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Overtime Pay in Vietnam 2026: Night & Holiday Rates

By Nguyễn Quốc Trung — Deputy General Director · Updated

In 2026, overtime in Vietnam is still paid at no less than 150% of the hourly rate on a normal day, 200% on a weekly rest day and 300% on a public holiday or Tet holiday; night work adds at least 30%, and overtime worked at night adds a further 20%, so the highest multiplier reaches 390% for a night shift on a public holiday (Article 98 of the Labour Code 2019, No. 45/2019/QH14). The overtime ceiling is 40 hours per month and 200 hours per year (Article 107); the 60-hour monthly figure from the pandemic period no longer applies.

The biggest change for 2026: from the 2026 tax period, overtime and night-work pay at the statutory rate is exempt from personal income tax (Article 4(8) of the Personal Income Tax Law No. 109/2025/QH15). This article is written for directors, HR managers and accountants who need to pay overtime and night-shift wages correctly and record the cost correctly, updated to the rules in force as of September 2026.

What are the overtime pay rates in Vietnam for 2026?

An employee working overtime is paid at least 150% of the hourly wage rate on a normal day, 200% on a weekly rest day and 300% on a public holiday, Tet holiday or paid leave day, under Article 98(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the Labour Code 2019. These are floor rates: an employer may pay more but never less.

These percentages apply to the hourly wage rate of the job actually performed. Under Article 55(1)(a) of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP, that rate equals the actual wage paid for the month, week or day divided by the actual hours worked, and it excludes overtime pay itself, the night-work premium, holiday and Tet pay, bonuses, mid-shift meals and allowances for fuel, phone or housing. Getting the hourly rate right is the decisive step that makes every multiplier below come out correct.

Overtime situationMinimum multiplierLegal basis
Normal day150%Article 98(1)(a)
Weekly rest day200%Article 98(1)(b)
Public holiday, Tet, paid leave day300%Article 98(1)(c)
Night work (added)+30%Article 98(2)
Overtime at night (added)+20%Article 98(3)
Night shift on a weekly rest day270%Decree 145/2020, Article 57
Night shift on a public holiday or Tet390%Decree 145/2020, Article 57

How is night work and night overtime pay calculated?

Night-work hours run from 22:00 to 06:00 the next morning (Article 106 of the Labour Code 2019). An employee working at night is paid an extra 30% of the hourly wage rate of a normal working day (Article 98(2)); if those night hours are also overtime, a further 20% is paid, calculated on the daytime hourly rate for that same type of day (Article 98(3)).

The two cases must be separated because they pay differently. A night shift within normal working hours (not overtime) is paid 100% plus 30%, that is 130% of the hourly rate, under Article 56 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP. Overtime worked at night adds three parts under Article 57: the overtime multiplier for the type of day, plus 30% for night work, plus 20% calculated on the daytime hourly rate for that type of day.

The daytime hourly rate used for the 20% part is set in Article 57(1)(b) of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP: 100% on a normal day (150% if the employee has already worked daytime overtime), 200% on a weekly rest day and 300% on a public holiday, Tet holiday or paid leave day.

What is the maximum holiday night-overtime pay — 300% or 390%?

Overtime worked at night on a public holiday or Tet holiday is paid up to 390% of the hourly wage rate, made up of 300% for holiday overtime (Article 98(1)(c)), plus 30% for night work (clause 2), plus 60% for night overtime (clause 3, being 20% times 300%), under Article 57 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP. In other words, 300% on its own is correct only for daytime overtime on a holiday; once those hours fall at night, the rate rises to 390%.

The build-up for each type of day is:

The "490%" figure is correct only for day-wage employees. For them, Article 98(1)(c) states that the 300% rate is "not including the holiday, Tet or paid-leave-day wage", meaning they still receive full holiday pay (100%) on top of the 390% for night overtime, roughly 490% of the value of one working day in total. For monthly-salary employees, holiday pay is already inside the monthly salary, so the extra 100% is not added and the maximum stays at 390%. So the "490%" rate should not be applied to monthly-salary employees.

Public holidays and Tet here are the days on which employees are off with full pay; for the 12 public holidays in 2026 (which dates, which weekdays and how days-in-lieu work), see Vietnam public holidays 2026–2027: 12 days and pay.

How many overtime hours a month are allowed — 40 or 60?

In 2026, the overtime ceiling is no more than 40 hours in one month and no more than 200 hours in one year; certain industries, trades and cases may be arranged up to 300 hours in one year (Article 107 of the Labour Code 2019). The 60-hour monthly level that was once allowed was only a temporary measure under Resolution 17/2022/UBTVQH15 during COVID-19 prevention and control, and it expired on 1 January 2023, so it no longer applies in 2026.

Beyond the monthly and yearly ceilings, the law also sets a daily limit: overtime hours must not exceed 50% of normal working hours in one day; where working time is counted by the week, normal hours plus overtime must not exceed 12 hours in one day; and overtime on a public holiday, Tet or weekly rest day must also not exceed 12 hours in one day (Article 107 and Article 60 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP). The monthly and yearly ceilings are two independent limits that do not conflict: just 40 hours a month over about seven to eight months already reaches 300 hours a year.

