Minimum Wage
Minimum wage is a state minimum social standard in the field of remuneration. The minimum wage is determined as a sum per hour and per month. The monthly minimum wage is set at the national level by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus with the participation of republican associations of employers and trade unions annually from January 1, at the proposal of the National Council on Labor and Social Issues. Its rate must be at least 30% of the predicted value of the nominal accrued average monthly wage in the republic, determined in the forecast of the socio-economic development of the Republic of Belarus for the calendar year corresponding to the month in which the monthly minimum wage was established. Minimum wages (monthly and hourly) is applied taking into account hours worked.
The monthly minimum wage is determined by taking into account:
- economic opportunities of state and employers;
- needs of workers in material goods and services;
- employment rate and operational efficiency;
- forecast of growth of consumer prices;
- level of nominal average monthly wage in the country.
The collective agreement may establish higher rate of the monthly minimum wage than the wage specified as national minimum wage.
The hourly minimum wage is determined by dividing the monthly minimum wage to the rate of the ratio of calculation working time of the calendar year and the number of months in the calendar year. The employer is obliged to review the rate of hourly minimum wage in the case of amendment in the monthly minimum wage.
If the employee receives wages lower than the minimum wage, the employer must make the additional payment to compensate the difference.
Payment of salary not in full amount can lead an administrative fine in the amount of 4-50 basic values and in case of a repeated offense within a year 30-100 basic values. The employee has the right to complain to the Labor Inspection or to sue.
Sources: §4-6 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus «About setting and the order of minimum wage uprating» 17.07.2002 №124-3; §56, 59 of the Labour Code; §10.12 of the Code of Administrative Offences 2021
Regular Pay
According to the Constitution, employees are guaranteed a fair remuneration for the economic results of work in accordance with the quantity, quality and social significance, but not below the level of providing them and their families an independent and dignified existence.
Salary is the fixed remuneration for performance of work (for a calendar month) based on and appropriate to the professional skills, difficulty, quantity and quality of labour and working conditions for time actually worked and periods included in the working hours. Public sector wages consists of salary, incentives (allowances and bonuses) and compensating payments (surcharges).
State guarantees of wages consists of:
- minimum wage;
- basic wage rate (for budgetary sphere);
- tariffs and salaries (for budgetary sphere and public service);
- growth of remuneration for non standard working conditions;
- actuality and indexation of wage;
- limits of deductions from wage;
- guarantee of timely payment of wage;
- responsibility of employers for violating the collective agreements, employment contract.
Indexation of wages is necessary due to inflation taking into account inflation rate. There are two variants of the wage system in the Republic of Belarus: for budgetary sphere and commercial organizations.
Tariff grid (18 grades) has been introduced for budget organizations. The Basic rate (near the living wage) is established by the Government from the beginning of the current year. Since September 2023, the base rate is 235 rubles.
While the minimum wage is determined under the law, the maximum limit is not specified under the law. There are higher wages for heavy work, work in harmful or dangerous working conditions and in the territory of radioactive contamination.
Wages must be paid at least twice a month (once every half month) on a day established by collective agreement or employment contract. If a payment day coincides with a non-working day, wages must be paid on the day before.
Wages must be paid in legal tender, i.e., Belarusian rubles. Payment of wages can be made through bank transfer or money order if worker has given written consent for that. With the consent of the employee, it is permitted to replace cash payment in whole or in part by payment in kind (mixed form of payment). Payment in kind instead of cash should be suitable for personal use and beneficial for the employee and his family. Payment in kind may not use the goods, the list of which is approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers 28.04.2000 № 603.
On payment of wages, employer must also inform the employees about gross wages, total size and ground for deductions and the net amount of wages to be paid. Deductions from an employee’s wages can be made only for cases specified by legislation. Employers are further allowed to make deductions from a worker’s wage to retrieve/recover the sum of money owed by the employee to the employer. It happens in the recovery of:
- advances of pay;
- amount given to an employee for business trip, transfer to another locality, domestic needs which was not spent;
- sums that were overpaid to the employee due to an accounting error;
- holiday/annual leave pay, if employment terminates and worker has already taken leave in excess of his accrued entitlement at the point of contract termination;
- compensation for damage caused through the fault of the employee to the employer, in an amount not exceeding his/her three average monthly earnings.
The total amount of deductions at each payment of wages cannot exceed 20 percent, and in the cases where the worker is subject to more than one attachment order, the maximum total deduction is 50 percent of the wages. Where the employee’s wages are attached for specific reasons, the deduction can rise to as high as 70% (for example, alimony for minor children).
Sources: §42 of the Constitution; §56-63, 65, 73-75, 80, 107-109 of the Labour Code; Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus «About approval of the list of goods that can not be paid in kind by employers» 28.04.2000 №603; Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus “About the remuneration of employees of budgetary organizations” 28.02.2019 № 138; Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus “About the remuneration of employees of budgetary organizations” 18.01.2019 № 27
