Belarus at a Glance

Population: 9,449,323 (2020)

Land area: 207,600 km²

Capital: Minsk

Languages: Russian and Belarusian

Local currency: Belarusian ruble (BYR)

GDP per capita: $6390.00 (2021)

GDP in currency: $60.1 billion (2021)

Employment in Belarus

What You Must Know Before Employing in Belarus

Legislative acts and other laws that govern employer-employee relationships in Belarus are as follows:

• The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus
• The Labor Code and laws in Belarus. 
• Trade Unions Rules and Regulations. 
• Labor Migration and immigration rules
• A short time to cover the worker's absence, whose employment post remains vacant
  

The employment of foreign citizens in Belarus is regulated by laws specific to the legal status of foreign citizens and stateless individuals. The external labor movement and international agreements are also taken into consideration while employing foreign citizens. For example, according to the bilateral agreement between Belarus and Russia, Russian Federation nationals have equal employment rights as Belarusians.

The Eurasian Economic Union Treaty administers the employment of citizens belonging to Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Russians in Belarus.

The table below illustrates basic employee entitlements in Belarus.

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Contractors vs. Full-Time Employees

The usual norm in Belarus is that employment contracts are executed for an unlimited period; however, they can also be for -

• A definite period (no more than 5 years)
• A defined term for a particular period.
• Seasonal employment

Workers who work on different contracts independently are known as contractors. Contractual workers pay their taxes and manage their work independently. Full-time employees receive orders and instructions from the employer and are entitled to different perks for working full time.

Accounting and promoting departments are important functions that require regular supervision. So, it is better to employ full-time employees in these departments. On the other hand, it’s cheaper to employ contractors as they are more spontaneous, and the work is defined in the contract.

A formal employment contract with two copies is drafted. It should cover all the necessary information such as names and addresses of both parties, the location of the workplace, duties, working hours, probation details, starting date, annual leave information, other forms of compensation, and benefits. It must also include the probation term.

Employers can choose to hire contractors under temporary employment contracts, which will feature a starting and ending date of the project fixed. The contract will be terminated once the duration ends or the project gets finished beforehand.

Book a demo with us to make the best decisions on whether to hire contractors or full-time employees in Belarus.

Hiring in Belarus

The employment compliance rules and regulations in Belarus have made it mandatory for an employee to issue an employment contract with all the basic details such as holiday leaves, salary, taxation rates,  and other benefits. You can choose to employ workers on both permanent or temporary employment contracts. The contract should be written in either Russian or Belarusian and the pay package must be expressed in Belarusian ruble (BYR), the national currency of Belarus.

You will need to understand the culture and the traditions of Belarus and the goals of your company to successfully find the right employees. Skuad will help you find the best employees for your business enterprise. We will also look after the processing of employee’s salaries, taxes, and other benefits in compliance with the local laws.

Some popular job portals for candidates in Belarus are:

1. Best job sites in Belarus | Compare | Jobboard Finder (JobFinder)
2. Jobs in Belarus, Free Job Posting & Resume | JobIsland.com (Jobisland)
3. Jobs in Belarus, Free Job Posting & Resume | JobIsland.com (Robota)

To ensure that your hiring process is compliant with the obligatory laws and regulations in Belarus, speak to Skuad’s experts today.

Probation & Termination

The probation phase is limited to three months. A fixed-term contract can last up to five years without restriction on renewals. 

Typically, the notice time is one month. It can be increased to three months in the event of redundancy or insolvency.

Termination

An employment contract in Belarus can be canceled in the following circumstances:

• If the Employer and the Employee come to a mutual understanding.
• if the contract's duration comes to an end but neither party wants to end the employment relationship.
• If the employee accepts to be moved to a different company or is transferred to a job of choice
• In some cases, irrespective of the parties' will
• If the contract is canceled after a trial period

Notice Periods

According to the labor law, if the EA has an indefinite character and the employee wishes to cancel the contract, the notification period is one month. If the EA is fixed-term, there are no particular notice time requirements.

The notice time is two months in case the company is being liquidated. When a worker is terminated at the employer's initiative, they are entitled to a severance payout under labor regulations. In most situations, when labor relationships are ended at the employer's initiative (and when the employment contract is dissolved due to events beyond the parties' control), the severance payout is equal to two weeks' compensation.

If a worker's employment is terminated owing to redundancy, liquidation, or discontinuation of entrepreneurial operations, the worker is entitled to a redundancy payout of at least three months' average wage.

Employees in Belarus are protected by employment law, imposing several rules and the grounds on which an employer will be able to dismiss employees.

Article 42 of the Labor Code contains more information about Belarus' dismissal laws.

Call Skuad experts and get answers to all your questions about the probation and termination laws in Belarus.

Work Permits

Things to consider if you are looking to enlist expatriate workers for your company  in Belarus:

• The idiosyncrasies of the country's immigration system
• The paperwork necessary to obtain a work visa
  

After a visa is obtained, overseas nationals can work and be paid in their home country.

Given that ex-pats are frequently moved abroad for short-term assignments, businesses look for easier, more cost-effective alternatives to onboarding and paying ex-pats through their local subsidiaries.

Partnering with an Employer of Record (EOR)  for work visa support may be a feasible alternative to getting yourselves overwhelmed with the whole immigration process, work visa permission, etc. Having a local employer sponsor a work permit or visa on your behalf reduces the chance of visa denial. Furthermore, it relieves you of the stress connected with the immigration process.

