Another year is about to pass, putting aside the many worries and concerns of life. Every Tet occasion, families and neighborhoods in Vietnam bustle with preparations for a warm and joyful Tet. Another year will shortly end, and a new year is welcoming with much good news for employees, especially matters related to wages.
Article table of contents
One of the notable contents is that both region-based minimum wage applied to employees working under employment contracts and the statutory pay rate applied to officials and public employees in Vietnam are increased in 2017. Below is related content regarding wages for officials and public employees and employees in 2017.
New region-based minimum wage table applicable from January 1, 2017
The region-based minimum wage in 2017 applies to employees working under employment contracts according to the provisions of the Labor Code 2012, regardless of the type of enterprise, agency, organization, or individual. The previous regulation in Decree 122/2015/ND-CP applied to employees working in enterprises, cooperatives, farms, households, individuals, and agencies, organizations using employees under employment contracts as prescribed by the Labor Code. The specific region-based minimum wage table for employees working in enterprises is as follows:
| Region |
Region-based Minimum Wage 2016 From January 1, 2016 - December 31, 2016 (Decree 122/2015/ND-CP) |
Region-based Minimum Wage 2017 Applicable from January 1, 2017 (Decree 153/2016/ND-CP) |
Increase compared to 2016 |
| I | 3,500,000 VND/month | 3,750,000 VND/month | 250,000 VND/month |
| II | 3,100,000 VND/month | 3,320,000 VND/month | 220,000 VND/month |
| III | 2,700,000 VND/month | 2,900,000 VND/month | 200,000 VND/month |
| IV | 2,400,000 VND/month | 2,580,000 VND/month | 180,000 VND/month |
Not only is there a change in wage levels, but there is also a change in the applicable areas in 2017. To be specific:
- Switch “Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria Vung Tau province” from Region II to Region I;
- Switch the following areas from Region III to Region II;
+ Pho Yen town, Thai Nguyen province; Song Cong City, Thai Nguyen province
+ Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province
+ Tra Vinh city, Tra Vinh province
- Switch the following areas from Region IV to Region III:
+ Que Son, Thang Binh districts, Quang Nam province;
+ Duyen Hai town, Tra Vinh province.
- Switch “Giang Thanh district, Kien Giang province” from Region III to Region IV.
Statutory pay rate table applicable in 2017
This rate applies to officials and public employees, salary and allowance beneficiaries, and employees (hereinafter referred to as salary and allowance beneficiaries) working in agencies, organizations, and public service providers of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the State, socio-political organizations, and associations supported by the state budget at the central level, in provinces, municipalities, districts, townships, provincial cities, municipal cities, communes, wards, towns, special administrative-economic units, and armed forces. The statutory pay rate also changes to help officials live better.
The statutory pay rate table for 2017 is applied as follows:
| Time | Statutory Pay Rate 2017 | Legal Basis |
| From January 1, 2017 - June 30, 2017 | 1,210,000 VND/month | Decree 47/2016/ND-CP stipulates the statutory pay rate for officials and public employees and armed forces |
| From July 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017 | 1,300,000 VND/month | Resolution on the state budget estimate for 2017 passed by the National Assembly on November 11, 2016 |
Above is the general statutory pay rate applied to officials and public employees and the armed forces. Based on Decree 47/2016/ND-CP, the Resolution on the state budget estimate for 2017 as well as Integrated Document 01/VBHN-BNV in 2016 unifying Decree on salary policies for officials, public employees, and armed forces issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to know the specific salaries that officials receive.
- PROFESSIONAL PAYROLL APPLICABLE TO OFFICIALS IN STATE AGENCIES
- PROFESSIONAL PAYROLL APPLICABLE TO OFFICIALS AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES IN PUBLIC SERVICE PROVIDERS
See the detailed professional payroll for officials in state agencies and the professional payroll for officials and public employees in public service providers HERE.
The entities applying the above payroll are specified in Integrated Document 01/VBHN-BNV in 2016 on Decree on salary policies for officials, public employees, and armed forces issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In addition to the above content, there are also some notable regulations such as the possibility of issuing the Statutory Minimum Wage Law because the rigid provisions in the Labor Code 2012 no longer fit well. Therefore, the Law on Statutory Minimum Wage will be enacted to apply and implement according to market mechanisms.
Simultaneously, it is expected to pass the Law on Amendments to Labor Code 2017 at the 4th meeting of the 14th National Assembly taking place around October or November of 2017. After more than 03 years of implementation, the Labor Code 2012 has shown many limitations and loopholes. In the Summary Report of 03 years of implementing the Labor Code, many new proposals have been made:
- Proposal: Specifically stipulate acts of sexual harassment in the workplace;
- Increase the retirement age (this issue currently has many opposing opinions);
- Increase paid leave days for employees (considering adding the commemoration day of the Dien Bien Phu Victory on May 7 every year to the national holidays);
- Increase the number of overtime hours in a year;
- Add regulations prohibiting the conclusion of other types of contracts in lieu of employment contracts when labor relations arise.
- Add the right to refuse nighttime work for employees raising children under 5 years old;
- Regulations that fixed-term employment contracts of 01 months or more must be in writing.
The above contents may be found in the Draft Report.
