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EOR Cost in Vietnam: Total Annual Cost by Role 2026

By Nguyễn Quốc Trung — Deputy General Director · Updated 2026-09-13

Employing someone in Vietnam through an Employer of Record costs the gross salary plus roughly 23.5% in employer statutory contributions for a Vietnamese national, a service fee, and 8% VAT charged on the whole invoice — an all-in cost that runs from about 21% above gross at senior salaries to about 52% at the illustrative junior end, and higher still below that. In money, an experienced technical hire on VND 15,000,000 a month costs about VND 290 million (USD 11,047) a year all-in, and a country manager on VND 150,000,000 a month about VND 2.33 billion (USD 88,941) a year, each figure including one 13th-month salary. This article works out the full monthly and annual cost for six illustrative roles and a foreign-national example, and sets out the budget lines that never appear on the monthly invoice.

The figures here are the total cost of employment — what leaves your budget for one headcount — rather than a price list. For how the 8% fee, its floor and cap, and VAT are built line by line, see our EOR pricing breakdown for Vietnam; for the service itself, see our Employer of Record service in Vietnam. Prices are set in Vietnamese dong; the US dollar figures use an indicative rate of USD 1 = VND 26,250 and are rounded to whole dollars, with dong the authoritative currency. All figures apply to pay periods from 1 July 2026, when the contribution caps changed, and are current as of 13 September 2026.

Key facts: what it costs to employ someone in Vietnam in 2026

• Employer statutory contributions are 23.5% of the contribution base for a Vietnamese national — 21.5% compulsory insurance plus a 2% trade-union levy — and 22.5% for a foreign national, who pays no unemployment insurance, under the Law on Social Insurance 2024 (No. 41/2024/QH15), the Law on Employment 2025 (No. 74/2025/QH15) and the Trade Union Law 2024 (No. 50/2024/QH15).
• The social, health, occupational-accident and trade-union contribution base is capped at VND 50,600,000 a month from 1 July 2026 — twenty times the reference level of VND 2,530,000 — under Decree 161/2026/ND-CP.
• The unemployment-insurance base is capped separately and higher, at VND 106,200,000 a month, twenty times the Region I minimum wage of VND 5,310,000 set by Decree 293/2025/ND-CP.
• A 13th-month salary or Tết bonus carries no employer statutory contributions, because bonuses are outside the contribution base under Decree 158/2025/ND-CP.
• VAT of 8% applies to the whole EOR invoice — gross salary, contributions and service fee together — until 31 December 2026, reverting to 10% from 2027 unless extended, under Resolution 204/2025/QH15 and Decree 174/2025/ND-CP.
• Employees receive 12 paid public holidays a year from 1 July 2026, and foreign employees 14, with a minimum of 12 days' paid annual leave: the Labour Code 2019 (No. 45/2019/QH14) sets 11 public holidays, 13 for foreign nationals, and Resolution 28/2026/QH16 adds a twelfth from 1 July 2026, Vietnamese Culture Day on 24 November.
• Nhan Kiet's EOR service fee is 8% of monthly gross per person, with a floor of VND 2,600,000 (about USD 99) and a cap of VND 5,200,000 (about USD 199), and no deposit, onboarding, offboarding or currency-conversion fee.
• An illustrative Vietnamese hire costs from about VND 290 million (USD 11,047) a year on a gross of VND 15,000,000 a month to about VND 2.33 billion (USD 88,941) a year on VND 150,000,000 a month, each figure including a 13th-month salary.

How much does it really cost to employ someone in Vietnam?

Employing someone in Vietnam costs more than the salary on the offer letter: on top of gross pay you carry employer statutory contributions of about 23.5% of the contribution base for a Vietnamese national, and through an Employer of Record you also carry a service fee and 8% VAT on the whole invoice. The all-in monthly cost falls between roughly 21% and 52% above gross across ordinary professional salaries, and is proportionally heaviest for junior roles and lightest for senior ones.