The group that may be arranged up to 300 hours a year includes the production and export processing of textiles, garments, leather and footwear, electrical goods and electronics, and the processing of agricultural, forestry, salt and fishery products; electricity generation and supply, telecommunications, oil refining, and water supply and drainage; and certain other cases under Article 107(3) and Article 61 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP. Arranging overtime beyond the ceiling breaches the working-time rules and may draw an administrative penalty under Decree 283/2026/ND-CP; the penalties for social insurance breaches under that decree are set out in social insurance fines and arrears in 2026 under Decree 283.

Is overtime and night-shift pay subject to personal income tax in 2026?

No. From the 2026 tax period, night-work and overtime wages paid in accordance with the law are income exempt from personal income tax, under Article 4(8) of the Personal Income Tax Law No. 109/2025/QH15 and Article 26(1) of Decree 253/2026/ND-CP. This changes the old rule, which exempted only the portion of pay above the daytime hourly rate.

The text of Article 4(8) lists exempt income as "wages for night work and overtime, and wages paid for days of untaken leave under the law". Because the wording is no longer limited to the "higher-paid portion", overtime and night pay computed correctly at the Article 98 rates of the Labour Code 2019 is fully exempt. There is a condition in return: the overtime must be lawful — agreed to by the employee and within the hour ceilings. Any amount an employer pays above the statutory rate is not exempt: under Article 26(3) of Decree 253/2026/ND-CP, the portion above the rate set by law is counted as the employee's taxable income. Article 26(1) also requires the enterprise to draw up a schedule of the night and overtime hours and the amounts paid, keep it at the enterprise and produce it when the tax authority asks; where no separate schedule is drawn up, this must be proved through the payroll, the timesheet and the employment contract.

On timing, Law No. 109/2025/QH15 takes effect from 1 July 2026, but the rules on wage and salary income of resident individuals apply from the 2026 tax period (Article 29), that is for the whole of 2026. The five-bracket progressive tax table and the 2026 family-circumstance deductions are set out in Vietnam personal income tax 2026: the new five-bracket table; how to convert gross pay to take-home pay and the insurance contribution base is covered in how to calculate payroll in 2026.

What does overtime actually cost an employer?

An employer's overtime cost equals the overtime hours times the hourly wage rate times a multiplier of 150%–390%, depending on the type of day and shift (Article 98 of the Labour Code 2019 and Articles 55–57 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP). Because statutory overtime and night pay is exempt from personal income tax, the employee receives the full uplift and the employer withholds no extra tax on this amount.

An illustration with assumed figures: in that month the employee works 26 normal working days, 8 hours a day, that is 208 hours; assuming an actual wage paid for the month of 10,400,000 VND, the hourly rate is 50,000 VND, determined under Article 55(1)(a) of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP. From that rate, one hour of overtime in each case is:

This is only an example; under Article 55 the hourly rate is the actual wage paid for the month divided by the total hours actually worked (not exceeding normal working days and hours), so each employer, and each month, can arrive at a different rate. Note too that overtime pay and the night-work premium are not part of the hourly wage rate used to calculate pay (Article 55(1)(a) of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP), so when comparing the cost of different shift arrangements, an employer must count this part separately rather than folding it into base pay.

What paperwork does an employer need to arrange overtime?

An employer must obtain the employee's consent to overtime (Article 107(2)(a) of the Labour Code 2019), ensure the hour ceilings are not exceeded, and, when arranging more than 200 up to 300 hours of overtime a year, give written notice to the specialised labour authority of the provincial People's Committee — since 2025 the Department of Home Affairs — no later than 15 days after starting (Article 107(4) of the Labour Code 2019; Article 62 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP; Article 24 of Decree 283/2026/ND-CP).

The consent should be a separate document on Form No. 01/PLIV, stating the time, place and work to be done as overtime (Article 59 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP); the notice to the Department goes on Form No. 02/PLIV (Article 62). Beyond labour compliance, this file also serves tax purposes: the schedule of overtime and night hours is the basis for proving that the overtime and night pay exempted from personal income tax is lawful (Article 26(1) of Decree 253/2026/ND-CP). The cases that may be arranged up to 300 hours a year are in Article 107(3) of the Labour Code 2019 and Article 61 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP.

How does Nhan Kiet calculate overtime and night pay for clients?

Nhan Kiet runs the full chain of attendance, payroll, disbursement and compliance for more than 40,000 workers across more than 500 clients in 34 provinces and cities, with an overtime multiplier matrix from 150% to 390% already coded to Article 98 of the Labour Code 2019. The system stitches together night shifts that cross midnight, enforces the ceiling of 40 hours a month and 200 hours a year (300 hours for the industries the law lists) and warns before it is exceeded.

Each pay cycle comes with an open-formula Excel reconciliation sheet so clients can verify every overtime and night-pay amount themselves. Overtime and night pay is applied under the 2026 personal-income-tax exemption, together with a retained schedule of overtime and night hours for year-end finalisation.

Nhan Kiet delivers the arrangement and calculation of night and holiday pay through its payroll outsourcing service, where each company's rules are coded and test-run until they match exactly before going live.

Sources

This article summarises the rules for orientation; specific situations need individual advice.

Contact us

Companies that need to pay overtime, night and holiday wages correctly and record the cost and tax correctly can contact:

Need advice for your own headcount?
Call +84 908 636 108 or see labour compliance, payroll outsourcing, EOR Vietnam.

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