Employer’s Guide on Payroll in Belarus

Belarus offers exciting business opportunities for companies looking to expand in eastern Europe. The land-locked country provides access to the larger Eurasian market, with about 70% of the population settled in urban areas of Minsk, Gomel, Mogilev, Vitebsk, Grodno, and Brest. 

At the same time, hiring talents and managing payroll becomes significant for any entrepreneur or global company interested in expanding into Belarus. Companies will benefit from a literate workforce excelling in medicine, IT, mechanical engineering, construction, agriculture, and others.

This payroll guide deals with necessary compliance work for payroll in Belarus, and statutory employee entitlements. For instance, employers must ensure 

• Salary payments in Belarusian rubles (BYN)
• Payroll frequency of one month
• Payroll taxes in Belarus for employers is 34% of the gross salary paid to employees
• Nine days of public holidays, in addition to a minimum of 24 days paid annual leave, other entitlements

Let’s further explore how to do payroll in Belarus.

How is Payroll Calculated in Belarus?

The payroll in Belarus is estimated using the following formula:

The payroll process in Belarus prescribes employers all types of regular income, allowances, and one-time payments or negotiated employment benefits for gross salary calculations. 

Whereas, gross payroll deductions in Belarus include the calculation of withheld personal income tax, statutory social security deductions, and any one-time employee deductions.

Important Elements of Salary Structure in Belarus

Payroll rules in Belarus prescribe the following elements to be included in the salary structure to guarantee fair remuneration for employees. 

Base income:

• HR payroll in Belarus includes base income already negotiated in the employment contract. 
• Employers can factor in the professional skills, quantity, and quality of labor and working conditions to arrive at a suitable base income. 
• Employers may pay salaries through bank transfer, other online modes, or cash payment. 

Allowances: 

• Employers may incentivize employees with various allowances as part of regular salary income. Employers may frame their payroll policies in Belarus to offer standard allowances like 
• Meal allowance
• Travel allowance
• Phone services allowance
• Housing allowance

Social Security deductions: 

• Statutory payroll deductions in Belarus are made towards Workplace Accident Insurance, Health Insurance, and Pension Funds. 
• Employers may calculate mandatory contributions proportional to employees’ fixed income.  
• Employers must withhold 1% of employee salary as tax for statutory social security contributions, i.e., Pension Funds.

Annual bonus: 

• Payroll in Belarus allows employers to provide yearly bonuses and increments in base income upon employee appraisal.  
• Additionally, payroll rules and regulations in Belarus allow employers to replace cash payment in whole or part with payment in kind upon prior consent of the employee. 

Other elements of payroll in Belarus

• Variable income & employee deductions:
  • HR payroll in Belarus also factors in variable income, such as overtime compensation, performance incentives, and commissions. 
• In addition to mandatory social security premiums, payroll deductions in Belarus may also include
  • Deductions for advance salary payment 
  • The amount allocated for business trips and office expenses but not spent
  • Deductions against entitlements such as paid annual leave taken in excess before the termination of employment contract
  • Compensation for damage to company property, not more than employee salary

Payroll tax: 

• Belarus payroll tax rate is fixed at 13% of employees’ income.
• The rules on Belarus employer payroll taxes prescribe employers withhold income taxes on locally paid salaries and file the same in the following month. 

Payslip: 

• Employers may generate payslips as proof of HR payroll in Belarus. 
• Payslips can be sent to employees online and may disclose the following:

1. 1. Employer details (Tax assessment ID, Registered Address)
   2. Total salary paid
   3. Taxable income component and social security contributions made
   4. Identity of the employee (Name, Tax ID, Address, Workplace ID)

How to Set Up a Payroll in Belarus

Companies must ensure the following to set up payroll in Belarus: 

• Set up a business entity in Belarus. It can be any one of the following:
• Sole proprietorship (individually owned)
• Limited Liability Company (from 1 to 50 shareholders)
• Joint Stock Company (any person can acquire the company’s shares)
• Open a local bank account in Belarus for payroll transactions in legal tender. 
• Register both employer and employee to participate in mandatory social security schemes. 
• Establish a suitable payroll structure in Belarus and set up a payroll cycle.
• Draft a written employment contract to fulfill all statutory Belarus payroll requirements and negotiate optional entitlements. 

A Step-by-step Process of Payroll Processing in Belarus

Employers can follow the mentioned steps to generate payroll compliance checklists in Belarus.

Pre-payroll stage:

Step 1: Any registered business entity may frame payroll policy in Belarus per the labor rights and mandatory employer obligations mentioned in 

• The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus
• The Labor Code
• Trade Union Rights
• The law on external labor migration

Company policies on recording employee attendance, leave entitlements & other employee benefits, employee tax computation, and pay schedule form the core part of HR payroll in Belarus. 

Step 2: Gather employee information like bank account details, identity documents, Tax ID, and more for paying social security premiums and filing payroll taxes in Belarus. 

• The Belarusian Republican Unitary Insurance Enterprise (Belgosstrakh) is the official body that manages social security schemes in Belarus. 

Step 3: Based on employer convenience, establish a working procedure to report the salary calculations to a local bank for deposits or employ new-age payroll software to disburse salaries at the click of a button. 