Four things drive the number, and only one of them is the salary:

• Gross salary, the figure you and the employee agree. It is pass-through; an EOR does not mark it up.
• Employer statutory contributions — social, health, occupational-accident and unemployment insurance, plus the 2% trade-union levy — at 23.5% of the contribution base for a Vietnamese national and 22.5% for a foreign national.
• The EOR service fee, which for Nhan Kiet is 8% of gross with a floor of VND 2,600,000 and a cap of VND 5,200,000 a month.
• VAT at 8%, charged on the sum of the three lines above, not on the fee alone.

The employee's own insurance of 10.5% and their personal income tax are withheld from the gross salary. They change the employee's take-home pay, not your cost, on a gross-salary contract.

What is included in the total cost of an employee in Vietnam, beyond the salary?

Beyond the salary, the total cost of an employee in Vietnam includes employer statutory contributions of 23.5% of the contribution base for a Vietnamese national, a 13th-month salary that is customary rather than legally required, paid public holidays and annual leave that are already inside a monthly salary, and — where you employ through an EOR — the service fee and 8% VAT. For foreign nationals it also includes a severance accrual and the cost of a work permit.

Some of these are cash on every invoice; others are budget lines you set aside and spend occasionally. The distinction matters for cash-flow planning and is set out in its own section below. The recurring monthly cash is gross salary, contributions, service fee and VAT; the periodic or one-off lines are the 13th-month salary, untaken-leave payout on exit, severance for foreign nationals, and work permits, equipment and recruitment.

What is the difference between an employee's gross salary and the total cost of employment in Vietnam?

Gross salary is the figure in the employment contract and the base from which the employee's own insurance (10.5%) and personal income tax are deducted to reach their take-home pay; the total cost of employment is what the employer spends, which is the gross salary plus employer contributions, and — through an EOR — the service fee and VAT, plus periodic lines such as a 13th-month salary. Gross salary looks at the money from the employee's side; total cost of employment looks at it from the employer's side, and the two differ by the roughly 23.5% employer contributions and the EOR add-ons.

A common budgeting error is to confuse the employee's deductions with the employer's costs. Personal income tax and the employee's 10.5% insurance come out of gross pay; they do not add to your invoice on a gross-salary contract. What the employee takes home after those deductions is a separate calculation, set out in our guide to the 2026 five-bracket personal income tax table.

The full cost of a hire, by role

The table below gives the total cost of employment for six illustrative Vietnamese roles and one foreign-national example, computed from the 2026 rates. Every base salary is an illustrative round number, not a quote for any individual, but each sits inside a band from a named salary source cited in the role notes that follow. Published Vietnamese salary data does not always separate gross from net; because the EOR calculation runs on monthly gross, all the base salaries here are treated as gross.

The annual figure is twelve monthly invoices plus one 13th-month salary, which most employers pay and which carries no statutory contributions. The foreign-national row uses the 22.5% rate and, unlike the Vietnamese rows, carries a severance budget line that is not on the monthly invoice.

The foreign-national row carries one line the table cannot show, because it is not invoiced monthly: a severance accrual of half a month's salary per year of service, which on a gross of VND 90,000,000 is VND 45,000,000 (about USD 1,714) a year. Add it and the foreign senior manager's true annual cost is about VND 1.52 billion (USD 58,040), slightly above the Vietnamese director on the same salary once severance is counted.

How much does it cost to employ a factory technician in Vietnam?

An experienced factory technician on an illustrative gross of VND 15,000,000 a month costs about VND 22,815,000 (USD 869) a month and about VND 290 million (USD 11,047) a year all-in through an EOR, including a 13th-month salary. That is 52.1% on top of gross each month, the highest proportional load in the table, because the VND 2,600,000 service-fee floor is a fixed cost spread over a small salary.

Talentnet's Vietnam factory-worker analysis, using 2024 data, puts a skilled technician with seven or more years' experience at a gross of VND 12–18 million a month, so VND 15,000,000 sits in the middle of that band. At this salary the 8% fee would be VND 1,200,000, so the floor of VND 2,600,000 applies instead, and contributions run at the full 23.5% because the salary is well below every cap.

How much does it cost to employ an accountant or office executive in Vietnam?

An accountant or office executive on an illustrative gross of VND 25,000,000 a month costs about VND 36,153,000 (USD 1,377) a month and about VND 462 million (USD 17,613) a year all-in, including a 13th-month salary. The all-in monthly load is 44.6% over gross, lower than the factory technician's because the salary is larger while the fee floor is unchanged.

