How Vietnam Does Year-End Bonuses: The 13th Month Salary and Tết Bonuses Explained

Lunar New Year is approaching, and there's only one thing on every Vietnamese worker's mind: how much is the company paying out this year?

In Vietnam, year-end compensation comes in two parts.

The first is the "13th month salary" (lương tháng 13) — a relatively fixed amount, usually equal to one month's base pay, prorated by actual months worked. The second is the "Tết bonus" (thưởng Tết), which varies widely depending on company performance and individual results. Some companies pay both, some pay only one, and others bundle them together.

Neither is legally required, but if it's written into the employment contract, it becomes binding. In practice, the year-end bonus is the bare minimum for employee retention. Pay too little — or nothing — and workers walk. The post-Tết period is Vietnam's biggest annual job-hopping season.

How Much Are Companies Paying This Year?

The north-south gap is stark.

According to provincial labor departments, Ho Chi Minh City's average Tết bonus is about VND 12.02 million (roughly USD 480) per person, up 6.8% from last year. Hanoi's private sector average sits at just VND 4 million, with foreign-invested firms only slightly better at VND 4.5 million — about a third of what workers in the south are getting.

But averages are misleading. The highest individual bonus in Ho Chi Minh City, paid by a foreign-invested company, hit VND 1.841 billion (about USD 73,000). Hanoi's top payout from a private company was VND 614 million. The lowest? VND 880,000 — about USD 35. The gap between highest and lowest exceeds 2,000x.

Da Nang saw a clear decline — this year's top bonus was over VND 368 million, down from VND 700 million last year, with foreign-invested companies seeing the biggest cuts.

About 19% of companies admitted they were struggling to pay bonuses at all, citing market volatility, unstable orders, and razor-thin margins in 2025.

What Are Different Industries Paying?

The Talentnet-Mercer 2025 salary survey, covering 678 companies in Vietnam, puts overall bonus budgets at 0.8 to 1.5 months of base salary, depending on industry performance and profitability. Multinational companies typically pay 1 to 2.5 months, tied to KPIs and regional results. Local SMEs tend to offer 0.5 to 1 month, sometimes supplemented with Tết gift packages or shopping vouchers.

The best-paying industries include banking and finance, electronics, software development, real estate, and petrochemicals. Textile and footwear manufacturers operate on thinner margins, but most still try to match last year's bonus levels to retain their factory workers.

A Major Overhaul for Civil Servants

This year brought a significant change to how civil servants receive their Tết bonuses.

Under Decree 73 (Nghị định 73), bonuses are no longer distributed uniformly based on salary coefficients. Instead, they come from a bonus pool equal to 10% of total payroll, allocated by performance ratings.

Top performers can receive up to 3x their base salary. Good performers get 2.5x. Those who simply met expectations get 1x. In practice, civil servant Tết bonuses now fall in the VND 7 million to VND 11 million range.

This is seen as an important step in shifting Vietnam's public sector compensation from seniority-based to performance-based.

Collect the Bonus, Then Quit?

Vietnam shares a workplace culture familiar in East Asia: collect the year-end bonus, then hand in your resignation.

Tết functions as an annual reset for Vietnam's labor market. Many workers wait for their bonus before quitting, making the post-holiday period a prime recruiting window.

According to recruitment platform TopCV, nearly 70% of companies plan to increase hiring after Tết, with half planning large-scale expansion. But 47% say they can't find experienced talent, and 42% report shortages in key skills.

Vũ Quang Thành, deputy director of Hanoi's Employment Service Center, notes that the post-Tết job-hopping mentality hasn't disappeared — but its nature has changed. Workers no longer quit impulsively. They line up their next role first, making sure it fits their long-term plans. Staying put is no longer passive compromise; it's a survival strategy in a volatile market.

Rising Wages Mean Even More Pressure on Bonuses

According to AON's 2025 salary survey covering over 700 companies across Southeast Asia, Vietnam's wages are projected to grow 7.1% in 2026 — the highest rate in the region.

For foreign companies operating in Vietnam, the competitive pressure around year-end bonuses is only going to intensify.