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HR and Payroll for International Offices in Vietnam

Vietnamese workflows for your local team, English visibility for headquarters, and payroll that follows Vietnam's 2026 rules

For foreign-owned companies, regional headquarters and subsidiaries running an office in Vietnam operating in Southeast Asia and cross-border operations.

payroll for foreign companies in Vietnamforeign employee social insurance VietnamHR outsourcing vs software VietnamFDI company payroll Vietnam

Pain points

  • Foreign and Vietnamese employees fall under different insurance rules, and the 1 July 2025 Social Insurance Law changed who is covered
  • Expatriates move between resident and non-resident tax status depending on days in Vietnam, which changes how their PIT is calculated
  • Local staff want Vietnamese screens and payslips while headquarters needs the same numbers in English
  • Outsourced payroll sends back a monthly spreadsheet, so HQ sees totals but not the attendance, leave and approvals behind them
  • Running Vietnam on its own system means regional finance reconciles one more country by hand

Social insurance for foreign employees

Since 1 July 2025, the Law on Social Insurance No. 41/2024/QH15 sets out when foreign citizens must join compulsory social insurance. A foreign employee working for an employer in Vietnam on a definite-term labour contract of 12 months or more is covered. Foreign employees join the sickness, maternity, occupational accident and disease, and retirement and survivorship schemes, plus health insurance. They are not covered by unemployment insurance.

  • Exceptions: intra-company transferees, employees who had reached retirement age when the contract was signed, and cases covered by an international treaty
  • Employee share for a covered foreigner: 8% social insurance and 1.5% health insurance, 9.5% in total. Vietnamese staff pay 1% unemployment insurance on top
  • Employer share: 17.5% social insurance (14% retirement and survivorship, 3% sickness and maternity, 0.5% occupational accident and disease) and 3% health insurance
  • Social and health insurance are calculated on salary up to 20 times the base salary: VND 50.6 million a month from 1 July 2026, when the base salary rose to VND 2.53 million
  • If a salary is set in a foreign currency, the insurance salary is converted to VND at the average transfer buying rate of four state-owned commercial banks, fixed on 2 January for the first half of the year and on 1 July for the second half
  • No contribution is due for a month in which the employee does not work and is unpaid for 14 working days or more

Personal income tax for resident and non-resident foreigners

An individual is a Vietnam tax resident if they stay 183 days or more in the calendar year or in 12 consecutive months from arrival, or have a permanent residence in Vietnam, which includes a rented home with a definite lease term. Residents are taxed on worldwide income. Non-residents are taxed only on income from working in Vietnam.

  • Residents: employment income is taxed on five monthly brackets from the 2026 tax period: 5% up to VND 10 million, 10% to 30 million, 20% to 60 million, 30% to 100 million and 35% above
  • Family deductions from 1 January 2026: VND 15.5 million a month for the taxpayer and VND 6.2 million for each registered dependent
  • Compulsory employee insurance is deductible, including contributions to mandatory overseas social and health insurance schemes
  • Non-residents: a flat 20% on employment income from working in Vietnam, subject to any double tax agreement
  • The new Personal Income Tax Law takes effect on 1 July 2026, with its salary provisions applied from 1 January 2026

Work permits and labour contracts

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP took effect on 7 August 2025 and replaced the work permit rules in Decree 152/2020/ND-CP and Decree 70/2023/ND-CP. Permits issued under the old decrees stay valid until they expire. For HR, the main changes are a single application, a shorter wait and a new short-stay exemption.

  • Work permits are issued by the provincial People's Committee, and the needs explanation and permit application are now one dossier processed in 10 working days
  • A work permit or exemption certificate is valid for at most 2 years
  • Managers, executives, experts and technicians working in Vietnam for less than 90 days in a calendar year are exempt, but the employer must notify the authority at least 3 working days before work starts
  • Foreign documents in the dossier must be consularly legalised, notarised and translated into Vietnamese unless an exemption applies
  • Under the Labour Code, a foreign employee's labour contract cannot run longer than their work permit

Paying staff and the trade union fund

Under Article 95 of the Labour Code, wages in the labour contract and wages paid must be in VND, except for foreign employees working in Vietnam, who may be paid in a foreign currency. Every time wages are paid, the employee must receive a statement showing salary, overtime, night work pay and deductions.