This figure is illustrative: VND 25,000,000 represents an experienced office professional rather than an entry-level clerk, whose pay is considerably lower. The 8% fee is still below its floor here, so the floor of VND 2,600,000 applies and contributions run at 23.5%.

How much does it cost to employ a software engineer in Vietnam?

A software engineer on an illustrative gross of VND 40,000,000 a month costs about VND 56,808,000 (USD 2,164) a month and about VND 727 million (USD 27,697) a year all-in, including a 13th-month salary — 42.0% on top of gross. At this salary the service fee has overtaken its floor and is a straight 8% of gross, VND 3,200,000.

ITviec's Vietnam IT Salary and Recruitment Market Report 2025–2026, based on 1,839 respondents surveyed between May and November 2025, puts a senior back-end engineer at a median of VND 39.9 million a month and a senior front-end or full-stack engineer at VND 41.8 million, so VND 40,000,000 is close to the reported senior-engineer median. Contributions still run at the full 23.5%, because the salary remains below the VND 50,600,000 cap.

How much does it cost to employ a team lead or sales manager in Vietnam?

A team lead or sales manager on an illustrative gross of VND 60,000,000 a month costs about VND 82,927,800 (USD 3,159) a month and about VND 1.06 billion (USD 40,395) a year all-in, including a 13th-month salary. The all-in load has fallen to 38.2% over gross, because the social, health, occupational-accident and union contributions have stopped growing at the VND 50,600,000 base while the salary has not.

The ITviec 2025–2026 report puts a tech lead between VND 53.85 million (three to four years) and VND 68.45 million (over eight years) a month, and the hr1vietnam salary guide for 2025–2026 puts sales and project managers at VND 45–75 million, so VND 60,000,000 sits in the overlap of the two. The service fee here is 8% of gross, VND 4,800,000, just short of its cap.

How much does it cost to employ a manager or director in Vietnam?

A manager or director on an illustrative gross of VND 90,000,000 a month costs about VND 116,083,800 (USD 4,422) a month and about VND 1.49 billion (USD 56,770) a year all-in, including a 13th-month salary — 29.0% on top of gross. Both ceilings now bite: contributions are VND 12,285,000 rather than the VND 21,150,000 a flat 23.5% would suggest, and the service fee is capped at VND 5,200,000.

The hr1vietnam guide puts functional directors and department heads at VND 90–180 million a month, and VnExpress, reporting the Navigos Group 2026 salary report, places division heads and functional directors above VND 100 million a month, so VND 90,000,000 is the entry to the director tier. At this salary the effective contribution rate has dropped to 13.7% of gross, well below the headline 23.5%, which is why senior hires cost proportionally less.

How much does it cost to employ a country manager or senior director in Vietnam?

A country manager or senior director on an illustrative gross of VND 150,000,000 a month costs about VND 181,058,760 (USD 6,897) a month and about VND 2.33 billion (USD 88,941) a year all-in, including a 13th-month salary. This is the lightest proportional load in the table at 20.7% over gross, because both contribution caps and the fee cap are fully in force.

The same Navigos Group 2026 figures put chief financial officers at VND 130–350 million a month and chief executives above VND 300 million, so a country manager of a mid-size foreign firm at VND 150,000,000 sits inside the senior-leadership range rather than at its top. Contributions are VND 12,447,000 — the 22.5% capped base plus 1% unemployment insurance on the higher VND 106,200,000 unemployment cap — an effective 8.3% of gross, and the service fee is fixed at its VND 5,200,000 cap.

How much does it cost to employ a foreign national in Vietnam?

A foreign national on an illustrative gross of VND 90,000,000 a month costs about VND 115,111,800 (USD 4,385) a month and about VND 1.48 billion (USD 56,325) a year on the invoice, plus a severance accrual of VND 45,000,000 (USD 1,714) a year that brings the true annual cost to about VND 1.52 billion (USD 58,040). The employer contribution rate is 22.5% rather than 23.5%, because foreign nationals pay no unemployment insurance.

