Vietnam funds sick leave through compulsory social insurance, not through employer pay. An employee who falls ill takes leave, and the social insurance fund pays a sickness allowance — normally 75% of the salary on which contributions were paid. The employer’s role is to certify the absence, submit the claim, and stop paying salary for those days.
The part that catches employers out is the entitlement itself: it is not a flat number of days. It scales with how many years the employee has paid social insurance, and it is longer for hazardous occupations.
Key takeaways
- Sickness allowance is paid by the social insurance fund under the Law on Social Insurance, not by the employer.
- The standard rate is 75% of the salary used for social insurance contributions in the month before the leave.
- The annual entitlement is 30, 40, or 60 working days depending on contribution history, and longer for hazardous or dangerous occupations.
- Long-term illness on the Ministry of Health’s list is treated separately, with up to 180 days at 75% and a lower rate thereafter.
- Days are counted in working days, excluding public holidays and weekly rest days.
The entitlement bands
For employees in normal working conditions, the annual sick leave entitlement scales with total social insurance contribution period:
| Social insurance contribution period | Sick days per year (normal conditions) | Hazardous / dangerous occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Under 15 years | 30 working days | 40 working days |
| 15 to under 30 years | 40 working days | 50 working days |
| 30 years or more | 60 working days | 70 working days |
The extended bands apply where the employee works in an occupation or job on the official list of heavy, hazardous, or dangerous work, or in an area with a region-based allowance coefficient of 0.7 or higher.
The count is in working days, excluding public holidays, Tet, and the employee’s weekly rest days. That is a meaningful difference from calendar-day systems: a two-week absence typically draws down ten days, not fourteen.
The 75% rate
Sickness allowance is calculated as 75% of the salary on which social insurance contributions were based in the month immediately preceding the leave. Where the employee is in their first month of contributions, the salary of that month is used.
The daily amount is the monthly figure divided by 24 days.
Two consequences follow. First, employees whose declared contribution salary is below their actual pay receive proportionally less — under-declaration hurts the employee directly. Second, because the calculation uses the preceding month, a pay rise applied in the month the illness starts does not feed through until the next absence.
Long-term illness
Illnesses on the Ministry of Health’s list of conditions requiring long-term treatment are handled under a different structure:
- Up to 180 days per year, including public holidays and rest days, at 75%
- Beyond 180 days, the allowance continues at a reduced rate tied to the employee’s contribution period — broadly 65%, 55%, or a minimum-wage-linked floor depending on years of contributions
- The lower rate cannot fall below the base salary level set by the regulations
Note the counting difference: for long-term illness the 180 days include holidays and rest days, whereas the ordinary bands exclude them.
Sick leave for a sick child
Vietnam provides a distinct entitlement for employees caring for a sick child, which employers with young workforces should configure separately:
- 20 working days per year where the child is under 3 years old
- 15 working days per year where the child is aged 3 to under 7
The allowance is paid at the same 75% rate. Where both parents are covered by social insurance, both can claim, and the entitlement is per parent rather than shared.
Convalescence after sick leave
An employee who has used their sick leave entitlement within a year and whose health has not recovered within 30 days of returning to work may take convalescence and health rehabilitation leave of 5 to 10 days per year, at a daily rate set as a percentage of the base salary.
The number of days is decided by the employer together with the grassroots trade union, within statutory maxima that depend on the nature of the illness — up to 10 days for surgery cases, 7 days after surgery, and 5 days in other cases.
Documentation and claims
The employee needs a certificate of leave entitled to social insurance (giấy chứng nhận nghỉ việc hưởng bảo hiểm xã hội) from an authorised medical facility, or a hospital discharge document for inpatient treatment.
The employer must then submit the claim to the social insurance agency, generally within 10 days of receiving the complete documents from the employee. The agency settles within its own statutory deadline. Employers that batch claims quarterly rather than submitting promptly leave employees waiting months for income they are entitled to.
Importantly, the employer does not pay salary for sick leave days. The employee’s income for those days is the social insurance allowance. Any employer top-up is contractual.
Employer obligations
Vietnamese employers have six core duties:
- Register employees for compulsory social insurance and declare the correct contribution salary.
- Verify the medical certificate is from an authorised facility and in the prescribed form.
- Submit the claim to the social insurance agency within the statutory window.
- Apply the correct entitlement band for the employee’s contribution years and occupational category.
- Count sick days in working days, excluding public holidays and rest days, for ordinary illness.
- Configure child-care sick leave and convalescence leave as separate entitlements.
Common pitfalls
1. Paying salary during sick leave
The social insurance fund pays, not the employer. Continuing salary without stopping it against the claim double-pays and complicates the reconciliation.
2. Applying a flat 30-day entitlement to everyone
The band depends on contribution years and occupational category. Employees with long contribution histories are entitled to 40 or 60 days.
3. Counting calendar days
Ordinary sick leave is counted in working days excluding holidays and rest days. Counting calendar days exhausts the entitlement far too quickly.
4. Under-declaring the contribution salary
Allowance is 75% of the declared contribution salary. Under-declaration reduces the employee’s sickness, maternity, and pension benefits and exposes the employer to enforcement.
5. Sitting on claims
The employer’s submission deadline is short and the employee has no income until the claim is settled. Batching claims is the most common cause of employee hardship in Vietnamese absence administration.
For more Vietnamese context, see our guide to annual leave entitlement in Vietnam, the overview of the main types of leave employers manage, and our guide to absence management.
Frequently asked questions
How many sick days do Vietnamese employees get?
30 working days a year for those with under 15 years of social insurance contributions, 40 days from 15 years, and 60 days from 30 years. Hazardous occupations get an extra 10 days in each band.
Who pays sick leave in Vietnam?
The social insurance fund, at 75% of the contribution salary from the month before the leave. The employer does not pay salary for those days.
How is the daily allowance calculated?
The monthly contribution salary is divided by 24 to get the daily figure, and 75% of that is paid per sick day.
What about long-term illness?
Illnesses on the Ministry of Health’s long-term treatment list attract up to 180 days a year at 75%, with a reduced rate beyond 180 days depending on contribution history.
Can an employee take leave to care for a sick child?
Yes — 20 working days a year for a child under 3, and 15 working days for a child aged 3 to under 7, paid at the same 75% rate.
What is convalescence leave?
Five to ten days of additional leave for an employee whose health has not recovered within 30 days of returning from sick leave, paid at a rate linked to the base salary.
Putting it into practice
Five checks cover most Vietnamese sick leave risk:
- Hold each employee’s total contribution years and occupational category so the right band applies automatically.
- Configure ordinary sick leave in working days and long-term illness leave in calendar days.
- Set up child-care sick leave and convalescence leave as separate absence types with their own limits.
- Put social insurance claim submission on a fixed short cycle, not a monthly or quarterly batch.
- Verify declared contribution salaries against actual remuneration across the workforce.
A leave management system that holds contribution history against each employee, applies the correct band, and counts working days for ordinary illness while counting calendar days for long-term treatment removes the two calculations Vietnamese HR teams most often do by hand.
Sources
- Vietnam Social Security (Bảo hiểm xã hội Việt Nam) (primary source)
- Law on Social Insurance — sickness benefit provisions
- Labour Code of Vietnam (Law No. 45/2019/QH14)
Last updated: 26 July 2026. This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Base salary levels, contribution ceilings, and the long-term illness list are revised periodically — confirm current figures with Vietnam Social Security.