Every employee has the right to timely and full payment for work performed, depending on its complexity, quantity, quality, working conditions, and employee qualifications, taking into account the actual time worked, as well as for periods included in working time.

"Envelope" wages are generally understood as forms of employee remuneration, the transactions for which are not reflected in accounting records and are not officially documented by employers. That is, the employer pays the employee "remuneration" without its official documentation, as well as in cases where the employer hires employees based on an oral agreement (without formalizing the necessary documents), and makes all payments due for work without official documentation (hand-to-hand). In such cases, the employer does not accrue or pay mandatory insurance contributions to the budget of the state non-budgetary social protection fund of the Republic of Belarus and personal income tax.

The main reason for creating such schemes is the employer's unwillingness to pay contributions to the fund budget and taxes, as well as to comply with labor law regulations.

Consequences of "envelope" wage payments for an employee who agrees to receive unofficial wages.

The main source of pension and temporary disability benefit payments in the Republic of Belarus are contributions paid by employers for each employee to the fund's budget. Contributions paid to the fund's budget are personalized and reflected in the individual personal accounts of insured citizens.

The right to state social security payments for cases of temporary disability, pregnancy and childbirth, disability pensions, reaching retirement age, loss of a breadwinner is acquired depending on the payment of contributions to the fund's budget.

Also, certain risks for an employee when receiving "envelope" wages include: absence of vacation pay, calculation upon dismissal; in case of any conflict with the employer, not receiving wages; absence of social guarantees related to redundancy, downtime, training, industrial accident or occupational disease, and other life situations; refusal to issue a visa for traveling abroad; inability to obtain installment payments or loans from a bank for housing purchase, tuition fees, medical treatment, etc.

Often, employees do not even suspect that they are receiving unofficial wages. Despite the active work carried out by state bodies to prevent "envelope" wage payments, each citizen must take care of their own insurance record.

In accordance with the norms of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of 07.05.2021 No. 99-Z "On the Protection of Personal Data" and the current "Procedure for Providing Information to the Insured Person and the Insurer", approved by the Resolution of the Board of the Social Protection Fund of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus of 29.12.2009 No. 18 (as amended), the insured person has the right to personally apply to any territorial body of the Fund for information contained in the individual personal account (hereinafter referred to as IPA). The addresses of the territorial bodies of the Fund can be found on the website of the Social Protection Fund (http://www.ssf.goy.by/).

When applying in person for information, it is necessary to present the state social insurance certificate and an identity document or a travel document to the Fund's body, as well as to fill out an application form of the established sample.

In addition, from 01.02.2023, an extract from the IPA can be received to your e-mail by registering in the Fund's mobile application. The application is designed to help citizens obtain information about their personal data: employment history, insurance record, salary amounts, and insurance contributions paid by employers. This is an excellent opportunity to quickly obtain reliable information from your individual personal account, analyze it, and draw conclusions about the legality of your employer's actions.

Beshenkovichi District Department
Vitebsk Regional Department of the Fund