Decree 283/2026/ND-CP: New Regulations Businesses Need to Note Regarding Administrative Sanctions in Labor and Social Insurance

On July 15, 2026, the Government issued Decree 283/2026/ND-CP stipulating administrative sanctions in the fields of labor, social insurance, and Vietnamese workers going abroad under contract ("Decree 283"). The Decree takes effect from September 10, 2026, replacing Decree 12/2022/ND-CP. With 6 Chapters and 68 Articles, Decree 283 continues to refine the sanction framework in the labor and social insurance sectors, while also adding new violations and clarifying the handling mechanisms for delayed and evaded social insurance contributions. xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn

Notably, the new regulations not only impact human resources departments but also directly relate to the operations of legal, compliance, finance - accounting, and business managers. Therefore, businesses need to proactively review their recruitment processes, labor management, labor contract signing and execution, wages, social insurance, and personnel records to mitigate the risk of violations.

Below are the notable contents that businesses should pay attention to.

1. Supplementing Regulations on Sanctions for Registration and Adjustment of Labor Registration Information

One of the notable new points of Decree 283 is the addition of a separate set of regulations on registration and adjustment of labor registration information.

According to Article 12 of Decree 283, employees subject to compulsory social insurance who fail to provide, provide insufficient, or provide inaccurate information for labor registration may be fined from 1 million VND to 2 million VND.

For employers, the act of not registering or not adjusting labor registration information as prescribed may be fined from 5 million VND to 20 million VND, depending on the number of violating employees. In addition to the fine, businesses must fully carry out the registration or adjustment of information as prescribed. LuatVietnam

This regulation indicates that the employer's labor management obligation is not limited to signing labor contracts and creating personnel records. Businesses need to ensure that employee information is fully, accurately, and timely updated in the labor management system.

In practice, risks can arise when employees change information such as their name, identification number, social insurance participation status, or related information, but the business fails to make the adjustments as prescribed.

Businesses should review: onboarding processes, personnel information updates, personal information changes, increases/decreases in workforce, and the consistency between personnel records, social insurance records, and the labor management system.

2. The Obligation to Manage Employee Records and Information is More Clearly Defined

Decree 283 continues to emphasize the employer's responsibility in declaring labor utilization and managing labor records.

Accordingly, businesses may be sanctioned if they fail to declare labor utilization, fail to fully enter employee information into the labor management book from the time the employee starts working, or fail to present the labor management book when requested by a competent authority.

Businesses may also be sanctioned for not establishing a labor management book, establishing it late, or not ensuring the basic contents as prescribed. LuatVietnam

This issue, while seemingly procedural, is crucial in labor inspection activities. Personnel records need to be managed systematically and must be able to demonstrate that the business has fully complied with its employer obligations.

Therefore, businesses should not just focus on "having records" but need to pay attention to the completeness, accuracy, consistency, and retrievability of the records.

3. Businesses Need to Pay Special Attention to the Issue of Labor Contract Signing and Execution

Labor contracts continue to be one of the common legal risk areas for businesses.

During the review process, businesses need to ensure that labor contracts are signed at the correct time, with the correct type of contract, by the correct authority, and contain all the contents required by law.

In particular, businesses should not just check whether "a contract has been signed" but need to consider whether the content of the contract is consistent with the actual labor relationship.

For example, if a contract states a certain salary but in reality the business regularly pays additional amounts that are essentially wages; or if the employee's actual job title and duties differ significantly from the contract, the business may face risks related to wages, social insurance, and other employee benefits.

Therefore, the review of labor contracts should be carried out simultaneously with the review of payroll and social insurance records, rather than treating these as three completely independent issues.

4. Delayed and Evaded Social Insurance Contributions are More Clearly Distinguished

One of the groups of regulations with the greatest impact on businesses are the new regulations on delayed and evaded compulsory social insurance contributions.

Decree 283 more clearly distinguishes between acts of failing to register for participation, delaying contributions, and evading social insurance contributions. This distinction is particularly important because each act has different sanction levels and remedial measures. LuatVietnam

Businesses should therefore not approach the issue simply as "the company owes social insurance." It is necessary to accurately determine:

Has the business not registered yet → registered incompletely → delayed contributions → or shown signs of evasion?

Correctly identifying the nature of the act will directly affect the level of legal risk and financial obligations of the business.

