Illegal trading of employee data may be fined up to VND 70 million from September 10, 2026

Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP of the Government, prescribing penalties for administrative violations in the fields of labor, social insurance, and Vietnamese employees working abroad under contracts, takes effect on September 10, 2026.

One of the notable provisions of the Decree is that, from September 10, 2026, the illegal trading of information and data contained in the employee database may be subject to a fine ranging from VND 50 million to VND 70 million.

Specifically, Clause 4, Article 10 of Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP prescribes a fine of from VND 50 million to VND 70 million for organizations and individuals committing one of the following acts:

• Committing fraud or forging dossiers in the implementation of employment policies or the assessment and grant of national occupational skills certificates, where such acts are not subject to criminal prosecution or have not reached the threshold for criminal prosecution;
• Taking advantage of employment service activities to infringe upon national sovereignty, national defense, security, national and ethnic interests, social order and safety, public interests, or the lawful rights and interests of agencies, organizations, or individuals, where such acts are not subject to criminal prosecution;
• Illegally trading, exchanging, or appropriating information and data contained in the employee database, or labor market information that has not yet been announced or disseminated by a competent state management authority, where such acts are not subject to criminal prosecution.

Accordingly, the above penalty does not apply to all cases involving the trading of employee-related information in general. Instead, it only applies to information and data contained in the employee database and labor market information that has not yet been announced or disseminated by a competent authority.

In addition, Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP prescribes a fine ranging from VND 20 million to VND 40 million for organizations and individuals illegally exploiting, sharing, or using information and data contained in the employee database, or labor market information that has not yet been announced or disseminated by a competent state management authority, where such acts are not subject to criminal prosecution.