independent, not a single provider

We are independent: we assess what you actually need, place you with the right vetted partner, secure pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side to escalate or renegotiate. You get advice, not a product pitch.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

Vietnam’s employer cost is straightforward to get wrong: contributions run across several funds on capped bases, foreign employees carry different rates from Vietnamese employees, and the applicable minimum wage depends on region. We benchmark across our partner network for rates typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

Straight to the top when it matters

When something needs resolving, and in global employment it sometimes does, you come to us. We escalate directly, past the helpdesk, to people who can actually move it.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

Two decades across markets

Two decades placing and managing EOR arrangements across global markets, with the local knowledge of the Labour Code 2019, Vietnam’s multi-fund social insurance, and its statutory-grounds termination standard that keeps you compliant.

EOR specialists · Labour Code 2019 & VSS · Risk removed

Built for conversion to your own entity

Most companies use EOR for 12 to 24 months, then move to their own Vietnamese LLC (WFOE). We plan that crossover and manage the transition when the economics justify it.

  • EOR to entity path
  • Transition managed
  • Crossover planning

Why an EOR is the fastest compliant way into Vietnam

Two things slow foreign employers down in Vietnam: the time it takes to complete foreign-investment registration, and the risk of getting the Labour Code’s contract, notice and termination rules wrong. An EOR removes both.

Working time, leave & contracts

Compliance handled under one national Labour Code. Vietnamese employment law requires compulsory social, health and unemployment insurance on capped bases, Vietnamese-language contracts, salary in VND for local staff, and dismissal only on statutory grounds with proper notice. An EOR carries all of it correctly from day one, so a wrong assumption never becomes a liability.

Operational in days, not weeks

Foreign-invested setup is a multi-step process — it can involve investment registration (IRC), enterprise registration (ERC, which serves as the company’s tax number) and sector-specific approvals, with the sequence and competent authority depending on the investment structure, business line and project, followed by tax, e-invoice and social-insurance registrations — and timelines vary with licensing conditions. You cannot employ anyone until registration completes. An EOR removes that wait entirely: a compliant Vietnamese contract is issued and your hire starts in days. You prove the market first and incorporate when the headcount justifies it.

Everything your Vietnamese EOR covers

One transparent monthly fee per employee covers all of this. No hidden extras.

Compliant Vietnamese contract

A compliant Vietnamese employment contract under the Labour Code 2019, issued and maintained for you.

Payroll & social security

Monthly payroll run, with income tax and social-insurance contributions calculated, withheld, and filed correctly each month. Separately, engagements, terminations and role changes are declared to the competent labour authority within the statutory notification windows — a distinct filing many foreign employers miss.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: 12 to 16 working days’ paid annual leave by role, paid national holidays including Tet, six months’ maternity leave funded through social insurance (Law 41/2024) and paternity leave, plus statutory notice and severance on exit. Employee-side contributions of 10.5% for Vietnamese employees — and, for foreign employees, the compulsory social-insurance component of 8% — are withheld and remitted with every payslip.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on how Employer of Record works in Vietnam.

Is my hire employed by Bradford Jacobs or by me?

Legally, your hire is employed by the Vietnamese EOR partner we place you with, which is what keeps you compliant without an entity. Day to day they work for you: you set the work, the goals, the relationship. You get the team; the partner carries the legal employer obligations.

Usually within days once the role and salary are agreed, with a compliant Vietnamese contract from day one. Compare that with the multi-step investment and enterprise registration a foreign-owned entity has to complete before it can employ anyone.

Predictable, and flatter than most markets: employer contributions of roughly 21.5% of the capped contribution base for Vietnamese employees (17.5% social, 3% health and 1% unemployment insurance; the trade-union fund is a separate addition where applicable), and for foreign employees a compulsory social-insurance component of around 17% (Law 41/2024), plus any agreed contractual allowances such as a 13th-month/Tet bonus. Because the base is capped, the marginal cost of senior salaries falls rather than rises. We give you the all-in figure before you commit.

Yes, when done properly. The EOR is a real Vietnamese legal employer meeting all Labour Code 2019, social-insurance and Vietnam Tax Department (Tong cuc Thue) obligations, enrolling your hire for compulsory social, health and unemployment insurance as an employee — rather than leaving them exposed as a misclassified contractor, which is exactly the risk a genuine employment relationship removes.

The compliant contract, monthly payroll (income tax and social-insurance withholding on the capped bases), employer contributions including any agreed contractual allowances such as a Tet bonus, statutory benefits and leave administration, and ongoing HR compliance. We give you one all-in monthly figure up front, with no hidden extras.

Yes, and most companies do once the headcount and permanence justify it. We manage the transition from EOR to your own Vietnamese LLC (WFOE), and can support the incorporation itself. Most use EOR for 12 to 24 months first.

Employment income is withheld at source under the 2026 five-band monthly regime (Law 109/2025/QH15): 5% up to VND 10 million of monthly taxable income, then 10% to 30 million, 20% to 60 million, 30% to 100 million, and 35% above that — after a VND 15.5 million personal deduction and VND 6.2 million per registered dependant. Non-resident employees pay a flat 20% on Vietnam-source employment income. Provisional remittance runs monthly or quarterly with an annual finalisation; joint returns are not available.

Ready to hire in Vietnam?

Tell us the role and we will come back with a compliant, all-in monthly cost and the right partner, usually within a day. No entity, no lock-in, no pitch, just the fastest compliant way to get your person working in Vietnam.

Tax and labour data verified August 2026 (Vietnam Tax Department — Tong cuc Thue, Vietnam Social Security, Ministry of Home Affairs guidance, official gazette texts). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your hire.