From 1 July 2026: abolition of licensing requirements for employment services and labour outsourcing services

From 1 July 2026, the Employment Service Licence and the Labour Outsourcing Licence will be officially abolished pursuant to the Law on Investment 2025 and Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP. This article outlines the key regulatory changes regarding business conditions, notification procedures, and important compliance considerations for enterprises engaging in employment service and labour outsourcing activities.

1. Labour Outsourcing Services

Pursuant to Appendix I.4 issued together with Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP, from 1 July 2026, a number of administrative procedures and business conditions applicable to employment services and labour outsourcing activities will be simplified or abolished.

Specifically, under Section C.I, Part I of Appendix I.4 to Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP, the following licensing procedures will no longer apply from 1 July 2026:

• – Issuance of a Labour Outsourcing Licence;
• – Renewal of a Labour Outsourcing Licence;
• – Re-issuance of a Labour Outsourcing Licence;
• – Revocation of a Labour Outsourcing Licence; and
• – Additional payment into the statutory security deposit.

Instead, under Section C.II of Appendix I.4 to Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP, enterprises intending to engage in labour outsourcing activities are only required to maintain the statutory security deposit and submit a notification of commencement of labour outsourcing activities to the competent authority. The statutory security deposit shall remain at VND 2,000,000,000, deposited with a commercial bank or a foreign bank branch lawfully established and operating in Vietnam.

Labour outsourcing

The security deposit shall be used to satisfy obligations relating to the payment of salaries, compulsory social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, occupational accident and occupational disease insurance, and other employee benefits as agreed under labour contracts, collective labour agreements, internal labour regulations or internal rules of the labour outsourcing enterprise. The security deposit may also be used to compensate outsourced employees where the labour outsourcing enterprise breaches its labour contracts or otherwise causes damage by failing to safeguard the lawful rights and interests of outsourced employees. The notification procedure for labour outsourcing activities is as follows:

• – The enterprise shall submit a notification of labour outsourcing activities, either online, by post, or in person, to the Department of Home Affairs where its head office is located and where its branches or representative offices (if any) are situated.
• – The notification of labour outsourcing activities shall contain the following information: Enterprise name; Enterprise registration number; Name of the bank maintaining the security deposit; Address of the bank maintaining the security deposit; Security deposit agreement number; Commencement date of labour outsourcing activities. Where any of the above information changes, the labour outsourcing enterprise shall submit an updated notification to the Department of Home Affairs where its head office and its branches or representative offices (if any) are located.

Where a labour outsourcing enterprise terminates its labour outsourcing activities, the notification procedure shall be as follows:

• – The enterprise shall submit a notification of termination of labour outsourcing activities, either electronically, by post or in person, to the Department of Home Affairs where its head office is located and where its branches or representative offices (if any) are located.
• – The notification of termination of labour outsourcing activities shall contain the following information: Enterprise name; Enterprise registration number; Number of labour outsourcing contracts currently being performed; Number of outsourced employees currently assigned under such contracts; Date of termination of labour outsourcing activities.

2. Employment Service Business

Pursuant to Appendix IV – List of Conditional Business Investment Sectors promulgated together with the Law on Investment 2025, from 1 July 2026, employment services and labour outsourcing services will officially be removed from the List of Conditional Business Investment Sectors.

Pursuant to Section D.II, Part I of Appendix I.4 promulgated together with Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP, from 1 July 2026, the following procedures will no longer be required:

• – Issuance of an Employment Service Licence;
• – Re-issuance of an Employment Service Licence;
• – Renewal of an Employment Service Licence;
• – Revocation of an Employment Service Licence;
• – Withdrawal of the statutory security deposit by employment service enterprises.

Section D.IV of Appendix I.4 promulgated together with Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP provides that, in order to commence employment service activities, an enterprise is only required to submit a notification of its employment service activities. The notification procedure is as follows:

• – Within 20 working days from the commencement date of its employment service activities, the enterprise shall publicly announce, through mass media, the following information: Business location; Scope of employment service activities; Name of the legal representative responsible for employment service activities; Official website (if any); Email address; Contact telephone number.
• – At least 05 working days prior to the commencement of employment service activities, the enterprise shall notify the Department of Home Affairs where its head office is located via the National Employment Exchange Platform.

The enterprise is entitled to establish branches providing domestic employment services in accordance with the Law on Enterprises. Within 10 working days from the date of assigning a branch to carry out employment service activities, the enterprise shall notify the Department of Home Affairs where its head office is located; and the Department of Home Affairs where the branch is located (where the branch is established in a different province or centrally-run city from the enterprise’s head office).

Furthermore, from 1 July 2026, employment service enterprises that have maintained a statutory security deposit shall be entitled to withdraw the security deposit from the deposit bank without obtaining written approval from the competent authority where the enterprise’s head office is located.

Should you require further advice or assistance, please contact:

Corporate & Investment Advisory Specialist: Pham Thi Huong

• – Email: huong.pham@bizlawyer.vn
• – Telephone: 086 888 1900

Best regards./.