(I.e. Last updated on September 14, 2026, according to Decree 283/2026/ND-CP Effective from September 10, 2026.
During the recruitment, management, and employment processes of businesses, errors can easily occur that, according to the law, are subject to administrative penalties. Being penalized for labor, wage, and social insurance violations not only causes economic losses for businesses but may also indicate that their labor management system is inadequate. This poses a risk of potentially leading to more serious consequences, as errors in labor, wages, and social insurance accumulate over the long term.
This article helps businesses reassess their systems and determine the most appropriate course of action.
Understanding Administrative Violations Related to Labor, Wages, and Social Insurance
1. What are Labor, Wage, and Social Insurance Violations?
This is a wrongful act committed by an organization or individual that violates the regulations of the law on labor management, wages, and social insurance, but it is not a crime and, according to the law, must be subject to administrative penalties.
2. Statute of limitations for administrative penalties related to labor, wages, and social insurance.
The statute of limitations applies according to Clause 4, Article 3 of Decree 283/2026/ND-CP and Law No. 15/2012/QH13 on Handling Administrative Violations, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 67/2020/QH14 and Law No. 88/2025/QH15:
- One year for administrative violations related to labor and social insurance.
- Two years for administrative violations related to Vietnamese workers going to work abroad under contract.
Labor-related violations for which businesses are subject to administrative penalties.
Chapter II of Decree 283/2026/ND-CP divides violations in the field of labor into four groups.
Employment, recruitment and labor management (Articles 8 – 14)
- Violation of employment regulations
- Violations of regulations regarding recruitment and labor management.
- Violations of regulations regarding registration and updating of labor registration information.
- Violation of regulations concerning foreign workers in Vietnam.
- Violations of regulations concerning the recruitment, employment, and management of Vietnamese workers employed by foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam.
Working conditions and labor relations (Articles 15 – 30)
- Concluding an employment contract
- Probation period
- Execute the employment contract
- Amendments, additions, and termination of employment contracts.
- Labor leasing
- Training, professional development, and upgrading vocational skills.
- Workplace dialogue
- Collective bargaining, collective labor agreement
- Salary
- Working hours, rest periods
- Labor discipline, material responsibility
- Women workers and ensuring gender equality
- Child labor
- Domestic workers
- Elderly workers, people with disabilities
- Strike
Occupational safety and hygiene (Articles 31-38)
This includes reports on occupational safety and health, measures to ensure safety, prevention of occupational accidents and diseases, the employer's responsibilities in the event of an accident, the use of machinery and equipment requiring strict safety standards, training, technical inspection, and workplace environmental monitoring.
Organizations representing workers at the workplace and trade union funds (Articles 39 – 42)
This includes ensuring the rights of workers' representative organizations at the workplace and trade union activities, discrimination on the basis of establishing or joining a representative organization, using economic measures that disadvantage representative organizations, and paying trade union fees.
Actions for which businesses are subject to administrative penalties related to wages.
Article 23 of Decree 283/2026/ND-CP stipulates four groups of violations:
Group 1. Develop and publish a salary system.
- Failure to publicly disclose at the workplace before implementation: salary scales, wage tables; labor standards; bonus regulations.
- Do not establish wage scales, salary tables, or labor standards; do not conduct trial labor standards before official implementation.
- Failure to consult with the employee representative organization at the workplace when establishing wage scales, salary tables, labor norms, and bonus regulations.
- Failure to notify payroll statements, or notification that does not comply with regulations.
- There should be no equal pay or gender discrimination for workers performing work of equal value.
Group 2. Violations regarding wage payments
This includes: late payment of wages; failure to pay or insufficient payment of wages as stipulated in the labor contract, overtime pay, night shift pay, and pay for work stoppage; improper wage deductions; restricting or interfering with employees' right to decide how to spend their wages; failure to pay full wages for unused annual leave days when employees resign or lose their jobs; failure to provide advances or insufficient advances of wages during periods when employees are temporarily suspended from work.
Group 3. Paying less than the minimum wage.
Group 4. Failure to pay the amount equivalent to the insurance premium.
This applies when a business fails to pay, or pays insufficient amounts, at the same time as the payroll period, an amount equivalent to the business's contribution to mandatory social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance for employees who are not eligible to participate in these insurance schemes.
