Execution of Electronic Labor Contracts: Compliance Conditions and Implementation Process

An electronic labor contract (e-Contract) has the same legal validity as a paper-based contract if it satisfies the following conditions: (1) It is executed through a licensed e-Contract service provider; (2) It uses a valid digital signature and timestamp; (3) The contracting parties are properly identified via a Level-2 electronic identification account or biometric authentication; and (4) It is assigned an ID on the electronic labor contract platform within 24 hours. The contract takes effect immediately upon successful digital signing and authentication by the final signing party, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

1. General Principles for the Execution of Electronic Labor Contracts (e-Contracts)

With the current trend of technological adoption by state authorities and enterprises, the establishment of electronic labor contracts is also regarded as a prevailing trend and a necessary practice to align with the contemporary working environment of enterprises. Accordingly, under the general principles set out in Decree No. 337/ND-CP, Electronic Labor Contracts must comply with the provisions of law on labor, electronic transactions, cybersecurity, data, personal data protection, and data retention. This may be understood as follows: based on our legal advisory practice for enterprises, under the above regulations, enterprises are required to ensure that electronic labor contracts do not contain any provisions contrary to labor laws, or in other words, that their contents are equivalent to those of the traditional paper-based labor contract templates previously applied by enterprises.

With respect to compliance with regulations on electronic transactions, enterprises are required to rely on the provisions of the Law on Electronic Transactions to ensure compliance with regulations on electronic signing, creation, receipt, and storage of data messages, among others. At the same time, enterprises must implement measures to ensure compliance with cybersecurity regulations and personal data protection requirements, such as appropriate storage facilities, systems ensuring the security of electronic storage, measures against data leakage, and the employee’s consent to the processing of personal data. In addition, electronic labor contracts must be sent to both the employee and the employer in the form of data messages via appropriate electronic means as agreed by the parties.

At present, the use of electronic labor contracts to replace written labor contracts is not mandatory but is being encouraged. However, as previously observed in the policy on electronic invoices, such encouragement serves as an initial transitional step to enable enterprises to gradually become familiar with the system, before a shift toward mandatory application after an initial encouragement period.

2. Stringent Conditions Applicable to e-Contract Service Providers

Enterprises may not unilaterally execute a labor contract via an ordinary PDF file and refer to it as an e-Contract. Pursuant to Article 6 of Decree No. 337/ND-CP, e-Contract software must be provided by service providers that fully satisfy the following conditions:

• Identification and Authentication (eKYC): The system must have functions to accurately identify the contracting parties based on biometric data (such as fingerprints or facial recognition) or a Level-2 electronic identification account.
• Data Integrity: The system must apply technical measures to ensure that the contract cannot be altered after signing and is capable of long-term retrieval and storage; It must have technical measures to confirm that the identified organization or individual has agreed to the contents of the labor contract; It must have functions to authenticate electronic labor contracts in accordance with the law on electronic transactions, in order to carry out authentication of the electronic labor contract before submitting it to the electronic labor contract platform for ID assignment; It must have functions enabling conversion between electronic labor contracts and paper-based labor contracts in accordance with the law on electronic transactions…
• API Connectivity: The provider’s system must be directly connected via API to the electronic labor contract platform of the Ministry of Home Affairs to assign a unique identification ID to each contract.
• Sub-licenses: The service provider must hold a License for providing trusted services (i.e., services for authentication of data messages).

3. Required Conditions for Enterprises and Employees When Entering into an e-Contract

To execute an electronic labor contract, the parties must prepare and satisfy the following conditions:

• For the Employee: Must have a chip-based Citizen Identification Card (CCCD), or an electronic identification card, or a certificate of identification, or a Level-2 electronic identification account, or a valid passport; a valid entry visa or documents proving eligibility for entry visa exemption (for foreign individuals).
• For the Enterprise (Employer): (i) the enterprise’s operating licenses/documents such as the Enterprise Registration Certificate, Investment Registration Certificate, establishment decision, etc.; (ii) At the same time, must have personal identification documents of the legal representative such as: a Citizen Identification Card or an identification card or a certificate of identification or a Level-2 electronic identification account or a valid passport; a valid entry visa or documents proving eligibility for entry visa exemption (for foreign individuals); (iii) Have a digital signature and use timestamp issuance services in accordance with the law on electronic transactions; the timestamp is legal evidence confirming the time of execution, preventing backdating of the contract.

4. Process for Execution and Validity Authentication of an Electronic Labor Contract (e-Contract)

In practice, the establishment of electronic contracts is no longer entirely new; however, in the labor sector, this is a new regulation. Based on our experience in executing and establishing the validity of commercial contracts in electronic form, we find that the signing process will typically follow the below general steps:

Step 1. Initiation: The enterprise prepares a draft contract on the e-Contract platform.

Step 2. Identification: The parties carry out identity verification via the provider’s eKYC system.

Step 3. Digital Signing: The employee and the enterprise sequentially apply their digital signatures and affix timestamps.

Step 4. Authentication: The e-Contract service provider authenticates the data message into the contract.

Step 5. ID Assignment: Within 24 hours from the time the final party signs, the provider must submit the data to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ platform for ID assignment.

Step 6. Effectiveness: The contract takes effect at the time the final party completes the digital signing and authentication (Article 7).

Summary Table of Mandatory Elements of a Standard Electronic Contract 2026

5. Notes on Personal Data

Based on our experience in advising enterprises on maintaining data integrity, particularly personal data groups under the new regulations of the Law on Personal Data Protection, CDLAF notes the following key points for enterprises:

• Personal data processing: The storage of electronic labor contracts contains a significant amount of personal data, including basic personal data and sensitive personal data, and the storage method is implemented on the enterprise’s electronic platform and third-party platforms. Therefore, when preparing the Personal Data Processing Impact Assessment (DPIA), the enterprise must be able to present the measures it applies to ensure personal data security, technical measures for handling data leaks, and the contract with the e-Contract service provider must record provisions on the service provider’s responsibilities in controlling and processing the personal data of the enterprise’s employees.
• Revision of internal governance documents: At the present time, the enterprise needs to plan for adjustments to internal working processes, regulations, labor rules, etc., and other regulations to ensure compatibility with the regulations on the execution of electronic contracts.
• Conversion to paper documents: The law permits conversion from an electronic contract to a paper-based contract, but it must ensure exact consistency and bear a certification stamp in accordance with regulations.

CDLAF – A Specialized Legal Advisory Firm on Compliance Governance & Corporate Matters

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Time of writing: 30/12/2025

The article contains general information which is of reference value, in case you want to receive legal opinions on issues you need clarification on, please get in touch with our Lawyer  at  info@cdlaf.vn

You can refer for more information:

• Impacts of Decree No. 337/2025/NĐ-CP on Electronic Labour Contracts
• Essential clauses in an overseas processing contracts
• Instructions for developing a Business Plan when applying for a Business License to provide cyber information security products and services (Part 2)
• Instructions for developing a Business Plan when applying for a Business License to provide cyber information security products and services (Part 1)