Two costs sit outside these figures for a foreign hire. A work permit is required and is not an ordinary line on the monthly invoice; it is granted by the provincial People's Committee to the named employer under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, and the process and social-insurance rules are set out in our guide to work permits and social insurance for foreign staff. Several tax-free benefits are also common for expatriate packages — one home flight a year, children's school fees and a relocation allowance — which are budget items rather than statutory costs.

Why does a foreign national cost more to employ than a Vietnamese national?

A foreign national costs more to employ than a Vietnamese national on the same salary once severance is counted, even though the monthly contribution rate is lower. On a gross of VND 90,000,000, a Vietnamese employee's contributions are VND 12,285,000 a month and a foreign employee's are VND 11,385,000 — the foreign figure is VND 900,000 lower because there is no 1% unemployment insurance — but the foreign hire accrues severance of half a month's salary per year of service, VND 45,000,000 a year, which the Vietnamese hire does not.

The reason severance behaves differently is the unemployment-insurance scheme. For a Vietnamese employee, every year covered by unemployment insurance — compulsory since 2009 — is deducted from any statutory severance, so severance usually comes to nothing. Foreign nationals are outside that scheme under the Law on Employment 2025, so there is nothing to deduct, and half a month per year of service should be budgeted from the first day. The monthly saving of VND 900,000 is far smaller than the VND 3,750,000-a-month equivalent of that severance accrual, so the foreign hire is the more expensive of the two once the exit cost is included, before any work permit.

Which employment costs are cash you pay every month, and which are budget lines you set aside?

Four costs are cash on every monthly EOR invoice — gross salary, employer contributions, the service fee and 8% VAT — while the rest are budget lines you set aside and spend occasionally, such as the 13th-month salary, untaken annual leave paid out on exit, severance for foreign nationals, and one-off items like work permits, equipment and recruitment. The monthly invoice is the run rate; the budget lines are what turn a run rate into a first-year total.

• On every monthly invoice: gross salary, the 23.5% or 22.5% employer contributions, the 8% service fee within its floor and cap, and 8% VAT on all three.
• On the invoice, but only in the month it is paid: the 13th-month salary. It is not legally required but is market-standard and expected by candidates; it carries no statutory contributions, only the service-fee effect and VAT. The mechanics are in our guide to the 13th-month salary and Tết bonus.
• Set aside, paid on exit: any untaken annual leave, paid out when the employment ends, and — for foreign nationals — severance of half a month per year of service.
• One-off, not on the payroll invoice at all: work permits and visas for foreign staff, equipment such as a laptop, and recruitment or agency fees to find the person.

Paid public holidays and annual leave are not a separate line at all for a monthly-salaried employee: the pay for those days is already inside the monthly salary. They become cash only as an untaken-leave payout on exit, or as a premium when someone works on a public holiday.

How much should I budget for the first year of a hire in Vietnam?

For the first year, budget the annual invoice for the role — which already includes twelve months of salary, contributions, fee, VAT and a 13th-month salary — and then add the one-off costs that are not on the payroll invoice: recruitment, equipment, and, for a foreign national, a work permit and a severance accrual. For the illustrative roles above, the annual invoice runs from about VND 290 million (USD 11,047) for a factory technician to about VND 2.33 billion (USD 88,941) for a country manager.

The recurring cash is predictable, because it is arithmetic on the salary. The variable part of a first-year budget is the one-off block: recruitment cost depends on how you source the person, equipment on the role, and for a foreign national a work permit and the severance you begin accruing from day one. A prudent first-year figure is therefore the annual invoice plus a provision for those items, rather than the invoice alone.

Why does the total cost of employment fall as the salary rises in Vietnam?

The total cost of employment falls as a proportion of salary as the salary rises, because the two add-ons that are not the salary itself both stop growing: employer contributions freeze once salary passes the VND 50,600,000 contribution cap, and the service fee freezes at its VND 5,200,000 monthly cap. The all-in load in the table drops from 52.1% over gross at VND 15,000,000 to 20.7% at VND 150,000,000 for exactly this reason.

