February 27, 2026 | 08:00

Minimum wage proposed to increase

Nhat Duong

If the proposal is accepted, the new wage level will be applied by Mid-2026

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor has announced plans to participate in the National Wage Council's activities for 2026, which includes proposal for a new minimum wage increase by mid-2026.

According to the plan, the Confederation's proposal for adjusting the minimum wage is expected to be developed in May and June 2026. Prior to this, from February to May 2026, there will be surveys and evaluations of labor, wages, income, spending, and the living conditions of workers in enterprises for the year 2025.

The report on labor, wages, income, spending, and living conditions of workers for 2025 will be prepared, along with the Confederation's proposal for adjusting the minimum wage on a monthly and hourly basis, to support negotiations for the 2026 minimum wage. 

Participation in official meetings of the National Wage Council and gathering opinions within the union system will take place from February to September 2026, following the Council's program. 

Previously, based on the National Wage Council's recommendations, the government issued Decree No. 293/2025/ND-CP (Decree 293) on November 10, 2025 , setting the minimum wage for workers under labor contracts, effective from January 1, 2026, replacing Decree No. 74/2024/ND-CP. According to Decree 293, the regional minimum wage increased by 7.2%, higher than recent years' adjustments, with a 6% increase in 2024.

According to Mr. Pham Truong Giang, Director of the Department of Wages and Social Insurance (Ministry of Home Affairs), the early issuance of Decree 293 by the Government provides ample time for businesses to prepare and encourage workers. For businesses, the reasonable increase and appropriate timeline have facilitated stronger ties between employers and employees. This has been a foundation for increased labor productivity recently, creating significant momentum for economic growth in 2026 and beyond.

Attention
The original article is written and published on VnEconomy in Vietnamese, then translated into English by Askonomy – an AI platform developed by Vietnam Economic Times/VnEconomy – and published on En-VnEconomy. To read the full article, please use the Google Translate tool below to translate the content into your preferred language.
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