From September 2026, if wages are not paid on time, businesses will be fined up to 100 million VND

Legal Consulting Department of Lao Dong Newspaper answers:

Clause 2, Article 23, Decree 283/2026/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the fields of labor, social insurance, and Vietnamese workers going to work abroad under contracts (effective from September 10, 2026) stipulates as follows:

2. Fines shall be imposed on employers who commit one of the following acts: not paying wages on time according to the provisions of law; not paying or not paying enough wages to employees as agreed in the labor contract; not paying or not paying enough overtime wages; not paying or not paying enough wages for working at night; not paying or not paying enough severance pay to employees according to the provisions of law; restrict or interfere with employees' right to decide on salary spending; forcing employees to spend their salaries on purchasing goods and using services from the employer or another unit designated by the employer; Deducting employees' salaries in contravention of legal regulations; not paying or not paying enough wages according to regulations to employees when temporarily transferring employees to a job other than the labor contract or during a strike; not paying or not fully paying the employee's salary for days not yet taking annual leave or not taking all the days of annual leave when the employee quits or loses his or her job; failure to advance or insufficient advance of salary for employees during the period of temporary suspension from work according to the provisions of law; Failure to pay the employee full salary for the period of temporary suspension in case the employee is not subject to labor discipline at one of the following levels:

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

b) From 10 million VND to 20 million VND for violations of 11 to 50 employees;

c) From 20 million VND to 30 million VND for violations of 51 to 100 employees;

d) From 30 million VND to 40 million VND for violations of 101 to 300 employees;

e) From 40 million VND to 50 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 number of employees who are violated in paying salaries not on time, employers may be fined differently, but up to 50 million VND for individuals and 100 million VND for organizations according to the above regulations.

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