The effective employer contribution rate tells the same story: it is the full 23.5% up to VND 40,000,000, but 20.0% at VND 60,000,000, 13.7% at VND 90,000,000 and 8.3% at VND 150,000,000, as more of the salary sits above the cap. A senior hire in Vietnam is cheaper per unit of salary than a junior one, which is the opposite of the intuition many finance teams bring from other markets. The mechanism is explained in full in our article on why senior hires cost less per dollar.

Which common errors overstate or understate the cost of employing in Vietnam?

Four errors recur in published cost breakdowns and quietly distort the total, and each has a plain correct answer. Some of them understate the cost — a stale cap, or VAT charged on the fee alone — and some overstate it — contributions charged on bonuses, or a single flat contribution rate applied to a senior salary.

• Using a stale contribution cap. Figures that cap contributions at VND 46,800,000 a month are from before 1 July 2026, when that was twenty times the old reference level of VND 2,340,000. The current cap is VND 50,600,000 a month, twenty times the reference level of VND 2,530,000 under Decree 161/2026/ND-CP. A breakdown that still uses VND 46,800,000 understates senior contributions.
• Charging contributions on the 13th-month salary and bonuses. A genuine 13th-month salary, Tết bonus or performance bonus is outside the contribution base under Decree 158/2025/ND-CP, so no social, health or unemployment insurance and no 2% union levy apply. Budget the bonus, not the bonus plus 23.5%.
• Charging VAT on the service fee alone. Under a labour sub-leasing arrangement the whole contract value is the provider's service revenue, so 8% VAT applies to the entire invoice — gross salary, contributions and fee — not merely the fee. VAT on the fee alone can understate the tax by several million dong a month per person.
• Applying a single contribution cap. There are two different caps on two different bases: the social, health, occupational-accident and union base is capped at VND 50,600,000 a month, while the unemployment-insurance base is capped separately at VND 106,200,000 a month, twenty times the Region I minimum wage. Multiplying salary by a flat 23.5% ignores both and overstates the cost of a senior hire.

Is it cheaper to employ through an EOR or to set up your own entity in Vietnam?

For a small team or an uncertain timeline, employing through an EOR is usually cheaper than setting up your own entity, because an entity carries fixed costs — registration, a registered office, bookkeeping, tax filings and payroll administration — that exist whether you employ one person or fifty, while an EOR charges per person. The statutory employer contributions are identical either way, since they are set by law, so the real comparison is the EOR service fee against an entity's fixed running costs.

The balance shifts as headcount grows: the entity spreads its fixed costs over more people while the EOR fee grows with each hire. Where it tips is specific to your case, so we do not invent a number — build both totals on the same basis, the contributions identical and the difference being the service fee against the entity's overheads, set out in the entity section of our EOR pricing breakdown for Vietnam. An EOR also starts in days rather than the months an entity takes.

How do I work out the full annual cost of an employee in Vietnam myself?

To work out the full annual cost yourself, take the monthly gross, add employer contributions at 22.5% of the gross up to VND 50,600,000 plus 1% up to VND 106,200,000 for a Vietnamese national, add the service fee at 8% of gross within its floor and cap, add 8% VAT on the three lines together, multiply by twelve, and add one 13th-month salary. The result is the annual invoice; add recruitment, equipment and — for a foreign national — a work permit and severance to reach a first-year budget.

You do not have to do the arithmetic by hand. Our free Vietnam salary calculator applies both contribution caps correctly, which most online calculators do not, and returns the employer cost at any salary. Model a real salary rather than a team average, and model a second salary far from the first, because that is what exposes where the floor, the caps and the fee ceiling change the shape of the number.

What could make my actual cost higher than these figures?

Your actual cost can be higher than the illustrative figures for a few specific reasons: overtime and night-shift premiums, a net-of-tax contract, allowances that are pulled into the contribution base, and the one-off costs of a foreign hire. None of these is hidden — they follow from choices in the offer and the contract.