Note: The old regulation's provision regarding "failure to maintain payroll records and present them upon request by competent authorities" is no longer in effect. The obligation to maintain payroll records was abolished in the 2019 Labor Code, and Article 23 of Decree 283/2026/ND-CP does not impose penalties for this behavior.
Actions for which businesses are subject to administrative penalties regarding social insurance.
The 2024 Social Insurance Law separates the two acts. slow closing , and evasion of paymentChapter III of Decree 283/2026/ND-CP is divided into six separate articles, each with a penalty framework.
Late payment of mandatory social insurance contributions (Article 43)
- A warning will be issued if the amount of the violation at the time the report is made is less than 400.000 VND.
- Failure to register or incomplete registration of the required number of participants within 60 days.
- The required fees as per the registration form have not been paid, or have been paid only partially.
Evading mandatory social insurance contributions (Article 44)
- No registrations or incomplete registrations of the required number of participants will be accepted after the 60-day deadline.
- Registering a salary as the basis for mandatory social insurance contributions that is lower than the amount stipulated in Clause 1, Article 31 of the Social Insurance Law.
- Failure to pay or paying only partially the registered fee after 60 days from the latest payment date and after being urged by the competent authority.
Late payment and evasion of unemployment insurance contributions (Articles 45 and 46)
It is separated into two distinct articles with corresponding penalty frameworks, applied according to the provisions of employment law.
Documents related to entitlement to benefits and other violations (Articles 47 and 48)
- Violations of regulations regarding the preparation of documents and receipt of social insurance and unemployment insurance benefits.
- Violations of other regulations regarding social insurance and unemployment insurance.
- What is the difference between 'delayed payment' and 'avoiding payment'?
What should businesses pay attention to in order to avoid administrative penalties related to labor, wages, and social insurance?
To comply with regulations and avoid administrative penalties, businesses need to fully implement the following groups of measures:
1. Comply with and properly implement relevant regulations when recruiting employees for the company.
2. Comply with and properly implement regulations on the construction of the wage system, such as: salary scales and wage regulations, when employees receive salaries at the enterprise.
3. Establish a management system and participate in social insurance for your business in accordance with the regulations on mandatory social insurance participation for employees.
To ensure proper implementation, businesses can refer to the following guide on labor management – payroll – social insurance:
Look up all administrative penalties for violations related to Labor - Wages - Social Insurance.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about Penalties for Violations of Labor, Employment, and Social Insurance Regulations in Ho Chi Minh City
Q: If a company pays social insurance contributions at a rate lower than the actual salary stated in the employment contract, as agreed upon with the employee, will it be penalized?
A:
Yes, and from September 10, 2026, this behavior will be punished more severely than before.
The old regulations in Decree 28/2020/ND-CP and Decree 12/2022/ND-CP classified incorrect contributions as "not considered evasion," with a penalty of 12% to 15%. Currently, point a, clause 2, Article 44 of Decree 283/2026/ND-CP defines the registration of wages used as the basis for mandatory social insurance contributions as being lower than the regulations in clause 1, Article 31 of the Social Insurance Law. This is the act of evading social insurance contributions:
2. A fine of 18% to 20% of the total amount of evaded mandatory social insurance contributions, but not exceeding VND 75.000.000, shall be imposed on employers who commit any of the following acts of evading social insurance contributions:
a) Registering a salary as the basis for mandatory social insurance contributions that is lower than the amount stipulated in Clause 1, Article 31 of the Social Insurance Law;
3. Remedial measures.
a) Require employers to register or fully register the number of employees participating in compulsory social insurance; pay the full amount of compulsory social insurance contributions that have been evaded; and pay an amount equal to 0,03%/day calculated on the amount of compulsory social insurance contributions evaded and the number of days of evasion into the social insurance fund for violations of the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article;
b) To compel the employer to pay the full amount of mandatory social insurance contributions that have been evaded; and to pay an amount equal to 0,03% per day calculated on the amount of mandatory social insurance contributions evaded and the number of days of evasion into the social insurance fund for violations of the provisions of Clause 2 of this Article.
Therefore, if an employer pays less social insurance contributions than the prescribed level, they may be subject to administrative penalties according to the regulations mentioned above. The above penalties apply to individuals; in the case of violations by businesses, the penalty is double the above amount (36%-40%, with a maximum of 150 million VND). Repeat offenders may face further penalties. Transfer the criminal prosecution file. (Article 4)