eKYC and VNEID in Electronic Labor Contracts: How to Meet Identity Verification Requirements

As Decree 337/2025/ND-CP moves into its implementation phase from July 1, 2026, one of the most critical technical requirements for enterprises is verifying the identity of the person signing an electronic labor contract. This is not a procedural checkbox before applying a digital signature.

It is the foundation that determines whether the entire contract holds legal weight. If a company cannot prove exactly who signed, everything built afterward, including digital signatures and stored records, loses its evidentiary value the moment a dispute or inspection arises. This article examines the roles of eKYC and VNeID in identity verification and explains how businesses can build a compliant process without sacrificing a smooth experience for employees.

Why identity verification is the foundation of electronic labor contracts

With traditional paper contracts, identity verification happens naturally: both parties meet in person, compare national ID cards, and sign by hand on the spot. Once the process moves into an electronic environment, these steps are no longer visible by default, and an enterprise must be able to answer three questions at any time.

Who actually clicked to sign. What exact content was confirmed at the moment of signing. And can the company produce complete identity verification evidence when a labor inspector or a court requests it.

Without a reliable identity verification mechanism, an electronic labor contract, even one carrying a valid digital signature, can still be challenged on authenticity grounds, particularly in labor disputes, falsified personnel records, or cases of signing on someone else's behalf.

What eKYC is and its role in electronic labor contracts

eKYC, or electronic Know Your Customer, and in an HR context often understood as electronic Know Your Employee, is a method of verifying identity remotely through technology rather than through in-person document checks. A complete eKYC process typically includes three core components.

• Collecting and extracting data from an identity document, usually a chip-based national ID card, through image capture or NFC chip reading.

• Matching facial biometrics by comparing a live capture of the user's face against the photo on the identity document or previously registered biometric data.

• Liveness detection to rule out spoofing attempts using static photos, pre-recorded video, or digital masks.

Within an electronic labor contract workflow, eKYC functions as the entry-point authentication step before the system allows an employee or a company representative to proceed with digital signing. If this step is skipped or performed loosely, the entire evidentiary chain that follows, including the digital signature and timestamp, loses its power to prove anything.

VNeID and its role in level 2 electronic identification

VNeID is the electronic identification application developed and managed by Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, allowing citizens to use electronic identity at two levels. Level 1 electronic identification verifies based on basic declared information. Level 2 is linked to biometric data and the chip-based national ID card, and is cross-checked directly against the National Population Database.

Compared with an eKYC process run independently by an enterprise, verification through VNeID level 2 carries a higher degree of assurance, because the data is cross-referenced against a national population database rather than relying solely on documents supplied by the user. This is why regulations governing electronic transactions, including electronic labor contracts, increasingly encourage or require a connection to VNeID for higher-risk cases, such as high-value contracts, contracts involving foreign employees, or sensitive HR transactions.

Combining eKYC, which verifies biometrics at the moment of the transaction, with VNeID, which cross-checks against national identification data, forms a two-layer authentication model. This preserves a fast, seamless experience for the user while ensuring the legal reliability needed when evidence must be retrieved later.

Legal requirements businesses must comply with

Under the current legal framework, identity verification stands as one of the mandatory technical criteria for implementing electronic labor contracts, alongside digital signatures, timestamping, and audit trails. Decree 337/2025/ND-CP places signer identity authentication at the center of its governance framework, since it is a prerequisite condition for an electronic contract to be recognized as holding legal validity equivalent to a paper contract.

At the same time, because eKYC and VNeID verification processes involve collecting biometric and personal identification data, enterprises must also comply with personal data protection regulations, including Decree 13/2023/ND-CP. This requires enterprises to obtain clear employee consent before collecting biometric data, limit the purpose of data use, apply appropriate data protection measures, and clearly define retention periods.

A compliant 5-step identity verification process

1. Collect and authenticate the identity document by capturing an image of the chip-based national ID card or reading data directly through the NFC chip.

2. Match facial biometrics between a live capture of the user and the photo stored on the document or previously registered data.

3. Run liveness detection to confirm the person being verified is physically present in real time.

4. Cross-check against VNeID or the National Population Database for cases requiring a higher level of identification assurance.

5. Log the entire verification process in a tamper-proof audit trail, linked directly to the digital signature and timestamp applied at the moment of signing.

A process only qualifies as compliant when all five steps run continuously within a single system, rather than being split across disconnected tools, which tends to create evidence gaps whenever records need to be retrieved.

Risks of non-compliant identity verification

• Contract disputes arising because the company cannot prove exactly who signed.

• Violations of personal data protection regulations if biometric data is collected without valid consent or is not properly safeguarded.

• Inability to connect or synchronize with the National Electronic Labor Contract Platform due to missing authentication integration standards.

• Internal fraud risk, such as ghost employee records or signing on behalf of someone else without genuine identity verification.

Frequently asked questions

Is eKYC mandatory for every electronic labor contract? The legal framework encourages electronic identity verification across the entire process, and this requirement becomes stricter for higher-risk transactions.

Is VNeID the only recognized verification channel? VNeID is a state-issued authentication channel with high reliability due to cross-referencing against national population data, but enterprises still need an eKYC layer at the moment of the transaction to confirm the person signing is truly the owner of that identity.

Do small businesses need to build their own eKYC system? Not necessarily. Enterprises can use an electronic labor contract management platform with a built-in identity verification module, saving both cost and implementation time.

Where and how long is biometric data stored? Data must be stored on infrastructure with proper access controls and encryption, and the retention period must be clearly defined in line with the original collection purpose and current personal data protection regulations.

How Kyta Platform supports compliant identity verification

Kyta Platform integrates a Kyta Gate/eKYC module directly into the electronic labor contract workflow, allowing enterprises to run document verification, facial biometric matching, and liveness detection within the same operational flow as digital signing through Kyta Signature.

The entire verification process, from the moment data is collected to the moment the contract is signed, is recorded in Kyta Platform's tamper-proof audit trail, enabling the company to produce complete evidence whenever a labor inspection or dispute occurs. Unifying identity verification, digital signing, and storage on a single platform helps Legal, HR, and IT reduce manual cross-checking while ensuring compliance with Decree 337/2025/ND-CP from the very first step.

Enterprises interested in implementing compliant identity verification for electronic labor contracts can contact the Kyta Platform team for guidance tailored to their scale and industry.

Website: kyta.fpt.com   |   Hotline: 1900.636.191 (ext 3)   |   Email: customersupport@fpt.com