About the minimum wage
In accordance with Part 1 of Article 59 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus, Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Establishment and Procedure for Increasing the Minimum Wage" (hereinafter referred to as the Law), the minimum wage (monthly and hourly) is a state minimum social standard in the field of labor remuneration, which the employer is obliged to apply as the lowest limit of remuneration for employees for work under normal conditions during normal working hours, when performing the duties of an employee arising from legislation, local legal acts and the employment contract.
The monthly minimum wage is the lowest amount of remuneration for employees for a calendar month established by law, and is applied to employees whose remuneration is calculated on the basis of monthly tariff rates (tariff salaries), salaries, official salaries.
The amount of the monthly minimum wage is established by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus annually from January 1.
By Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated December 21, 2020 No. 740, the monthly minimum wage from January 1, 2021 was set at 400 rubles.
By Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated December 14, 2021 No. 721, the monthly minimum wage from January 1, 2022 was set at 457 rubles.
A collective agreement (accord) may establish a different amount of the monthly minimum wage, but not lower than the amount of the monthly minimum wage established in accordance with the Law.
The monthly minimum wage is subject to indexation during the year in the manner prescribed for the indexation of income received from budget sources, in accordance with the legislation on the indexation of population incomes taking into account inflation (Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the indexation of population incomes taking into account inflation", Instruction on the procedure and conditions for indexation of population incomes in connection with inflation, as well as in case of untimely payment of wages, pensions, scholarships and benefits", approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus of 05.05.2009 No. 57).
Thus, indexation of monetary income is carried out if the consumer price index, calculated cumulatively from the moment of the previous indexation (revision of income amounts), exceeds the five percent threshold. When indexing monetary income, the index
consumer prices published by the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus.Since the monthly minimum wage established from 01.01.2021 was subject to indexation, the monthly minimum wage, taking into account indexation, for September 2021 amounted to 417 rubles 86 kopecks, and for October, November, and December 2021 it was 418 rubles 14 kopecks.
Hourly minimum wage is the lowest wage rate for employees per hour of working time, calculated from the monthly minimum wage established by law. It applies to employees whose remuneration is based on hourly tariff rates, base rates, or official salaries.
The hourly minimum wage is determined by the employer by dividing the monthly minimum wage by the ratio of the calculated norm of working hours for the calendar year, established for the respective categories of employees by the employer in accordance with labor legislation, and the number of months in the calendar year.
Thus, with a calculated working time norm according to the production calendar for 2022 for a 40-hour five-day work week with weekends on Saturday and Sunday – 2037 hours, the hourly minimum wage will be 2.69 rubles. (457 / (2037 / 12).
With a calculated norm
working time according to the production calendar for 2022 for a 40-hour six-day work week with Sunday as the day off – 2038 hours, the hourly minimum wage will be 2.69 rubles (457 / (2038 / 12).For employees aged 16 to 18, a reduced working time of no more than 35 hours per week is established. According to Art. 279 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus, employees under eighteen years of age with a reduced daily working time are paid the same amount as employees of the corresponding categories with full daily working time.
According to Art. 287 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus, for persons with disabilities of group I and II, a reduced working time of no more than 35 hours per week is established. In this case, their labor is paid in the same amount as the labor of employees of the corresponding professions and positions with the full norm of working time.
With a calculated working time norm according to the production calendar for 2022 for a 35-hour five-day work week with two days off on Saturday and Sunday – 1782 hours, the hourly minimum wage will be 3.08 rubles (457 / (1782 / 12).
With a calculated working time norm according to the production calendar for 2022 for a 35-hour six-day work week with Sunday as the day off – 1783 hours, the hourly minimum wage will be 3.08 rubles. (457 / (1783 / 12).
The hourly minimum wage is changed by the employer when the monthly minimum wage changes, including due to the indexation of the monthly minimum wage.
Similarly, the hourly minimum wage is calculated for employees with reduced working hours, including employees under 18 years of age, and persons with disabilities of Group I and II.
In accordance with Part 3 of Article 6 of the Law, if an employee's accrued wage is lower than the minimum wage (monthly and hourly) established and applied in accordance with this Law, the employer is obliged to pay the difference up to the minimum wage (monthly and hourly). When determining the supplement to the minimum wage (monthly and hourly), compensatory payments and payments not related to the employee's performance of duties arising from legislation, local legal acts, and the employment contract are not included in the employee's accrued wage.
