The question FDI employers ask most is ‘what percentage of disabled workers must we hire to comply’. The answer may surprise: Vietnamese law sets no mandatory quota at all and fines no one for not hiring persons with disabilities — instead it uses encouragement, with tax incentives and training-cost support that have a clear benefit threshold at 30% of the workforce.
No mandatory quota exists, and no penalty for missing one
The Law on Persons with Disabilities No. 51/2010/QH12 builds policy on encouragement: the State encourages agencies, organisations and enterprises to employ persons with disabilities and to create working conditions suited to their impairment and health. Nowhere in current labour law is there a provision fixing a percentage of disabled workers an enterprise must reach, and consequently there is no fine for ‘failing a quota’.
This point deserves emphasis because the market still circulates incorrect information about a ‘mandatory 3–5% quota’, modelled on other countries’ laws. An FDI employer designing HR policy on that basis invents a non-existent obligation; conversely, an employer that hires no disabled worker violates no law for that reason alone — its real legal duties are non-discrimination and, once it hires, suitable working conditions.
Incentives for training and employing persons with disabilities
The most significant incentive is corporate income tax: income from production and trading of goods and services of an enterprise whose average annual workforce comprises 30% or more persons with disabilities (with the workforce scale required by tax law) qualifies as tax-exempt income under corporate income tax legislation. In addition, the Law on Persons with Disabilities 51/2010/QH12 provides that enterprises employing many disabled workers enjoy support policies such as preferential loans and funding support to adapt working conditions and environment for disabled employees.
At the training stage, persons with disabilities are among the groups the State supports in vocational training, upskilling and national skills certification assessment under Article 22 of the Employment Law No. 74/2025/QH15. An enterprise training disabled persons in-house or sending them to a vocational institution should keep beneficiary files to claim support from the budget and the local employment fund for persons with disabilities.
The employer’s real obligations when employing disabled workers
Although there is no quota, an employer who hires persons with disabilities must observe specific protective duties: not assigning disabled workers to arduous, hazardous or dangerous jobs on the prohibited list; appropriate working hours and rest; and special regimes for persons with severe disabilities under the 2019 Labour Code. Breach of these duties is what is sanctioned — not the absence of any hiring ratio.
Practical advice for FDI employers: if the goal is the tax incentive, build from day one the documentation proving the annual average ratio of disabled employees — disability certificates, payrolls and staff lists — because the tax authority will test this condition at finalisation. If the goal is only social responsibility, still apply non-discriminatory recruitment and suitable job placement, because that is the part the law actually inspects.
Frequently asked questions
Are there tax incentives for enrolling persons with disabilities in vocational training?
Yes, linked to employing persons with disabilities generally. Most significantly, income from production and trading of goods and services of an enterprise whose average annual workforce is at least 30% persons with disabilities is exempt from corporate income tax under tax law; preferential loans and workplace-adaptation support also apply under the Law on Persons with Disabilities 51/2010/QH12. Disabled learners receive state training support under Article 22 of the Employment Law 74/2025/QH15.
What percentage of disabled workers must an enterprise employ?
None. Current Vietnamese law — the Law on Persons with Disabilities 51/2010/QH12 and the Labour Code — only encourages enterprises to employ persons with disabilities and fixes no mandatory percentage. Information about a compulsory quota does not reflect Vietnamese law.
Is there a penalty for not meeting the quota?
No. Because no mandatory quota exists, there is no penalty for not reaching one. An enterprise is sanctioned only for breaching specific other duties, such as assigning disabled workers to prohibited jobs or discriminating in recruitment and employment.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council