Vietnam Names 31 Job Categories Facing Stricter Safety Rules From January 2027

Employers in Vietnam have roughly a year to work out whether any of their operations fall inside a newly drawn list of 31 occupational groups, after the country's Ministry of Home Affairs issued Circular No. 27 setting out where tougher occupational safety and hygiene requirements will apply.

News of the circular was carried by Vietnamese media on 22 October 2026. It sketches out clearly bounded fields of work in which both workers and companies will have to meet stricter protection and prevention standards.

Who is covered — and who is not

The rules take effect on 1 January 2027. For its scope, the ministry leans on legislation already on the books: the circular applies to everyone covered by Article 2 of the national Law on Occupational Safety and Hygiene.

One group is explicitly carved out. Vietnamese workers employed abroad under a labour contract fall outside the measure. Everyone else covered inside the country will, from next year, be bound by the circular as the reference framework for workplace health protection and safety-related work processes across the 31 listed groups.

What employers must do

For companies, the circular creates a practical organisational task. Each employer has to review its operations and determine for itself which of its activities match one of the 31 defined groups.

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Where such work is identified, the employer is obliged to provide the required training for the staff concerned. The aim is to ensure that employees are briefed on the specific hazards in good time before the rules take effect, and can apply the applicable hygiene and safety requirements without error.

A role for provinces and the labour office

State bodies are being drawn in as well. Vietnam's provincial people's committees have been tasked with organising the dissemination of the circular and its practical implementation on the ground, making sure the contents are publicised and administratively supported in each region.

Day-to-day oversight sits with the Vietnamese labour office. The authority will be responsible for supplying information, monitoring compliance as it goes, and systematically collecting data and reporting on how implementation proceeds.

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Administrative bodies and affected businesses therefore have until early 2027 to bring internal processes and training programmes into line with the new requirements.