For example, if a person with a disability of Group II, who has performed duties arising from legislation, local regulatory legal acts, and the employment contract, whose labor is paid on the basis of a monthly tariff rate, with a five-day working week and days off on Saturday and Sunday, in February 2022, the working hours under normal conditions amounted to 140 hours (20 days x 7 hours), and the accrued wage was lower than the monthly minimum wage, the employer is obliged to pay the difference up to the monthly minimum wage, i.e., up to 457 rubles, if the collective agreement (agreement)
not established the amount of the monthly minimum wage.The results of the analysis of the reasons for employees of organizations in the Vitebsk region being paid wages below the monthly minimum wage indicate that in the vast majority of cases, these reasons are related to the duration of the working time (an employee working part-time, being on unpaid leave for training, for family, domestic and other valid reasons, or on unpaid or partially paid leave at the employer's initiative, downtime not due to the employee's fault, etc.).
Let's consider a few examples.
For reference: the calculated working time norm for a five-day work week with days off on Saturday and Sunday in February 2022 is 160 hours.
For example, if an employee, whose labor is paid on the basis of a monthly tariff rate, with a five-day work week with days off on Saturday and Sunday, is set to work part-time for 20 hours per week (from Monday to Friday, 4 hours per day), while performing duties arising from legislation, local legal acts, and the employment contract, in February 2022, the duration of working time under normal conditions was 80 hours (20 days x 4 hours), and if the amount of accrued wages turned out to be lower than the monthly minimum wage, the employer is obliged to make an additional payment up to the monthly minimum wage, i.e. up to228.5 RUB (457 RUB / 160 hours x 80 hours), if the collective agreement (agreement) does not establish a higher amount of the minimum monthly wage. In a similar situation, an employee whose remuneration is based on an hourly tariff rate shall be paid an additional amount up to 215.2 RUB (80 hours x 2.69 RUB).
If an employee whose remuneration is based on a monthly tariff rate, with a five-day working week and days off on Saturday and Sunday, worked from February 1 to February 11, 2022 (9 days x 8 hours, total 72 hours), and was temporarily incapacitated from February 14 to February 28, 2022, the accrued wage amount shall be no less than 205.65 RUB (457 RUB / 20 days x 9 days). In a similar situation, an employee whose remuneration is based on an hourly tariff rate shall be paid an additional amount up to 193.68 RUB (2.69 RUB x 72 hours). The calculation of temporary disability benefits shall be made in the established manner.
According to Part 1 of Article 71 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus, in case of failure to meet production norms, defective work, and downtime not due to the employee's fault, the wage shall not be lower than two-thirds of the tariff rate (tariff salary), or salary established for them.
For an employee whose remuneration is based on a monthly tariff rate, with a five-day working week and days off on Saturday and Sunday, who worked only from February 1 to February 4, 2022, due to downtime not due to the employee's fault from February 7 to February 28, 2022, the accrued wage amount shall be no less than 91.4 RUB (457 RUB / 20 days * 4 days). In a similar situation, for an employee whose remuneration is based on an hourly tariff rate, the amount
the accrued wage must be at least 86.08 rubles (2.69 rubles x 32 hours). In addition, wages for downtime not caused by the employee must be no less than two-thirds of their established tariff rate.Employees who, without valid reasons, fail to fulfill duties arising from legislation, local legal acts, and employment contracts, for example, including those who committed truancy or were absent from work without valid reasons for a short period, shall not be paid up to the minimum wage.
By Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus of 21.07.2014 No. 68 "On the establishment of a list of payments", a list of compensatory payments and payments not related to the employee's fulfillment of duties arising from legislation, local legal acts, and employment contracts, which are not taken into account in the amount of the employee's accrued wage when determining the supplement to the minimum wage (monthly and hourly), has been established.
According to Art. 89 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus, the employer is obliged to ensure normal conditions for employees to meet labor standards. According to Part 1 of Art. 86 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus, labor standards - output, time, service, staffing standards, normalized tasks - are established for employees in accordance with the achieved level of technology, production, and labor organization.
Thus, when establishing the service norms for cattle in the amount of 200 heads, with 158 heads available in the agricultural organization, it is not possible for livestock breeders to fulfill the labor norms (service norms) both within the full duration of the working time (40 hours per week) and in case of overtime work, on public holidays, festive and non-working days.
According to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of 30.10.2002 No. 1506 "On the formation of the wage fund in agricultural organizations with wage arrears", agricultural organizations with wage arrears form a wage fund from which wages are accrued in the amount of no more than 25 percent of the volume of products sold obtained for the reporting month.
At the same time, the minimum guarantees in the field of labor remuneration established in accordance with Art. 59 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus and the Law must be observed.
Thus, despite the existence of wage arrears, the volume of products sold, the amount of accrued wages for work under normal conditions during the normal working hours when performing duties arising from legislation, local regulatory legal acts and the employment contract, cannot be lower than the amount of
minimum wage (monthly and hourly).If, for work under normal conditions for a normal working time, employees who have fulfilled the duties arising from legislation, local regulatory legal acts and employment contracts have not been paid up to the minimum wage (monthly and hourly) in order to reduce the wage fund to the amount established by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of October 30, 2002 No. 1506, the employer has violated Article 59 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus, Part 3 of Article 6 of the Law.
