List of legal documents on electronic labor contracts from July 1, 2026

From July 1, 2026, a number of new regulations on electronic labor contracts will officially take effect. To facilitate reference by employers and employees, below is a list of key legal documents concerning electronic labor contracts.

List of legal documents on electronic labor contracts

The following is a summary of legal documents on electronic labor contracts:

Notable contents regarding electronic labor contracts

Electronic labor contracts have the same legal validity as paper-based contracts

Clause 1 Article 3 of Decree No. 337/2025/ND-CP provides that an electronic labor contract means a labor contract concluded and established in the form of a data message in accordance with the law on labor and the Law on E-Transactions, having the same legal validity as a paper-based labor contract.

Under Clause 3 Article 4 of Decree No. 337/2025/ND-CP, the use of electronic labor contracts is encouraged to replace paper-based labor contracts in employers’ human resource management activities and in the settlement of administrative procedures related to labor contracts.

Pursuant to Article 7 of Decree No. 337/2025/ND-CP, an electronic labor contract takes effect from the time the last party gives a digital signature, with timestamps attached to the digital signatures of the participating subjects and data message certification by the eContract Provider on the electronic labor contract, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

Each electronic labor contract is assigned a unique identification code

According to Article 4 of Circular No. 08/2026/TT-BNV, each electronic labor contract sent to the Electronic Labor Contract Platform and meeting the prescribed requirements shall be assigned a unique identification code (ID) that is not duplicated with any other electronic labor contract.

The ID is granted only once and remains unchanged even when the electronic labor contract is amended, supplemented, suspended, or terminated. Appendices to, notices on suspension of, and notices on termination of electronic labor contracts shall bear the same ID as the concerned electronic labor contract.

State agencies use the ID as a digital data management code for electronic labor contracts. The assignment of an ID does not alter the time of conclusion, contents, or effective date of an electronic labor contract already concluded by the parties.

The ID is linked with display or lookup codes (based on administrative unit codes, employee identification numbers, and employers’ tax identification numbers) generated by the Electronic Labor Contract Platform for data exploitation purposes; however, such codes do not replace the ID.

Electronic labor contracts are stored for 10 years

Under Article 18 of Circular No. 08/2026/TT-BNV, open data on the Electronic Labor Contract Platform is synchronized with the National Data Center.

The retention period for data on electronic labor contracts, appendices to electronic labor contracts, and other related electronic documents on the Electronic Labor Contract Platform is 10 years from the date of termination of the labor contract.

Where an employer and an employee conclude multiple consecutive labor contracts in accordance with Article 20 of the Labor Code 2019, the 10-year retention period shall be calculated from the termination date of the last labor contract.

From July 1, 2026, the implementation of procedures for connecting eContracts to the Electronic Labor Contract Platform

According to Decision No. 644/QD-BNV, from July 1, 2026, the Ministry of Home Affairs officially permits the implementation of procedures for connecting eContracts to the Electronic Labor Contract Platform.

Step 1. The eContract Provider submits one dossier as prescribed online via the National Public Service Portal, by postal service, or directly to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Step 2. Within 20 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier requesting connection of an eContract system to the Electronic Labor Contract Platform, the Ministry of Home Affairs shall examine the validity of the dossier, conduct technical testing, and notify the eContract Provider of the issuance of a connection account.

If the dossier is invalid or the technical testing results are unsatisfactory, the Ministry of Home Affairs shall notify the eContract Provider via the email address or head-office address stated in the application for connection and clearly specify the reasons for refusing connection to the Electronic Labor Contract Platform.