Failure to sign a written labor contract with a worker, fined up to 150 million VND

Legal Consulting Department of Lao Dong Newspaper answers:

Clause 1, Article 15, Decree 283/2026/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the fields of labor, social insurance, and Vietnamese workers working abroad under contracts (effective from September 10, 2026) stipulates as follows:

1. A fine shall be imposed on the employer if there is one of the following acts: concluding a non-written labor contract with a worker performing a term of 01 month or more; concluding a non-written labor contract with a person authorized to conclude a labor contract for a group of workers aged 18 or older performing seasonal work, certain jobs with a term of less than 12 months specified in Clause 2, Article 18 of the Labor Code; concluding an improper type of labor contract with a worker; concluding a labor contract that does not fully encompass the main contents of the labor contract as prescribed by law at one of the following levels:

a) From 2 million VND to 5 million VND for violations from 01 person to 10 employees;

b) From 5 million VND to 10 million VND for violations from 11 people to 50 employees;

c) From 10 million VND to 15 million VND for violations from 51 people to 100 employees;

d) From 15 million VND to 20 million VND for violations from 101 people to 300 employees;

e) From 20 million VND to 25 million VND for violations of 301 employees or more.

Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP stipulates the level of fines and principles of application for repeated administrative violations as follows:

1. The penalty level stipulated for administrative violations specified in Chapter II, Chapter III and Chapter IV of this Decree is the penalty level for individuals; except for cases specified in: Article 8; Article 9; Clause 3, Article 10; Clauses 3, 4, 5, 6, Article 19; Clauses 2, 4, Article 36; Clause 1, Article 37; Clauses 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, Article 38; Clause 3, Article 42; Clauses 6, 11, Article 48; Article 49; Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Article 50; Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Article 52; Clause 4, Article 53 of this Decree is the penalty level for organizations. The penalty level for organizations is 2 times the penalty level for individuals.

Thus, from September 10, 2026, depending on the severity of the violation, if a business does not sign a written labor contract with a worker doing a term of 01 month or more, it may be fined differently, but the highest amount is up to 50 million VND.