According to the provisions of Article 23 of Decree 283/2026/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the fields of labor, social insurance, Vietnamese workers going to work abroad under contracts (effective from September 10, 2026) enterprises that delay paying wages to workers will be subject to administrative penalties.
Depending on the number of employees who are violated in paying salaries not on time, businesses may be fined up to 100 million VND.
So, what evidence do workers need to keep when their salaries are delayed?
Lawyer Nguyen Huu Hoc - Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association - said that Article 97 of the 2019 Labor Code stipulates the salary payment term as follows:
1. Employees who receive wages by hour, day, week are paid after working hours, days, weeks or are paid in bulk as agreed by both parties, but not more than 15 days must be paid in bulk at once.
2. Employees receiving monthly wages are paid once a month or half a month. The time of payment is agreed upon by both parties and must be set at a cyclical time.
3. Employees who receive wages according to products and contracts are paid according to the agreement of the two parties; if the work must be done for many months, they are advanced monthly wages according to the workload completed in the month.
Thus, businesses must develop regulations on salary payment for employees, including setting a salary payment date for employees depending on the case where employees receive salary by hour, day, week or month. If a business pays salary after the set date, it is considered late payment.
Employees need to keep payroll slips if the company pays in cash and ask employees to sign or make account statements if the business pays employees through bank transfers as evidence of the date the business pays salaries," lawyer Hoc recommended.
However, lawyer Hoc also added that the law also stipulates that in cases where for force majeure reasons, the employer has taken all measures to remedy but cannot pay the salary on time, it must not be delayed more than 30 days.
If the salary is paid late for 15 days or more, the employer must compensate the employee with an amount of money at least equal to the interest of the late payment amount calculated according to the deposit interest rate for 01 month announced by the bank where the employer opens a salary account for employees at the time of salary payment.
