A Guide to Public Holiday's and Leaves in Vietnam

Public holidays in Vietnam are administered by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam (MOLISA).  

Contributing Advisor

Tran Nguyen

Manager, Human Resources

The Vietnamese New Year, Tet is the most important holiday, observed in honor of religious freedom and the country’s political independence.

2025 Vietnam holiday calendar for the private sector

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) encourages businesses to align their employee leave policies with the official holiday schedule. The Announcement No.6150/TB-BLĐTBXH issued by MOLISA on December 3, 2024, offers the following list of official Vietnam public holidays for 2025:

1. New Year’s Day: January 1, 2025 (Wednesday)

2. Lunar New Year (Tet):

• For employees working from Monday to Friday, companies may choose one of the following options:
  • January 24 – January 30, 2025 (Friday to Thursday);
  • January 27 – January 31, 2025 (Monday to Friday); or
  • January 28 – February 3, 2025 (Tuesday to Monday).
• For employees working from Monday to Saturday, company may choose one of the following options:
  • January 25 – January 30, 2025 (Saturday to Thursday);
  • January 27 – January 31, 2025 (Monday to Friday); or
  • January 28 – February 1, 2025 (Tuesday to Saturday).

3. Hung Kings Commemoration Day: April 7, 2025 (Monday)

4. Reunification Day: April 30, 2025 (Wednesday)

5. International Labor Day: May 1, 2025 (Thursday)

6. National Day: The company may choose one of the following options:

• September 1 – September 2, 2025 (Monday to Tuesday); or
• September 2 – September 3, 2025 (Tuesday to Wednesday)

If a public holiday falls on an employee’s weekly day off, the employee will have compensatory time off on the next working day. Companies must inform their employees of the Lunar New Year and National Day schedule at least 30 days in advance.

2025 Vietnam holiday schedule for public workers and government offices

Previously, on November 26, the Government Office released Official Dispatch 8726/VPCP-KGVX, promulgating the Vietnam public holiday schedule in 2025.

The Prime Minister has approved the draft plan from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) for Tet (Lunar New Year), Victory Day – International Labor Day, and National Day. Of note is that Tet 2025 will include a nine-day holiday for cadres, civil servants, and public employees. This period will encompass five official Tet holidays and four regular days off.

2025 holiday calendar for the Vietnam public sector

Paid annual leave in Vietnam

Vietnam’s Labor Code provides employees who have worked with an employer for over 12 months to be entitled to fully paid annual leave as follows:

• Employees working in normal conditions will be entitled to 12 days of leave.
• Employees who are underage, disabled, work under arduous, toxic, and hazardous conditions, and who work under harsh living conditions will be entitled to 14 days of leave.
• Employees who are subject to extremely heavy, hazardous, or dangerous conditions will be entitled to 16 days of leave.
• Employees who have not yet worked for 12 months in one year for a single employer are entitled to have paid annual leave in line with the number of their working months, pro rata.
• Employees who work with an employer for more than 5 years, will be entitled to one extra day of annual leave.
• Employees who have their annual leave pending after resigning from an organization will be paid by the employer for the unused leave days.

Leave policy for independent contractors

Statutory employment rights under the Vietnam law are not applicable to independent contractors. This means independent contractors are not entitled to statutory leave like annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave and unpaid leave, statutory insurance, severance, or job loss allowance upon termination of employment.

Maternity leave and adoption 

Female employees in Vietnam receive 6 months' leave.

If a female employee has more than one child, they are entitled to an extra 30 days for each additional child. After giving birth or adopting a child under four months old, female employees will receive a lump-sum allowance equivalent to 2 months' common minimum salary i.e., the lowest salary issued by the Government in each period per child. A female employee who has a child less than twelve months old is entitled to sixty minutes per working day to take care of their baby.

Employees are also granted leave in case of a miscarriage or termination of pregnancy. The amount of leave granted is dependent on the length of the pregnancy. The labor code allows for 20 working days off for one to three months of pregnancy, 40 working days off for three to six months, and 50 days for a pregnancy over six months.

Paternity Leave

Fathers paying social insurance may take paternity leave in the first 30 days from the day the baby is born. They are entitled to paid leave of 5 days for a normal delivery and 7 for a surgical delivery. For twin births, the leave allowance increases to 10-14 days.

Further, the male employee is entitled to a lump sum of US$128 (VND 2,980,000) per child, equivalent to double the basic salary.