Payroll processing stage:

Step 1: Gather input from internal departments 

• Employers may seek applicable salary structure and entitled benefits from the HR department, attendance records, work shifts from leave and attendance systems, or employee declaration on tax-savings investments for computation of payroll cost in Belarus. 

Step 2: Process & verify the data

• Begin by feeding the input into the payroll calculation system. It could be as simple as spreadsheets loaded with payroll cost formulas or new-age payroll software solutions. It offers comprehensive features and user convenience to stay in compliance with the Belarus payroll process. 

Step 3: Salary disbursement

• Payroll rules and regulations in Belarus mandate employers to pay employees once a month. 
• However, it is common for employers to pay employees twice a month, 40% of the paycheck midway and the rest at the beginning of the following month.   

Post-payroll activities:

• Step 1: Generate payslips and send them to employees upon salary disbursement. 
• Step 2: Notify respective authorities and duly file all the payroll deductions in Belarus made for employee income taxes, social security premiums, or any other. 
• Step 3: The last step in this Belarus payroll guide requires employers to make appropriate entries into the company ledger to ensure a proper book of records and regulatory compliance. 

Payroll Contributions

Mandatory contributions from employers and computed employee contributions make up the core part of the payroll process in Belarus.  

Mandatory employer contribution

Mandatory employee contribution

Payroll tax in Belarus is levied at a flat rate of 13% on employee personal income. 

Payroll Cycle

Employers shall align their payroll process in Belarus with the tax year from January 1st to December 31st. Further, employers must make different arrangements for salary disbursements to different employee classes: 

• The salary shall not be paid less than once per month for employees working under an employment contract.
• The salary shall not be paid less than twice per month for employees working under a labor agreement.

Belarus Payroll Options for Companies

Some of the most popular options to do payroll in Belarus include 

SaaS-based payroll solutions: 

• Contemporary businesses who choose not to register a local entity prefer Employer-Of-Record (EOR) services to outsource HR payroll in Belarus.
• Remote SaaS-based payroll solutions like Multiplier assure entrepreneurs and global companies of a compliant global expansion. 

Third-party payroll administrator: 

• Other third-party solutions like Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) work best for global businesses with a registered local entity managing payroll in compliance with Belarus laws. 
• A payroll administrator follows the best practices for Belarus payroll taxes, payroll deductions in Belarus, salary computations, and filing purposes, thereby reducing the administrative burden and offering scalable solutions to the newly expanded global company. 
• Outsourcing the payroll process in Belarus to a local payroll administrator still makes the registered companies fully responsible for payroll compliance in the eastern European country.

Internal payroll team: 

• A traditional choice among enterprises is to develop an internal team of accounting and legal experts in framing payroll policies in Belarus. 
• Companies must finish the incorporation process, register the entity and hire dedicated personnel to manage payroll. 

Entitlement and Termination Term

Payroll rules in Belarus enforce certain obligations on employers to extend the following employee entitlements: 

• Minimum of 24 days of annual vacation leave for employees over six months of service with the same employer
• Employers may split the paid leave entitlement into two parts, one of which cannot be less than 14 days.
• All unused leaves are carried forward to the following year for the calculation of payroll in Belarus.
• Any annual leave payments or bonuses must be made before the start of the leave.
• 126 days of paid maternity leave in Belarus for foreigners and citizens. 
• Up to 14 days of paid paternity leave within the first five months of birth.
• Medical leave for non-work-related injuries lasting anywhere between 1-12 days.
• Employees are entitled to 80% of pay during sick leave during the first 12 days.
• Employees are paid 70% out of social security funds for sick leave extending beyond 12 days. 
• Suitable time off for family care, bereavement, and other personal reasons

Employers may adhere to the following termination terms to simplify payroll in Belarus: 

• Employers shall expect one month of notice period before any employee decides to end the contract. 
• A minimum notice period of three days is applicable even in the probationary period.
• Employers are expected to follow the same to terminate an employment contract from their end. 
• Employers must ensure a minimum of two weeks of the average salary as severance payments.

Furthermore, employers can establish a probationary period of up to three months to avoid complicating the payroll process in Belarus. 

Belarus Payroll Processing Company

Payroll processing companies offer compliant solutions for calculating payroll taxes, employee benefits, and social security deductions and could safeguard companies from receiving fines or penalties. 

Contemporary businesses, from startups to enterprises,  are adopting global PEO-EOR solutions to expand into newer global markets. You may explore and compare the services of various remote solutions for HR payroll in Belarus online before partnering with the most suitable one. 

How Can Multiplier Help With Global Payroll?

Multiplier is among the largest payroll processing companies in terms of service markets covering 150+ countries, including Belarus. Global companies searching for remote, SaaS-based HR solutions can streamline their payroll processing in Belarus with us. 

Multiplier offers quick solutions for fulfilling a wide range of Belarus payroll requirements, including

• Pre-load employee data and one-click payroll solutions for global teams 
• Subtracting applicable taxes, deductions, and employee benefits 
• Direct salary disbursements into employee bank accounts 
• Salary payments in Belarusian rubles (BYN)
• Automatically generate and send payslips
• Single invoice for all employees
• Preparing employee tax filings
• The best compliance in statutory paperwork 

Multiplier streamlines the Belarus payroll process to give you global visibility into HR payroll for scalable and effective workforce decisions.