In the draft Decree stipulating the minimum wage for employees working under labor contracts, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed a minimum wage increase of 7.8% compared to the current level, applied from January 1, 2027.
The draft Decree clearly states Clause 4, Article 5 stipulating the validity and responsibility for implementation: For cases where the minimum wage attached to the area in the Appendix attached to this Decree is lower than the minimum wage prescribed by the Government at the time of December 31, 2025, the employer must continue to implement the minimum wage at the time of December 31, 2025 for employees recruited from December 31, 2025 or earlier until the minimum wage attached to the area prescribed by the Government is not lower than the minimum wage at December 31, 2025.
Contributing opinions to the draft Decree, the Department of Home Affairs of Cao Bang province, the People's Committee of Dien Bien province, the Department of Home Affairs of Khanh Hoa province, the Ministry of Finance, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the Government Inspectorate, and the Ministry of Justice have proposed that the drafting agency study and consider adjusting the timeline specified in Clause 4 to be appropriate, because Decree 293/2025/ND-CP has taken effect from January 1, 2026.
Responding to the above proposal, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that after implementing the 2-level local government model, the area applying the minimum wage is transferred from the district-level administrative area to the commune-level administrative area.
Due to the socio-economic conditions of some communes being lower than the general level of the city directly under the province before, some localities proposed adjusting to reduce the area applying the minimum wage for these communes compared to the level applied at December 31, 2025.
Therefore, the drafting agency believes that to ensure agreements between employees and employers, and the rights of employees working in areas with regional reduction, Decree No. 293/2025/ND-CP must maintain the minimum wage until the Government has new regulations.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said that in the draft new Decree, the minimum wage has been proposed to be adjusted to increase. At the same time, some areas have been proposed by localities to adjust to increase the region. Because there are no problems arising in reality, the draft Decree removes the above regulation.
