Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP takes effect from 1 July 2026 and replaces Decree No. 73/2024/ND-CP. It provides for the statutory pay rate and bonus regime applicable to cadres, civil servants, public employees, and members of the armed forces.
1. Statutory pay rate increased to VND 2,530,000
Legal basis: Article 3 of Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP
From 1 July 2026, the statutory pay rate is increased from VND 2,340,000/month to VND 2,530,000/month.
The statutory pay rate serves as the basis for:
- Calculating salaries under applicable salary scales and salary tables, as well as allowances;
- Calculating operating allowances and living allowances;
- Calculating contributions and other benefits determined based on the statutory pay rate.
2. Applicable subjects
Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 2 of Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP, persons receiving salaries and allowances calculated based on the statutory pay rate include:
- Cadres and civil servants from the central level to the commune level;
- Public employees working in public non-business units;
- Persons working under employment contracts in administrative agencies and public non-business units who are either subject to, or whose employment contracts provide for, salary classification under Decree No. 204/2004/ND-CP;
- Persons working within approved staffing quotas of associations whose operating expenses are supported by the State budget;
- Officers, professional military personnel, national defence workers and public employees, national defence civil servants, and contract employees of the Vietnam People’s Army;
- Officers, salaried non-commissioned officers, public security workers, and contract employees of the People’s Public Security Forces;
- Persons working in cipher organizations;
- Non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Vietnam People’s Army; non-commissioned officers and conscripted members of the People’s Public Security Forces;
- Part-time workers in villages and residential groups.
Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decree, salary earners specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e and g, Clause 1 of this Article, excluding persons receiving only allowances or living allowances, are subject to the bonus regime.
3. Changes to the bonus regime
Legal basis: Article 4 of Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP
In addition to salary, the new regulations continue to apply a bonus regime to cadres, civil servants, public employees, and certain other groups receiving salaries from the State budget.
Bonuses may be granted based on:
- Outstanding or unexpected work achievements;
- Results of quarterly and six-month monitoring and evaluation, as well as annual performance ratings.
The annual bonus fund is determined at 10% of the total annual salary fund, excluding allowances, calculated based on positions, titles, ranks, salary grades and military ranks of persons included in the payroll of the relevant agency or unit.
Note: At the end of the budget year, including the period for finalization and adjustment of budget accounts, any unused portion of the annual bonus fund must be:
- Cancelled from the budget estimate, in the case of unused budget allocations; or
- Remitted to the State budget, in the case of unused advance funding.
4. Regulations applicable to agencies and units subject to special income mechanisms
Legal basis: Clause 3, Article 3 of Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP
1. Agencies and units currently applying special financial and income mechanisms at the central level
(under Point c, Clause 6.2 of Resolution No. 142/2024/QH15)
- The difference between salary and additional income in June 2026 and salary applicable from 1 July 2026 shall be preserved after the relevant special mechanism is amended or abolished.
- During the period in which the special mechanism has not yet been amended or abolished:
- Monthly salary and additional income shall be calculated based on the new statutory pay rate of VND 2,530,000/month, applicable from 1 July 2026;
- However, the total salary and additional income must not exceed the salary and additional income received in June 2026, excluding increases resulting from changes in salary coefficients due to promotion or salary-grade advancement.
2. Agencies and units currently preserving salary differences from the previous statutory pay rate adjustment
(i.e. the difference between June 2024 and the period from 1 July 2024)
From 1 July 2026, the preserved difference shall be reduced in proportion to the increase in the statutory pay rate under this adjustment.
3. General principle applicable to both cases
If, after applying the above principles, the salary and additional income from 1 July 2026 are lower than the salary payable under the general salary regime, the employee shall be transferred to the general salary regime.
5. Funding sources for implementation
Funding for the salary adjustment and bonus regime shall be secured from various sources, including:
- The central State budget;
- Local State budgets;
- Unused salary reform funds;
- Savings from recurrent expenditures;
- Retained revenues in accordance with law.
For financially autonomous public non-business units, the relevant funding shall be self-financed by the units in accordance with the applicable financial autonomy mechanism.
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