Every employee has the right to timely and full payment of wages for work performed, depending on its complexity, quantity, quality, working conditions, and employee's qualifications, taking into account the actual time worked, as well as for periods included in working time. An "envelope" salary is the part of the salary that is not stipulated in the employment contract and from which the employer does not pay mandatory insurance contributions to the budget of the state non-budgetary social protection fund of the population of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter referred to as the fund's budget).

What's the catch with such remuneration?

Both employers and recipients of such salaries cause damage not only to the state but also to the employees themselves. Recipients of "envelope" salaries, from which mandatory insurance contributions to the fund's budget have not been paid, lose certain social guarantees: benefits for temporary disability and for pregnancy and childbirth, a reduction in the employee's insurance period, a decrease in the pension amount in the future, and other social payments calculated from the salary reflected in the organization's accounting records. In addition, such facts adversely affect a citizen's credit history.

Do not agree to an "envelope" salary; defend your rights to social protection.

By paying mandatory insurance contributions to the fund's budget from official salary amounts, an employee can expect to be socially protected not only in the future but also in the present.

The Republic of Belarus operates a solidarity system of state social insurance. Its main principle is intergenerational mutual assistance. This means that contributions made to the fund's budget from the official salaries of working citizens are used to pay pensions to the older generation.

Since 2021, the responsibility of employers for paying wages "in envelopes" has been strengthened. Article 243-3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus introduces criminal liability for evasion of mandatory insurance contributions. Criminal liability is provided exclusively for proven intentional actions related to the non-payment of mandatory insurance contributions and professional pension insurance contributions, provided that the amount of unpaid payments exceeds a large sum – 2.5 thousand basic units. In addition, if facts of paying wages in envelopes or violations of the deadlines for paying contributions to the fund's budget in the amount exceeding 20 basic units are established, administrative liability is provided under Article 12.15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

Despite the active work carried out by state bodies to prevent wage payments "in envelopes," each citizen must take care of their own insurance record.

Taking into account the norms of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of 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), an insured person has the right to personally apply to any territorial body of the Fund for information contained in their 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, you must present your state social insurance certificate and an identity document or travel document to the Fund's body, and also fill out 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: about their work activities, information about their insurance record, about salary amounts and amounts of 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.

Beshankovichsky District Department

of the Vitebsk Regional Directorate of the Fund