Skuad has employed and compensated ex-pats for its customers in Belarus on both a short and long-term basis. If you need to hire and pay ex-pats in Belarus legally, Skuad can provide end-to-end work permit assistance in employing your ex-pats. Unlike other EOR organizations, Skuad may give additional benefits to expatriates in Belarus in addition to the work visa. It covers medical insurance, housing, office rent, a mobile phone and a car for meet-and-greet purposes, dependents relocation, and so forth.

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Processing time for obtaining a work permit:

Typically, the process of obtaining a Belarus work permit takes between 7 and 30 working days.

Important procedures to get a work permit in Belarus:

To get a work permit for labor activity, the employer must submit the following papers to the Main Department of Internal Affairs and the Department of Internal Affairs situated in Mingorispolkom :

• The completed application form. 
• A photocopy of the foreigner employee’s passport.
• A verified paid visa slip for the same.
  

Documents are reviewed in 15 days. If accepted, the work permit is valid for one year from the approval date and can be extended if the expiration date approaches. If a foreign specialist intends to work for several Belorussian employers, they must get permission for each of them.

Employers who want to engage more than ten foreign professionals who do not have permanent residence must acquire a permit enabling them to hire foreigners. The Department of Nationality and Migration issues these documents. It is worth mentioning that residents of the Republic of Belarus and foreigners permanently residing in Belarus prioritize work rights. This indicates that the company can only engage foreign professionals if they cannot fill the post with citizens or permanent residents. As a result, before receiving a work visa, the information of the available post must be submitted to the Department of Employment.

Types of Visas in Belarus

Before you begin the actual steps for obtaining a visa to Belarus, you need to choose which visa type you require. If you apply for the wrong visa, your application can get rejected, or you may receive a visa that may not be appropriate for you.

Belarusian visas are classified into three kinds based on the length of the stay:

Belarusian visas are classified into three kinds based on the number of entries planned:

Documents for obtaining a work visa in Belarus for the principal applicant:

• Application form
• Copies of papers proving the legal entity's or individual entrepreneur's state registration
• An excerpt from the commercial registry of the nation of origin of a foreign firm (if the foreign company acts as an employer)
• The employer's signed and stamped draught of the employment contract
• A guarantee letter, which certifies the capacity to offer a residence to foreign personnel
• A receipt verifying the payment of the processing cost

If you need your ex-pat employees to legally work for you in Belarus without establishing your company entity, rely on Skuad to help your employees with a work permit and immigration support, and then hire your ex-pats locally on your behalf.

Contact Skuad to know more.

Payroll & Taxes in Belarus

Employers in Belarus must contribute 6% of their salary to the social security system, which includes benefits such as sick leave and maternity leave. They must also pay between 0.3 and 0.9 percent of their earnings for occupational accident insurance, as well as 28 percent for pensions.

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Incorporation in Belarus‍

Business enterprises often face difficulty while operating with the banking institutions in Belarus and their rules and regulations vastly differ from the structure and rules of international business transactions. Currently, Belarus is revising its banking structure which simplifies the expanding process for companies.

It’s also very important to understand the rules and regulations of Belarus. If you don’t plan on taking any global EORs help like Skuad, you should take assistance from a lawyer who is well informed about the Belarus subsidiary laws. You can also choose to groom your team to look after the hiring and payroll process.

Types of company structures in Belarus:

1. Most of the companies operating in Belarus today are PLLC Private Limited Liability Company. It’s a different legal entity, and generally, shareholders are not held accountable for the company’s dues more than the number of share capitals they have invested.
2. The LLC structure has its legal framework, and you need at least two directors and two shareholders. Belarus has a minimum requirement of share capital which costs just $1. You’ll also have to provide the annual financial records to the Income Tax Authority of Belarus.
   

Learn more about Skuad’s services 

Professional Employment Organization (PEO)

A Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is a company that collaborates with small and medium-sized businesses and gives them all HR services such as salary processing, obtaining compliance, tax submission, and helping them with potential candidates for recruitment. A professional employer organization (PEO) is an outsourcing company that manages your human resources department. When an organization works with a PEO, it maintains its usual line of business, employee duties, and obligations. Any PEO organization will also handle all the  HR-related procedures such as salary processing, payment of taxes, and so on.

• A PEO acts as a co-employer, wherein it manages all the HR-related functions such as setting up the payroll, processing the compensation and other benefits, and handling all the tax-related compliances. However, your company will hold the allied liabilities and responsibilities.
• On the other hand, an EOR provider is a complete payroll outsourcing partner that provides all the services offered by a PEO, and in addition, becomes the legal employer of all the employees on your payroll. This means that they are responsible for compliance with the regulations and liable for non-compliance as well.

PEOs are suitable for companies looking for a long-term payroll partner, whereas EOR services are more suitable for companies looking for HR solutions for a quick international expansion. Further, while PEOs can only operate if you have an entity established in the country, EOR services have no such requirements.

Skuad provides both PEO and EOR solutions for companies. Hire Skuad’s EOR solution for HR and compliance processes. 

Book a demo with Skuad experts to know more about PEO services and EOR solutions in Belarus.

Conclusion 

Skuad offers EOR(Employer of Records) services for CEOs and business executives who want to hire employees and run payroll without opening a subsidiary in Belarus. Employees will be employed in days through Skuad’s local contacts under the labor laws. A lead generation form assists a business in spawning professional candidates for employees. It is meant for taking in information for the target group.

Call Skuad experts to know more about EOR solutions in Belarus.