State employees will get a nine-day holiday for the Tet this year, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed.

Prime Minister approves 9-day Lunar New Year Holiday

But while the Tet will begin on February 15 and end on February 23, state employees will have to work on Saturday, February 14. The nine-day holiday has gained strong support from the public.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs submitted two Tet holiday proposals to the Prime Minister – seven days and nine days.

For the Western New Year of January 1, civil servants can take a day off on Friday, January 2, 2015 so they will have four consecutive days off from January 1. However, they will have to work on Saturday, December 27, 2014 to compensate for the extra day off.

Further, state employees will have six days off from from April 28 to May 3 to mark the Hung Kings’ Temple Festival on April 28 and Liberation Day on April 30, as well as May Day on May 1. But they will have to work Saturday, April 25, to cover the extra day in the holiday period.