Hiring Vietnamese staff at a foreign organisation? Decree 371 changes the rules from 15 November: notices, job postings and 10 day deadlines

What changes for foreign organisations hiring Vietnamese staff from 15 November? Quite a lot of paperwork. Under Decree 371/2026/ND-CP, foreign organisations and individuals in Vietnam must notify the managing agency before recruiting, post vacancies publicly and report every new labour contract within 10 working days, VnExpress reported. The decree, dated 25 September, takes effect on 15 November 2026.

For foreign non governmental organisations, international bodies and other foreign organisations and individuals that employ local staff, the rules turn informal hiring habits into a formal compliance process with fixed deadlines. Missing a notice could leave an employer out of step with the authorities that manage Vietnamese workers in foreign organisations. Here is what the decree requires, step by step.

Step one: notify before you recruit

When a foreign organisation or individual wants to employ Vietnamese workers, it must provide a written notice to the managing agency or organisation, clearly stating the job positions and the number of workers to be recruited. The notice can be delivered in person, by post or online via the agency's official email address, according to LuatVietnam.

Employers can then recruit directly, or ask the managing agency to help. If they ask for help, the agency selects and refers candidates based on the job description provided. That option has long existed and is useful for organisations without their own human resources team in Vietnam.

For foreign organisations operating in Hanoi, including foreign non governmental organisations, the relevant authority is the Division of Labour Management for Diplomatic Corps under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Service Department for Diplomatic Corps, according to Viet Nam News.

The advance notice gives the managing agency an overview of hiring plans before candidates are chosen. Employers should keep copies of every notice and the agency's acknowledgement, because later filings, such as the notice after signing a contract, will refer back to the positions declared at the start.

Step two: post the vacancy publicly

The most visible change is a new duty to advertise. Foreign organisations and individuals must publicly post information on the recruitment of Vietnamese workers on the National Employment Exchange at vieclam.gov.vn, another lawful employment portal, or their official website. LuatVietnam describes this as an entirely new provision.

The aim appears to be transparency: making jobs at foreign organisations visible to all Vietnamese job seekers rather than filled quietly through personal networks. For employers, it means vacancies will need clear, publishable descriptions before hiring begins.

In practice, many international organisations already advertise roles online. The difference is that posting now becomes a legal requirement, and the choice of channel, whether the national exchange, another lawful portal or an official website, should be documented in case authorities ask.

Most foreign organisations in Vietnam already hire carefully. Decree 371 asks them to prove it, with a notice before hiring, a public advert and a filing after signing.

Employers should also think about what a public posting reveals. Job advertisements describe roles, sometimes salaries and locations, and organisations working on sensitive issues may want to review wording carefully while still meeting the legal requirement to post.

Step three: report contracts within 10 working days

Within 10 working days of signing a labour contract with a Vietnamese worker, the employer must notify the managing agency, stating the worker's full name, personal identification number, job position and start date. Within the same time limit, the worker must submit an employee management dossier through the same channels.

The dossier includes a copy of the labour contract and a certificate showing the worker has completed a programme on state policies and laws for Vietnamese employees of foreign employers, according to Viet Nam News. Within 10 working days of receiving the complete notice and dossier, the managing agency sends written confirmation that the worker has been accepted for management.

When a contract ends, the employer must notify the agency within 10 working days, stating the reason for termination. The agency then has three working days to confirm that the worker is no longer under its management and to return the dossier to the worker.

The 10 working day windows are short, especially for organisations that hire several people at once or rely on head office approvals abroad. Building the notice into the contract signing process, rather than treating it as a separate task, is the simplest way to avoid missing a deadline.

Other duties: labour leasing and annual reports

The decree adds further obligations. If a foreign organisation uses services from a labour leasing company, it must notify the managing agency within seven working days of starting to use them, a new provision under Article 10. Employers must also submit an annual report on the recruitment and employment of Vietnamese workers before 15 December each year. The main deadlines under the decree are:

• Before hiring: written notice of positions and headcount
• At hiring: public posting of the vacancy
• Within 10 working days of signing: notice of the new worker
• Within 10 working days of termination: notice with reasons
• Within 7 working days of using a labour leasing service: notice
• Before 15 December each year: annual employment report

Responsibility for managing these workers has also been centralised. Under the new decree, only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may authorise or assign agencies and organisations to manage Vietnamese workers at foreign organisations, LuatVietnam said. Provincial labour departments, now merged into departments of home affairs, no longer have that role.

The decree replaces provisions of Decree 152/2020/ND-CP, which previously governed this area. Organisations that followed the old rules should review their procedures, templates and contacts, since the forms are now provided in an appendix to Decree 371.

The labour leasing provision matters because many foreign organisations use agencies to supply drivers, cleaners, security guards or project staff. Under the new rule, using such services now triggers its own notice, so organisations should list all outsourced staffing arrangements and check when each began.

What employers should do before 15 November

For foreign organisations and individuals in Vietnam, the practical steps are to identify their managing agency, update hiring procedures to include the advance notice and public posting, and set up a tracker for the 10 working day deadlines. Human resources and legal teams should also confirm whether the organisation falls within the decree's scope.

The decree is one of several taking effect in November. Others cover 15 groups of business sectors subject to security and order conditions, penalties in lottery and data businesses, and rules on education, according to VnExpress. Combined with Vietnam's push to attract foreign talent and investment, highlighted in our report on Ho Chi Minh City's 16.4 billion dollar project package, the message is that Vietnam wants more foreign activity, under clearer rules.

Decree 371 turns hiring Vietnamese staff at foreign organisations into a formal, deadline driven process from 15 November: notice before recruiting, a public job posting and reports within 10 working days. Employers that update their procedures now will avoid scrambling later, and the rules give Vietnamese job seekers clearer visibility of jobs at foreign organisations.