Violation by employers of the norms of legislation regulating the application of the minimum wage entails a violation of the rights of employees in calculating work experience for pension assignment.
Thus, according to Part 1 of Article 51 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Pension Provision," periods of work, entrepreneurial, creative and other activities are included in the work experience, provided that during these periods, mandatory insurance contributions were paid to the fund's budget in accordance with the legislation on state social security. In this case, if the average monthly actual earnings (income) from which mandatory insurance contributions were paid for the calendar year (or less than the calendar
Payment of wages below the minimum wage established in accordance with legislation shall entail administrative liability of officials in connection with the failure to perform or improper performance of their official (service) duties, as well as individual entrepreneurs. In this case, in accordance with Article 7.6 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses dated January 6, 2021 No. 91-Z (hereinafter referred to as the Code of Administrative Offenses), which entered into force on March 1, 2021, an administrative penalty may be imposed no later than three years from the date of the administrative offense and six months from the date of its discovery.
In accordance with Part 3 of Article 10.12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, non-payment or incomplete payment within the established period of wages, other payments due to an employee fromin accordance with the legislation, shall entail a fine of from four to fifty basic units. According to Part 4 of Article 10.12 of the Code of Administrative Offences, the acts provided for in Part 3 of this Article, committed repeatedly within one year after the imposition of an administrative penalty for the same violations, shall entail a fine of from thirty to one hundred basic units.
Deputy Head of the Supervision Department
for compliance with labor legislation
Vitebsk Regional Department
of the State Labor Inspectorate Department G.A. Galay
Appendix
to the resolution
Ministry of Labour
and Social Protection
of the Republic of Belarus
21.07.2014 N 68
LIST
OF COMPENSATORY PAYMENTS AND PAYMENTS NOT RELATED TO THE EMPLOYEE'S FULFILLMENT OF DUTIES ARISING FROM LEGISLATION, LOCAL LEGAL ACTS AND EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT, WHICH ARE NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE AMOUNT OF THE EMPLOYEE'S ACCRUED WAGES WHEN DETERMINING
ADDITIONS TO THE MINIMUM WAGE (MONTHLY AND HOURLY)
(as amended by resolutions of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection dated 21.11.2019 No. 56,
dated 16.01.2021 No. 2)
1. Additions for combining positions of employees (professions of workers), expanding service areas (increasing workload), performing duties of a temporarily absent employee without being relieved from the work defined by the employment contract, job description (work instruction).
(as amended by resolution of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection dated 21.11.2019 No. 56)
(see text in previous version)
2. Additional payments for work during overtime, on state holidays, public holidays, declared non-working days by the President of the Republic of Belarus, and weekends.
3. Additional payments for work in special working conditions (in heavy work, in work with harmful and (or) hazardous working conditions, and in work in territories subjected to radioactive contamination as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident).
4. Additional payments for work at night or during a night shift in a shift work regime.
5. Excluded.
(Clause 5 excluded. - Resolution of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection dated 16.01.2021 No. 2)
(see the text in the previous version)
6. Additional payments to the amount of the minimum wage (monthly and hourly).
7. Compensation to reimburse employees for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, as provided for in Chapter 9 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus.
8. Compensation for employees working in the evacuation (exclusion) zone.
9. Compensation for unused annual leave.
10. Other compensatory payments related to the work regime and working conditions, provided for by legislation, local legal acts adopted in the prescribed manner, labor contracts, with the exception of basic surcharges to the minimum wage for employees of budgetary organizations and other organizations receiving subsidies, whose employees are equated in remuneration to employees of budgetary organizations.
(Clause 10 as amended by the Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection dated 16.01.2021 N 2)
(see text in previous version)
11. Excluded.
(Clause 11 excluded from January 12020. - Resolution of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection dated 21.11.2019 N 56)
(see text in previous version)
12. Payments not related to the employee's performance of duties arising from legislation, local legal acts, and the employment contract, including:
(as amended by Resolution of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection dated 21.11.2019 N 56)
(see text in previous version)
12.1. for annual leave, for health improvement (treatment, rest);
12.2. for anniversaries, holidays, ceremonial events;
12.3. upon retirement;
12.4. upon the birth of a child, for childcare, in connection with the adoption of a child;
12.5. in connection with the death of close relatives, in case of natural disasters, fires, and other family circumstances;
12.6. for food, travel, rent;
12.7. for the purchase of educational and methodological literature;
12.8. to certain categories of employees, including:
12.8.1. disabled persons, large families, employees with disabled children;
12.8.2. young specialists in accordance with the legislation.