• Overtime and night work. The Labour Code sets overtime at 150% of the normal hourly rate on a working day, 200% on a weekly rest day and 300% on a public holiday, with a further 30% for night work. These are real cash on top of the monthly salary.
• A net-of-tax contract. If you promise a take-home figure rather than a gross one, the personal income tax and employee insurance that would otherwise reduce the employee's pay become your cost instead, and a 13th-month salary is grossed up too. On a gross-salary contract they are the employee's cost.
• Allowances pulled into the base. A fixed, regular allowance labelled "phone" or "lunch" that is written into the salary structure can be treated by a social-insurance inspection as part of the contribution base and back-collected. Which allowances are in and out of the base is set out in our guides to the 13th-month salary and Tết bonus and the EOR pricing breakdown for Vietnam.
• Foreign hires. A work permit, the severance accrual, and expatriate benefits such as school fees or a home flight raise the first-year cost of a foreign national beyond the monthly invoice.

A budgeting checklist for a hire in Vietnam

• Start from the annual invoice for the role: twelve monthly invoices plus one 13th-month salary, not twelve months of bare gross.
• Use the current VND 50,600,000 contribution cap, not the stale VND 46,800,000 figure.
• Apply both caps: VND 50,600,000 for social, health, occupational-accident and union, and VND 106,200,000 for unemployment insurance.
• Budget a 13th-month salary as expected market practice, with no contributions on it.
• Charge 8% VAT on the whole invoice, and plan for 10% from 2027 unless the reduced rate is extended.
• For a foreign national, use 22.5%, and set aside half a month's salary per year of service for severance plus a work permit.
• Add the one-off block: recruitment, equipment, and any expatriate benefits.
• If you offer a net salary, budget every figure grossed up for tax.
• Model a real salary and a second salary far from it, to see where the floor and caps change the cost.

Sources and legal basis

• Labour Code 2019, No. 45/2019/QH14: bonuses (Article 104), public holidays (Article 112: 11 days, 13 for foreign nationals), annual and other paid leave (Articles 113–115), overtime premiums (Article 98), severance (Articles 46 and 47), labour sub-leasing (Articles 52–57)
• Resolution 28/2026/QH16 on the development of Vietnamese culture: Vietnamese Culture Day (24 November) as the twelfth paid public holiday from 1 July 2026, the fourteenth for foreign nationals
• Law on Social Insurance 2024, No. 41/2024/QH15, in force from 1 July 2025: contribution base and 20-times-reference-level cap (Article 31)
• Decree 158/2025/ND-CP: what is inside and outside the contribution base (Article 7)
• Law on Employment 2025, No. 74/2025/QH15: unemployment insurance, its separate cap, and its application to Vietnamese citizens only
• Decree 293/2025/ND-CP: regional minimum wages from 1 January 2026 (Region I VND 5,310,000)
• Decree 161/2026/ND-CP: reference level VND 2,530,000 and contribution cap VND 50,600,000 from 1 July 2026
• Trade Union Law 2024, No. 50/2024/QH15: the 2% trade-union levy
• Resolution 204/2025/QH15 and Decree 174/2025/ND-CP: 8% VAT until 31 December 2026
• Decree 219/2025/ND-CP: work permits for foreign nationals
• Decree 145/2020/ND-CP: severance calculation (Article 8) and labour sub-leasing
• Personal Income Tax Law 2025, No. 109/2025/QH15, and Decree 253/2026/ND-CP: employment income and monthly withholding
• Salary bands are illustrative round figures; the ranges cited come from named, dated sources: ITviec Vietnam IT Salary and Recruitment Market Report 2025–2026, Talentnet Vietnam factory-worker analysis (2024 data), Navigos Group 2026 Salary and Labor Market Report as reported by VnExpress in February 2026, and the hr1vietnam salary guide 2025–2026

Nhan Kiet has run payroll and employment in Vietnam since April 2009, manages more than 40,000 workers for over 500 client companies across 34 provinces, and holds labour sub-leasing licence No. 15/2019/SHCM. It publishes its EOR price rather than quoting on request, and staff can start within 5 to 7 working days. You can model the employer cost at any salary with our free Vietnam salary calculator, read the full fee mechanics in our EOR pricing breakdown for Vietnam, and see how to compare providers in our due-diligence checklist for choosing an EOR.

The figures and rules in this article reflect Vietnamese law in force as of September 2026 and are general information, not legal or tax advice for a specific case. Salary figures are illustrative round numbers, not quotes; contribution rates, caps and tax rules change, and the law can be amended, so confirm the treatment for your own situation before relying on it.

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