  • Employers pay a trade union fund of 2% of the salary fund used for compulsory social insurance, whether or not the company has a grassroots union
  • Because covered foreigners are now in compulsory social insurance, their insurance salary is part of that fund
  • Union membership dues are separate and are paid only by employees who join. Foreign employees on contracts of 12 months or more may join a grassroots union
  • The Region I minimum wage, which covers urban Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, is VND 5.31 million a month in 2026 and rises to VND 5.7 million on 1 January 2027 under Decree 399/2026/ND-CP

How Better HR fits a foreign-owned office

Better HR is built for companies that run more than one country in Southeast Asia. The Vietnam office gets local payroll and Vietnamese-language workflows. Headquarters sees the same data in English, next to its other countries.

  • Full Vietnamese language support on web and mobile for local employees and managers
  • English for HQ, regional finance and expatriate managers on the same account
  • Automatic PIT, BHXH, BHYT, BHTN and trade union fee calculation in each payroll run
  • Payslips, statutory reports and bank disbursement files from the payroll run
  • Mobile attendance with GPS, WiFi or Bluetooth check-in, plus leave requests and approvals
  • Multi-country payroll from one account, plus the Better HR AI agent
  • Recruitment through Better Jobs, which is used in Vietnam
  • A single per-employee plan with every module included; see the Vietnam pricing page for the VND price

How Better HR solves this

Better HR runs your Vietnam office on the same account as your other countries. Local employees use the web app and mobile app in Vietnamese to check in, request leave, approve requests and read payslips. HQ and regional managers use the same records in English. Each payroll run calculates PIT, BHXH, BHYT, BHTN and the trade union fee automatically, produces payslips and statutory reports, and exports bank disbursement files. Better HR has an office in Ho Chi Minh City.

Expected outcomes

  • One set of employee, attendance and payroll records for the Vietnam office, readable in Vietnamese and English
  • Vietnam payroll run alongside your other countries from one Better HR account
  • Payslips, statutory reports and bank files produced from the same payroll run
  • Attendance and leave approved in the mobile app and carried into payroll without re-keying
  • Hiring for the Vietnam office handled in Better Jobs, connected to the rest of your HR data

Frequently asked questions

1. Do foreign employees in Vietnam have to pay social insurance?

Yes, if they work for an employer in Vietnam on a definite-term labour contract of 12 months or more. Intra-company transferees, employees who had reached retirement age when they signed, and cases covered by an international treaty are excluded. Covered employees pay 8% social insurance and 1.5% health insurance. The employer pays 17.5% social insurance and 3% health insurance.

2. Do foreigners pay unemployment insurance in Vietnam?

No. Unemployment insurance applies to Vietnamese employees only. Foreign employees covered by compulsory social insurance pay into social and health insurance but not unemployment insurance, so neither they nor their employer pay the 1% unemployment contribution for them.

3. How are expatriates taxed in Vietnam?

It depends on residence. Someone who stays 183 days or more in the calendar year or in 12 consecutive months from arrival, or has a permanent residence such as a rented home on a definite lease, is a tax resident. Residents pay 5% to 35% on monthly taxable income after a VND 15.5 million personal deduction and VND 6.2 million per registered dependent. Non-residents pay a flat 20% on employment income from working in Vietnam.

4. Can a company in Vietnam pay foreign employees in USD?

Yes. The Labour Code requires wages to be stated and paid in VND, with an exception for foreign employees working in Vietnam. If the salary is in a foreign currency, the social insurance salary is still converted to VND using the average transfer buying rate of four state-owned commercial banks, set on 2 January and 1 July.

5. What replaced Decree 152/2020 on work permits?

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, effective 7 August 2025. It merges the needs explanation and the work permit application into one dossier processed in 10 working days, keeps the 2-year maximum validity, and exempts managers, executives, experts and technicians who work in Vietnam for less than 90 days in a calendar year, as long as the employer notifies the authority at least 3 working days before work starts.

6. Does a foreign-owned company in Vietnam pay the trade union fee?

Yes. Under the Law on Trade Unions 2024, employers pay 2% of the salary fund used for compulsory social insurance, whether or not they have a grassroots union. Membership dues are separate and only apply to employees who join a union.

7. Should an FDI company outsource payroll or use HR software in Vietnam?

Outsourcing suits offices that want a provider to own the calculations. HR software suits companies that want their own records, approvals and payslips in one place, and want HQ to see the detail behind the totals. With Better HR, local staff work in Vietnamese, HQ reads the same data in English, and Vietnam payroll runs from the same account as your other countries.

8. How much does Better HR cost for an office in Vietnam?

Better HR has a single plan priced per active employee per month, with payroll, attendance, leave, approvals and the AI agent included, and Vietnamese and English on the same account. See the Vietnam pricing page for the current VND price.

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