An "envelope" salary is generally understood as a form of remuneration for employees, the transactions for which are not reflected in accounting records and are not documented by employers. In other words, the employer pays the employee "remuneration" without documenting it, and also in cases where the employer hires employees by verbal agreement (without formalizing the necessary documents), and makes all payments due for work without 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.

Consequences of paying "envelope" salaries for an employee who agrees to receive unofficial wages.

The main source of pension payments and temporary disability benefits 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, and loss of a breadwinner is acquired depending on the payment of contributions to the fund's budget.

Furthermore, certain risks for an employee receiving an "envelope" salary include: the absence of vacation pay and severance pay upon termination; the risk of not receiving wages in case of any conflict with the employer; the absence of social guarantees related to redundancy, downtime, training, industrial accidents or occupational diseases, and other life situations; refusal to issue a visa for travel abroad; and the inability to obtain an installment plan or loan from a bank for housing purchase, tuition fees, medical treatment, etc.

Consequences of "Envelope" Salary Payments for Employers.

As of August 18, 2025, amendments to the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 118-3 of July 15, 2021 "On Contributions to the Budget of the State Non-Budgetary Social Protection Fund of the Population of the Republic of Belarus" (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 118-3) came into force. These amendments establish the legal framework governing relations related to the accrual of mandatory insurance contributions on income paid to employees without reflecting such payments in the organization's accounting records.

Now, in cases where information is received from authorized state bodies regarding the substitution of labor relations or the payment of income to individuals without reflecting it in accounting records, contributions will be additionally accrued in accordance with Article 5-1 of Law No. 118-3. That is, in such cases, contributions will be accrued:

- on ALL payments, regardless of their source;

- without applying the list of types of payments on which contributions are not accrued, and without applying the limit base of five average wages for the republic (hereinafter referred to as AW), as was done previously.

However, even if the employee is paid a small amount "off the books," savings will not be achieved, as a minimum threshold is set for calculating contributions – not lower than 1/30 of five times the average monthly salary for each day of actual work, even if the actual payment amount was lower.

Arithmetic of hidden payments with an example

For example, in September, for 10 days worked, the employee was paid 1000 rubles without being reflected in accounting records.

Average monthly salary in the Republic of Belarus = 2,762.70 rubles.

5 times the average monthly salary = 2762.70 * 5 = 13813.50 rubles.

Additional contributions to the Social Protection Fund will be 13813.50 / 30 * 10 * 35% = 1,611.57 rubles.

At the same time, if this same amount were paid to the employee officially, only 350.0 rubles would have been paid to the Social Protection Fund.

Often, employees are not even aware 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.

Taking into account the norms of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated 07.05.2021 No. 99-Z "On the Protection of Personal Data" and in accordance with 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 Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus dated 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. 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, you must present your state social insurance certificate and an identity document or a travel document to the Fund's office, and also complete an application form of the established sample.

In addition, from 01.02.2023, you can receive an extract from your individual personal account 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.

Beshankovichy District Department
Vitebsk Regional Department of the Fund