Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly has approved adding one more day to the National Day (September 2) public holiday, raising the total number of paid days off in the Southeast Asian country to 11.

The new schedule for public holidays is included in the revised Labor Code, which was passed by lawmakers with an overwhelming majority of votes on Wednesday morning.

“Workers will have one extra day off to engage in activities celebrating the National Day, […] and have more time to rest or spend with their family,” the National Assembly Standing Committee said in a report.

The added day off will either fall on September 1 or September 3 depending on the calendar of each year.

Vietnam now has 11 public days off, the lowest in Southeast Asia.

Cambodia has 28 official days off, Brunei 15, Indonesia 16, Laos 13, Malaysia 12, Myanmar 14, the Philippines 12, Singapore 11, and Thailand 16, respectively.

In the amended labor law, the National Assembly also decided to raise the country’s retirement age to 62 for men by 2028 and 60 for women by 2035, an addition of two and five years to the current respective age caps.

In 2021, the retirement age for men will be 60 years and three months, while that for women will be 55 years and four months.

The retirement age will then increase by three months for male workers and four months for female workers every year until they reach the target.

The National Assembly also decided to keep an overtime cap at 300 hours per year, instead of lifting it to 400 hours per year as previously proposed in the draft document.

The revised law encourages employers to set a 40-hour working week.

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