Salary levels, forms of salary payment, salary payment deadlines, salary allowances, and other supplementary amounts are indispensable contents in the labor contract (Labor Contract). The Government of Vietnam issued Decree 05/2015/ND-CP providing specific guidance on salaries in Labor Contracts.
Article table of contents
Wages are understood as the amount of money that the employer pays to the employee to perform the work as agreed. The wages paid to the employee are based on the wage recorded in the labor contract, labor productivity, volume, quality of work performed by the employee, and the employee's wage level, which cannot be lower than the regional minimum wage specified by the Government of Vietnam.
Wages include the wage level for the job or title, salary allowances, and other supplementary payments. This content is specifically regulated in Article 21 of Decree 05/2015/ND-CP and Circular 47/2015/TT-BLDTBXH guiding the implementation of labor contracts, labor discipline, and material responsibilities. To be specific:
Wages in the Contract
The wage level for the job or title is the wage level in the salary scale, which is constructed by the employer according to the regulations in Article 93 of the Labor Code 2012.
The wage recorded is calculated based on the duration of the work or title according to the salary scale constructed by the employer under the labor law agreed upon by both parties. In case the employee receives wages based on products or package wages, the wage calculated based on the duration is recorded to determine the product price or package wages.
The wage for the simplest job under normal labor conditions and working hours (excluding additional payments for overtime work or night shifts) must not be lower than the minimum wage;
Salary Allowances
Salary allowances are the amounts to compensate for factors including labor conditions, complexity of the job, living conditions, and the degree of labor attraction not fully accounted for in the wage for the job or title. Salary allowances are recorded based on the agreements between the two parties:
- Salary allowances to compensate for labor conditions, job complexity, living conditions, the degree of labor attraction not fully included in the agreed wage in the labor contract.- Salary allowances associated with the employee's working process and work performance results.
Other Supplementary Payments
Other supplementary payments refer to additional payments outside the wage and salary allowances related to the performance of the job or title in the labor contract, excluding bonuses, meal allowances, supports, and subsidies from the employer unrelated to job performance. Other supplementary payments are recorded based on the agreements between the two parties:
- Supplementary payments with specifically determined amounts, together with the agreed wage in the labor contract, and regularly paid in each pay period.- Supplementary payments without specifically determined amounts, regularly or irregularly paid in each pay period associated with the working process and work performance results of the employee.
For other policies and benefits, such as bonuses under Article 103 of the Labor Code, innovation bonuses, meal allowances, travel expenses, housing allowances, childcare expenses, support when employees have family member deaths, employee family member weddings, employee birthdays, support for employees in difficult situations due to labor accidents, occupational diseases, and other supports and subsidies, they are recorded separately in the labor contract according to Clause 11, Article 4 of Decree 05/2015/ND-CP.
