How Much Can a Foreign-Worker Violation Cost?

When a foreign-worker compliance issue involves multiple employees, the potential administrative penalty can increase with the number of workers involved.

Vietnam’s Decree 283/2026/NĐ-CP, which took effect on September 10, 2026, sets out administrative penalties for a range of labor-related violations, including certain violations involving foreign workers.

One provision that employers may want to pay attention to is how the penalty changes based on the number of foreign workers involved.

The Penalty Can Scale With the Number of Workers

For employers using foreign workers without the required work permit or work permit exemption confirmation, or using an expired authorization, Article 13 provides the following penalty ranges:

The important point is not simply the maximum amount.

The number of workers involved can affect the applicable penalty range.

So a compliance issue involving one foreign employee and the same type of issue involving a larger group of employees may not carry the same level of administrative exposure.

What Does This Mean for Employers?

Imagine a company has several foreign employees whose work authorization needs to be reviewed.

If the issue affects only one employee, the situation is relatively limited in scope.

But if the same issue applies to multiple foreign workers, the potential administrative penalty can move into a higher range.

This is why foreign-worker compliance is not only an individual employee matter.

In some situations, one underlying compliance issue can affect multiple employees at the same time.

The Fine Is Not the Same for Every Foreign-Worker Violation

This distinction is important.

The VND 30–75 million ranges above relate specifically to the employer-level violation of employing foreign workers without the required work permit or exemption confirmation, or employing them with an expired authorization.

Decree 283/2026/NĐ-CP also provides other penalties for different foreign-worker-related violations.

For example, employers using foreign workers in a manner that does not comply with the contents of the relevant work permit or exemption confirmation may face a different penalty structure, including a fine of VND 5–10 million per foreign worker, subject to a maximum of VND 75 million.

There are also separate provisions covering certain document-related violations.

So it is important not to treat every foreign-worker compliance issue as having the same penalty.

The type of violation matters.

Why the Number Matters

A useful way to think about foreign-worker compliance risk is:

This does not mean that every compliance issue automatically results in the maximum penalty.

Rather, it highlights why employers may want to identify whether the same issue exists across more than one foreign-worker arrangement.

For companies with larger foreign-worker populations, a periodic review can therefore be more useful than looking at each case in isolation.

A Simple Compliance Question

When reviewing foreign-worker arrangements, employers can ask:

Is this an isolated issue, or could the same issue affect other foreign employees?

That question can make a difference.

A single employee record may reveal a problem with authorization, role alignment, or documentation. But if the same hiring or employment practice has been applied across multiple foreign workers, the scope of the issue may be wider.

The Bigger Takeaway

Foreign-worker compliance is not only about whether a company has the right documents.

It is also about understanding which requirements apply, which employees are affected, and whether the employment arrangements continue to meet those requirements.

Under Decree 283/2026/NĐ-CP, certain employer-level penalties can increase depending on the number of foreign workers involved.

So when assessing compliance risk, one useful question is:

How many employees could this issue actually affect?

Key Numbers

These ranges apply to the specific employer-level violation described above, not to all foreign-worker violations.

Sources & References
Government of Vietnam — Decree 283/2026/NĐ-CP
Official Gazette of Vietnam — Decree 283/2026/NĐ-CP
Article 13 — Administrative penalties related to foreign workers

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Published: September 2026