Severance allowance calculator

Under Article 46 of the Labour Code 2019 (Bộ luật Lao động 2019), when a labour contract ends in one of the cases provided for by law, the employer pays a severance allowance (trợ cấp thôi việc) to an employee who has worked for it regularly for 12 full months or more, at half a month's salary for each year worked. The most common cases are the contract expiring, both sides agreeing to end it, or the employee terminating it unilaterally and lawfully after giving 45, 30 or 3 working days' notice under Article 35.

Employees who qualify for a retirement pension, those who stay away from work for 5 or more consecutive working days without a legitimate reason and those who terminate the contract unlawfully are not entitled; the calculator at the top of this page also states that it does not apply to employees who have been dismissed.

Eligibility

12 full months or moreWorking regularly for one employer

Amount

Half a month's salaryFor each qualifying year

Salary basis

6-month averageUnder the labour contract, immediately before leaving

Payment deadline

14 working daysFrom the date the contract ends, Article 48

1. Actual time workedCounted in months
2. Minus time with UI contributionsPer the social insurance book
3. Minus time already paid an allowanceIf any
4. Qualifying periodRounded to years
5. Times half a month's salary6-month average

The qualifying period is the total time you actually worked for the company, minus the time you were enrolled in unemployment insurance and minus any time for which you have already been paid an allowance. For the periods with contributions, unemployment insurance has taken over the role of the severance allowance, so for people who have not been working long, this subtraction usually comes to zero.

Whatever remains, if anything, usually comes from three places: probation months under a separate probation contract with no unemployment insurance contributions; for long-serving staff, the years worked before this scheme existed; and periods when the company did not pay contributions for you, for which you have the right to demand back payment. If the company paid in full from day one, a severance allowance of zero is normal: when you leave, you receive unemployment benefit from the Social Insurance Agency instead of from the company.

Decree 145/2020 provides that leftover months from 1 full month up to 6 months count as half a year, and more than 6 months count as a full year: 24 months is 2 years, 7 months is 1 year, 6 months is 0.5 years. The calculator separates out the whole years and then treats the leftover months exactly this way, so a difference of just one month, from 6 to 7, doubles the number of years counted; check your actual start date and the date your unemployment insurance contributions began before discussing the salary figure.

The salary used is the average salary under the labour contract for the 6 months immediately before you leave, including the pay rate, salary allowances and other supplements written into the contract; sales bonuses, lunch allowances and fuel allowances paid under company policy are usually not included. If you had a pay rise in the last 6 months, add up each month and divide by 6.

The first case receives 2 years × 0.5 × 20 million = 20 million VND. The second case has exactly one more uninsured month than the third, but 7 months rounds up to a full year while 6 months is only half a year, so the number of years doubles. The last case worked 3 years and still receives 0 VND, and the company has done nothing wrong; with only 10 months worked, the calculator reports that the employee does not yet qualify. If an allowance for 12 months was already paid on an earlier departure, enter 12 in the "Time already paid an allowance" field: in the first case the qualifying period drops to 12 months and the allowance to 10 million VND.

The job-loss allowance (trợ cấp mất việc làm) under Article 47 applies when you lose your job because the company changes its structure or technology, or for economic reasons. It is one month's salary for each year worked, and at least two months' salary. With the general accountant's figures from the table above, the severance allowance comes to 20 million VND and the job-loss allowance to 40 million VND. If a company that is cutting staff suggests you "write a resignation letter to keep your record clean", you are trading a payment twice as large for one half the size.

Article 48 gives both sides 14 working days from the date the contract ends to settle in full the salary for days worked, pay for unused annual leave and the severance allowance; the company must also confirm your social insurance and unemployment insurance contribution periods and return your documents. You need this confirmation for your unemployment benefit claim, which must be filed within 3 months of leaving, so do not leave the company without it.

• Write down your actual start date, including probation, and the date your unemployment insurance contributions began according to your social insurance book.
• Get your payslips for the last 6 months, work out the average yourself and compare it with the figure HR uses.
• Enter these figures into the calculator at the top of this page and check each line against the company's settlement statement.
• If the figures differ, ask the company exactly how it calculated the period and the salary before you sign for receipt.
• Keep copies of the contract, annexes, termination decision and settlement statement for your unemployment insurance claim.