5. Delayed Social Insurance Contributions May Incur a Fee of 0.03% Per Day

For acts of delayed social insurance contributions, in addition to administrative fines as prescribed, businesses must fulfill remedial obligations, notably paying the outstanding insurance amount and an amount calculated on the outstanding amount and duration of delay at a rate of 0.03%/day.

This means that the actual cost of a social insurance violation can be significantly higher than the administrative fine.

For example, suppose a business has an outstanding social insurance amount of 100 million VND and the delay period is 30 days. The amount calculated at 0.03%/day would be:

100,000,000 × 0.03% × 30 = 900,000 VND.

This amount is calculated in addition to the obligation to pay the full outstanding insurance amount and should not be confused with administrative fines.

Therefore, businesses need to pay special attention to the monthly social insurance contribution deadline and the control mechanism between HR, payroll, accounting, and the insurance department.

6. Evading Social Insurance Contributions Carries a Higher Risk Level Than Delayed Contributions

Unlike delayed contributions, evading social insurance contributions is a group of acts with a higher risk level.

According to Decree 283, acts of evading social insurance contributions may be sanctioned based on a percentage of the total evaded amount. One notable point is that the fine can be up to 20% of the evaded amount in corresponding cases. In addition to the fine, businesses must fulfill the obligation to pay the full insurance amount and any arising amounts as prescribed. LuatVietnam

It is worth noting that the risk of evasion does not necessarily only arise when a business "does not contribute social insurance."

An issue that needs particular review is the salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions.

If a business determines the social insurance contribution salary level to be lower than the prescribed level, the difference may become an issue that needs to be considered from a social insurance compliance perspective.

Therefore, social insurance checks should be performed as follows:

Actual salary → salary components → which components are subject to social insurance contributions → registered contribution level → actual amount contributed.

This is one of the areas where the Legal/Compliance department should coordinate with HR and Finance for periodic review.

7. Failing to Fully Register Social Insurance Participants is Also a Major Risk

In addition to delayed and evaded contributions, businesses need to pay attention to cases of failing to register or incompletely registering individuals subject to compulsory social insurance.

The fine is determined by the number of violating employees and can increase significantly as the number of employees increases. In addition to the fine, businesses must fully register and pay the outstanding social insurance amount as prescribed. LuatVietnam

This is particularly important for businesses with frequently fluctuating workforces, many probationary employees transitioning to official status, or numerous cases of employee increases/decreases within a month.

Businesses should establish a linked process between:

Signing labor contracts → identifying social insurance participants → reporting increases → calculating salaries → contributing social insurance.

8. Regulations on Labor Discipline: Businesses Are Not Allowed to "Fine" Employees

Another content that needs special attention is labor disciplinary action.

Decree 283 stipulates sanctions for acts of improper disciplinary action, including using fines or salary deductions instead of labor disciplinary action.

Some violations of labor disciplinary regulations may be fined from 20 million VND to 40 million VND for employers in corresponding cases.

This means businesses need to clearly distinguish between:

• labor discipline; and
• mechanisms for compensation for damages, material liability.

For example, businesses should not create internal regulations simply as:

"Employees who are late will be fined 500,000 VND/instance."

Instead, businesses need to establish a handling mechanism consistent with regulations on internal labor rules and disciplinary procedures.

This is also why Legal needs to review the Employee Handbook, Internal Labor Regulations, and other HR policies to ensure that internal regulations do not inadvertently lead to legal violations.

9. Protection of Female Workers Continues to Be an Area of Concern for Businesses

Decree 283 continues to impose sanctions for acts violating regulations on the protection of female workers.

Notably, employers may be fined from 10 million VND to 20 million VND in some cases, such as assigning pregnant employees from the 7th month of pregnancy, or from the 6th month in certain specific areas, to work overtime, at night, or on long-distance business trips.

For employees raising children under 12 months of age, assigning them to work overtime, at night, or on long-distance business trips is also restricted, unless the employee agrees. LuatVietnam

Businesses should therefore have a mechanism for HR to update and manage cases involving employees under special legal protection.

This is not only to avoid fines but also to help businesses ensure that their human resource policies comply with labor laws.

10. Management of foreign employees requires separate control

For businesses employing foreign workers, Decree 283 continues to impose many requirements related to work permits and documents confirming that employees are exempt from work permits.

Businesses must ensure that foreign employees:

• have all necessary documents;
• work within the permitted scope;
• their permit or confirmation document is still valid;
• the business fulfills its related obligations when the employee ceases employment.

