Decree No. 352/2025/ND-CP was issued to detail the Law on Employment No. 74/2025/QH15, takes effect on 1 January 2026 and replaces Decree 23/2021/ND-CP. At the time of writing, the decree has not yet reached its effective date, so everything below is an enacted framework about to apply, not current operating practice. The scope point must be read correctly from the start: Decree 352/2025 concentrates on employment services, the national employment exchange and the escrow deposit for employment service activities, rather than covering the Employment Law as a whole.
Scope: employment services, not the entire Employment Law
Under its scope clause, Decree 352/2025 details selected employment service matters in clause 5 of Article 27 and clause 5 of Article 28 of the 2025 Employment Law, together with the national employment exchange and withdrawal of the employment service escrow deposit. It applies to public employment service organisations, enterprises operating employment services, and related agencies, organisations and individuals. That boundary has a practical consequence: matters such as unemployment insurance, job creation support policies or employment loans sit in other chapters of the 2025 Employment Law and their own guidance, and cannot be derived from Decree 352/2025. The decree is the right address for a question about an employment service licence; it is the wrong address for a question about unemployment benefit levels.
Replacing Decree 23/2021, with transition in Article 28
Article 27 of Decree 352/2025 fixes the effective date at 1 January 2026, and Decree 23/2021/ND-CP expires on the same day. Article 28 handles transition without interrupting ongoing activity: enterprises already licensed, relicensed or renewed before the effective date may continue operating until the licence expires, unless it is revoked; an enterprise that filed a complete application meeting the conditions of Decree 23/2021 but has not yet been decided does not repeat steps already completed and is licensed under the new rules; public employment service organisations established under the old framework may continue, but if they do not yet meet the conditions in clause 1 of Article 4 of the new decree they must complete them within twenty-four months or cease employment service operations.
Licensing conditions: a shorter premises lease, the same escrow deposit
The most easily quantified change sits in the premises condition. Decree 23/2021 required the head office or branch premises to be owned by the enterprise or leased stably under a contract of at least three years; Decree 352/2025 lowers this to a lease with at least two years (twenty-four months) remaining at the time of filing. The escrow deposit for employment services stays at VND 300 million, showing that the new decree loosens procedure and operations rather than lowering the financial safeguard. A business preparing to incorporate an employment service company should therefore recheck its lease against the new twenty-four-month threshold and prepare the personnel and legal representative conditions under the decree as a whole, instead of reusing the complete 2021 checklist.
One-stop escrow withdrawal and reporting through the national exchange
The two most notable operating reforms sit after licensing, not at the licensing gate. On the escrow deposit, the new decree adds a withdrawal case when the licence expires and streamlines the process so the enterprise deals with a single competent authority, which must reply in writing within five working days, two days faster than under Decree 23/2021. On reporting, periodic paper reports are replaced by reporting through the National Employment Exchange: public organisations and enterprises alike report semi-annually and annually on the system, with data cut-offs on 14 June for the semi-annual report and 14 December for the annual report. Employment service businesses should therefore prepare data connectivity and internal reporting routines during the transition period, because failure to connect to the national exchange can expose the business to suspension or licence revocation.
Where Decree 352/2025 sits inside the 2025 Employment Law landscape
The Law on Employment 74/2025/QH15 takes effect on the same day, 1 January 2026, and replaces the 2013 Employment Law across the board, from employment policy to unemployment insurance. For unemployment insurance, the changes are in the Law itself: Article 33 caps contributions at one percent of salary for employees and one percent of the payroll fund for employers; Article 38 tightens the contribution condition, requiring employees on contracts of under twelve months to have paid for a full twelve months within the thirty-six months before termination; Article 39 keeps the benefit at sixty percent of the average contribution salary of the last six months, adds a cap of five times the regional minimum wage, and sets a maximum duration of twelve months. Decree 352/2025 does not repeat these rules, but public employment service organisations, its main subjects, are precisely where unemployment benefit claims are received and processed, so employment service businesses still need both layers of legislation when advising workers.
Employment service businesses that need a licence and conditions review under the new framework can reach FLAT Law Firm through the contact page ahead of the 1 January 2026 date.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Decree 352/2025/ND-CP regulate?
Decree 352/2025/ND-CP details selected employment service matters in clause 5 of Article 27 and clause 5 of Article 28 of the 2025 Employment Law, covering: the organisation and operation of public employment service organisations; conditions and procedures for issuing, reissuing, renewing and revoking employment service licences for enterprises; the national employment exchange; and withdrawal of the employment service escrow deposit. It does not cover other Employment Law matters such as unemployment insurance.
Which decree does Decree 352/2025 replace, and when does it take effect?
Under Article 27 of Decree 352/2025/ND-CP, the decree takes effect on 1 January 2026 and Decree 23/2021/ND-CP expires on that date. Article 28 provides transition: licences issued under the old framework run until they expire; complete applications meeting Decree 23/2021 conditions do not repeat steps already completed; and public employment service organisations have twenty-four months to complete any missing conditions.
What conditions must employment service businesses meet under Decree 352/2025?
Core conditions include: head office or branch premises owned or leased with at least two years (twenty-four months) remaining at filing, eased from the stable three-year lease under Decree 23/2021; an employment service escrow deposit of VND 300 million, unchanged from the old framework; and compliance with the decree’s conditions on legal representatives, personnel and organisation. After licensing, the business must stay connected to and file periodic reports through the National Employment Exchange.
What is new about unemployment insurance under Decree 352/2025?
Decree 352/2025 does not detail unemployment insurance; its scope is employment services, the national employment exchange and the escrow deposit. The unemployment insurance changes sit in the Law on Employment 74/2025/QH15, effective the same day, 1 January 2026: contribution caps of one percent for both employees and employers (Article 33); a contribution condition of twelve months within twenty-four months, extended to thirty-six months for contracts under twelve months (Article 38); and a benefit of sixty percent of the last six months’ average contribution salary, capped at five times the regional minimum wage, for up to twelve months (Article 39).
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council