On June 30, 2024, the Government promulgated Decree 74/2024/ND-CP prescribing statutory minimum wages paid to employees working under labor contracts, thereby changing the regulations on the hourly and monthly statutory minimum wages, at the same time, readjusted some areas applying the minimum wage according to Regions I, II, III, IV Upon its effectiveness, Decree 74/2024/ND-CP will replace the previous Decree 38/2022/ND-CP prescribing statutory minimum wages paid to employees working under labor contracts.

The Law on Employment 2013 is the first law that fully and comprehensively regulates the employment relationships and labor market in Viet Nam. However, after over nine years of implementation, the Law on Employment 2013 has shown several inadequacies that are no longer suitable for the current practice and socio-economic context. Therefore, the Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs is developing a Draft of Law on Employment (amended) (Draft Law) to implement new orientation and policies of the Party, ensure the synchronization, consistency, and suitability of the legal system and international commitments that Viet Nam participates in. This article introduces some outstanding new points of the Draft Law, focusing on the regulations related to unemployment insurance (regarding subjects of unemployment insurance engagement and payable unemployment insurance rates) and labor registration.

Upon a decade of implementation, besides certain advantages, the Law on Social Insurance 2014 has gradually revealed numerous deficiencies and limitations and is no longer suitable for the current socio-economic development. Therefore, the Draft Law on Social Insurance is being prepared and discussed with a focus on overcoming the current shortcomings of the Law on Social Insurance 2014.

The Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs issued Circular 15/2023/TT-BLDTBXH amending, supplementing some provisions of Circular 28/2015/TT-BLDTBXH providing guidelines for Article 52 of the Law on Employment and Decree 28/2015/ND-CP providing guidelines for the Law on Employment in terms of unemployment insurance (Circular 15). Circular 15, taking effect from February 15, 2024, provides some notable contents related to unemployment insurance.

On September 18, 2023, the Government issued Decree 70/2023/ND-CP (Decree 70) to amend and supplement a number of articles of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP which governs foreign employees working in Viet Nam and the recruitment and management of Vietnamese employees working for foreign organizations, individuals in Viet Nam. Decree 70 takes effect from September 18, 2023.

On January 3, 2023, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs issued Circular No. 01/2023/TT-BLDTBXH prescribing the rate for adjusting the monthly salary and income for which social insurance premiums are paid, replacing Circular No. 36/2021/TT-BLDTBXH. Circular 01 takes effect from February 20, 2023, but it applies to the relevant subjects of application from January 1, 2023.