This group of records should be managed according to their validity period rather than merely being stored once.

In particular, businesses should establish an alert mechanism before work permits or related documents expire to avoid discovering violations after employees have continued working.

11. Occupational safety, hygiene, and health checks also need to be reviewed

Decree 283 also stipulates sanctions related to occupational safety and hygiene, including the obligation to organize periodic health checks and occupational disease examinations in cases required by law.

For some violations, the fine amount may be determined by the number of affected employees, while also having a certain ceiling.

Although these issues are often handled by HR or the administrative department, Legal/Compliance should still include them in the annual compliance checklist to ensure nothing is overlooked.

12. Businesses also need to pay attention to trade union fees

In addition to social insurance, Decree 283 also regulates violations related to trade union fees.

Businesses may be required to pay the outstanding or overdue amounts and related charges as stipulated.

Therefore, when conducting a labor compliance review, businesses should not only check:

Labor Contract + Social Insurance

but should expand it to:

Labor Contract + Payroll + Social Insurance + Unemployment Insurance + Trade Union Fees + Employee Records.

This approach will help limit situations where one obligation is controlled but related obligations are overlooked.

13. For businesses, fines are only one part of the risk

An important point when reading Decree 283 is not to focus solely on the fine amount.

In many cases, remedial measures are what create significant costs and work for businesses.

Depending on the violation, businesses may simultaneously have to:

• register or adjust information;
• refund amounts collected from employees;
• pay additional social insurance contributions;
• pay late payment penalties;
• rectify records;
• re-perform procedures as required;
• cease the violating act.

Therefore, when evaluating a sanctioning regulation, Legal/Compliance should ask a series of questions:

What is the violating act? → How much is the fine? → Is it calculated per person? → Are there remedial measures? → Are there additional financial obligations? → Which department is responsible for remediation?

This is the appropriate approach when conducting a legal compliance assessment.

14. Decree 283 has special significance for Legal & Compliance operations

For businesses, Decree 283 is not just a document for the HR department.

In fact, many obligations in the Decree are inter-departmental in nature.

For example:

HR is responsible for records and labor relations.

Finance/Payroll is responsible for salaries and insurance contributions.

Legal is responsible for reviewing the compliance of contracts, internal regulations, policies, and procedures.

Compliance can play a role in tracking obligations, building checklists, checking, and warning of risks.

Therefore, businesses should view Decree 283 from an enterprise compliance perspective rather than just considering it a human resources document.

15. What should businesses do after Decree 283 takes effect?

After September 10, 2026, businesses should conduct a comprehensive review of their labor and social insurance operations.

First, businesses need to review all employee records, including labor contracts, contract addendums, recruitment records, labor registration information, and termination records.

Next, it is necessary to cross-reference the actual personnel list with the social insurance participation list, especially for newly recruited employees, those transitioning from probation to official employment, and those whose contracts have been terminated.

Businesses should also conduct a payroll audit, comparing actual salaries with salaries used as the basis for social insurance contributions to promptly detect discrepancies.

For internal documents, it is necessary to review the Labor Regulations, Employee Handbook, salary policies, disciplinary procedures, and HR policies to ensure they do not contain provisions contrary to law.

Finally, businesses should develop a Labor & Social Insurance Compliance Checklist and clearly assign responsibility for each obligation to specific departments.

Conclusion

Decree 283/2026/ND-CP marks a significant step in perfecting the mechanism for sanctioning administrative violations in labor and social insurance. Compared to the previous approach, the new Decree is notable for adding sanctions for labor information registration, clearly distinguishing between late payment and evasion of social insurance contributions, and clarifying remedial measures. xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn

For businesses, the issues that need priority checking are not just "whether there is a violation" but also the accuracy of labor data, the completeness of personnel records, the correct identification of social insurance participants, the salary level used as the basis for social insurance contributions, and the deadlines for fulfilling related obligations.

In particular, businesses need to note that a labor violation can lead to multiple consequences simultaneously: administrative fines, remedial obligations, amounts to be retrospectively paid, and related costs. Therefore, proactively reviewing and establishing periodic control mechanisms will be much more effective than only dealing with issues when inspections or violations arise.

Decree 283/2026/ND-CP officially takes effect from September 10, 2026, making this an appropriate time for businesses to conduct a Legal & Compliance Review of all labor management and social insurance activities.

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