Significant changes to wage policy effective January 1, 2026

The minimum wage for workers will be adjusted upwards by 250,000-350,000 VND/month starting from the beginning of next year. Photo: Nam Khanh.

From January 1, 2026, according to Government Decree 293/2025, the minimum wage for employees working under labor contracts will be revised.

Specifically, the minimum wage levels in the four regions are as follows:

Region I saw an increase of 350,000 VND, from 4.96 million VND/month to 5.31 million VND/month;

Region II saw an increase of 320,000 VND, from 4.41 million VND to 4.73 million VND per month;

Region III saw an increase of 280,000 VND, from 3.86 million VND to 4.14 million VND per month;

Region IV saw an increase of 250,000 VND, from 3.45 million VND to 3.7 million VND per month.

In addition, the minimum hourly wage in Region I increased from 23,800 VND/hour to 25,500 VND/hour; Region II increased from 21,200 VND/hour to 22,700 VND/hour; Region III increased from 18,600 VND/hour to 20,000 VND/hour; and Region IV increased from 16,600 VND/hour to 17,800 VND/hour.

Thus, the aforementioned minimum wage increases by approximately 250,000-350,000 VND/month (corresponding to an average increase of 7.2%) compared to the current minimum wage stipulated in Decree 74/2024/ND-CP.

Regarding the basic salary level, in mid-November, the National Assembly voted to approve the State budget estimate for 2026. According to the resolution, the National Assembly allows the Government to use... 23.839 billion VND The funds will be drawn from the local budget's salary reform budget and carried over to the 2026 budget to implement the increase in the basic salary.

This adjustment is the first step in the salary reform roadmap under Resolution 27-NQ/TW, affecting more than 3 million people receiving salaries from the state budget.

On December 11th, the National Assembly urgently requested a review and refinement of job positions to align with the restructured organizational apparatus; and to accelerate the salary reform roadmap, moving towards job-based salaries linked to performance evaluations based on output.

In addition, the National Assembly also proposed supplementing funds from the central budget to localities that have not yet balanced their budgets, so that these localities can appropriately address the issue of redundant officials, civil servants, and employees after the reorganization of administrative units.

Currently, the basic salary is 2.34 million VND per month.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/thay-doi-quan-trong-cua-chinh-sach-tien-luong-tu-1-1-2026-3388779.html