Termination of Employment in Belarus

1) What types of employment termination are there?

The main types of termination of an employment contract include the following:

1. by the agreement of the parties;
2. due to the expiration of the employment contract;
3. at will, or the request of the employee, or at the initiative of the employer;
4. due to the transfer of the employee;
5. the employee's refusal to transfer or to continue work due to changes in essential working conditions or other conditions provided for by law;
6. due to circumstances beyond the control of the parties;
7. with a preliminary probation period.

2) What are the legal grounds for termination initiated by the employer?

An employment contract may be terminated by the employer in cases of:

1. liquidation of the organization and staff reduction;
2. the employee's inconsistency with the position held due to a health condition, or due to insufficient qualifications;
3. failure to attend work for more than four months due to illness (with some exceptions);
4. a single gross violation of labour duties (for example, absenteeism, showing up to work in a drunken state, etc.);
5. and other cases.

3) What are the legal procedures required for terminating an employee?

When dismissing the employee, the employer must follow the following procedures:

1. Notify the employee (in cases stipulated by the legislation);
2. Notify the trade union of the employee's dismissal (in cases stipulated by the legislation) or obtain the trade union's consent to the employee's dismissal (if such an obligation is specified by the collective agreement);
3. Issue a dismissal order and inform the employee against signature;
4. Make all payments owed to the employee by the employer on the day of dismissal, including for unused leave;
5. Hand over the labour book.

4) What are the mandatory notice periods for termination?

Generally, an employer doesn't need to notify employees of the intention to terminate employment relations. However, Belarusian legislation provides for several cases when such notification is required.

Thus, when terminating the employment contract, the employer must notify the employee in writing at least two months before the dismissal, unless a longer notice period is provided for by a collective agreement, in cases of liquidation of the organization, staff reduction, and other cases.

If a contract is concluded with an employee, the employer must notify the employee in writing of the decision to continue or terminate the employment relationship at least one month before the end of the contract.

An employment contract with domestic workers may be terminated by agreement of the parties with three days' notice.

5) What severance pay and compensation are employees entitled to?

Upon termination of an employment contract due to the employer’s violation, the employee shall be paid severance pay in an amount not less than two weeks’ average earnings.

In the case of liquidation of the organization or termination of activity of a separate subdivision, and also under other specific circumstances, severance pay is not less than three months' average earnings.

There is a specialty of the payment of severance pay upon termination of an employment contract with a manager, deputy or chief accountant, as well as with employees working part-time.

The amount of severance pay may be increased following the procedures and conditions established by the collective agreement, other agreements, or by the employer.

6) How should employers handle termination due to poor performance or misconduct?

There is no direct basis in labour legislation for dismissal due to poor performance, but the legislation provides for the termination of an employment contract in connection with a staff reduction. Upon termination for this reason, priority rights to remain in their jobs are given to employees with higher labour performance (however, there are exceptions).

Upon termination due to violations committed by the employee (for example, absenteeism, appearance at work in a state of alcohol intoxication), an important step is for the supervisor to prepare an act and a memorandum that document the fact of the violation.

7) What legal recourse is available to employees in case of unlawful termination?

If an employee believes they were illegally dismissed by the employer, they have the right to apply to the court with a relevant claim for reinstatement, recovery of average earnings for the time of forced absenteeism, compensation for moral damages and other claims.

The term of appeal is 1 month from the date of delivery of a copy of the dismissal order, or from the date of issuance of the labour book with a record of the grounds for termination of the employment contract or from the date of refusal to issue or receive these documents. However, if the term is missed for valid reasons, it may be restored by the court.

8) What is the procedure for terminating an employment contract with foreign nationals?

Dismissal of a foreign citizen is carried out following the general procedure.

However, after the dismissal of a foreign citizen, the employer has additional obligations:

• Must return the employee's special permit to the Department of Citizenship and Migration.
• Must notify the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the termination of the employment contract.
• Must ensure, at its own expense, that the worker leaves Belarus if certain grounds exist.

Author: Diana Arabina