On July 1, 2023 the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 233-З of December 30, 2022 "On Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On External Labor Migration" (hereinafter referred the Law) came into force. The following modifications came into force:
- definitions of terms used in the Law and being common for all its normative legal prescriptions were corrected, addition of definitions of new terms;
- the list of subjects not covered by the Law was expanded;
- the powers of State institutions involved in State regulation and management in the area of external labor migration have been corrected;
- the procedure for the employment of minors outside Belarus has been defined;
- the procedure for authorization to hire foreign labor has been abolished.
Article 2(2) of the Law expands the list of labor relations that are not covered by Chapter 4 of the Law with foreigners:
- invited to the Republic of Belarus for a period not exceeding 90 ninety days to give lectures, conduct other educational classes, elective classes and consultations in institutions of higher education or to carry out installation (supervision) of equipment, service and (or) warranty service, provision of training services for the operation of this equipment;
- being heads of representative offices of foreign organizations, as well as employees seconded to work in such representative offices for a period not exceeding two months;
- as professional athletes competing for the Republic of Belarus in international sports competitions, professional coaches providing sports training for professional athletes (teams of athletes) and managing their training and (or) competition work;
- members of student units;
- receiving vocational, specialized secondary and higher education in educational establishments of the Republic of Belarus and employed under labor contracts with working hours not exceeding half of the normal working hours established by labor legislation;
- receiving vocational, specialized secondary and higher education in educational establishments of the Republic of Belarus and being employed in their specialty and (or) qualifications;
- being winners (laureates) of national (international) competitions or honored with awards in the field of their professional activity, in case of their employment in a specialty within the field of their professional activity, in which they were winners (laureates) of national (international) competitions or honored with awards;
- engaged in professions of workers (positions of employees) included in the list specified in the fourth paragraph of Article 9 of this Law (this list for 2023 is approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus of June 1, 2023, No. 17 "On Determination of the List", it includes the following professions of workers: car driver, mechanic-repairman, tractor-machinist of agricultural production, seamstress, electrician for repair and maintenance of electrical; positions of employees: a veterinarian, a specialist doctor (all of the following positions), engineer, nurse and medical brother (all medical specialties), paramedic (all medical specialties));
- seasonal workers employed under employment contracts in agriculture for a period not exceeding six months in a calendar year (the list of seasonal jobs is approved by Resolution No. 56 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of April 14, 2000 "On Approval of the List of Seasonal Jobs");
- being artists, cultural workers, technical specialists invited by state cultural organizations of the Republic of Belarus to implement cultural projects.
When employing foreigners who receive vocational, technical, specialized secondary and higher education in educational establishments of the Republic of Belarus and are employed under employment contracts, and foreigners who receive vocational, specialized secondary and higher education in educational establishments of the Republic of Belarus and are employed according to their specialty and (or) qualifications, taking into account the norms of paragraph 3, part 1, article 26 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter referred to as the Labor Code), at the time of signing an employment contract, the employer must require, and the citizen must present to the employer, a document of education or a document of study, confirming the existence of the right to perform this work.
Therefore, if a foreigner studying in educational establishments during the period of education expresses the intention to get a job in Belarus, the employer who employs him/her does not need to obtain a special permit. When applying for a job, such a foreign citizen presents:
- a document confirming the receipt of education in the Republic of Belarus;
- a passport or other document replacing it, intended for travel abroad and issued by the relevant authority of the state of citizenship or usual place of residence of the foreigner or by an international organization.
- At the same time, foreigners receiving vocational, technical, specialized secondary and higher education in Belarusian educational institutions will be able to work in any field, not only in the specialty they receive, but only 20 hours per week.
Immigrant workers shall have only a fixed-term employment contract, except for a contract. At the same time, the term of this contract should not exceed the term of validity of the temporary residence permit issued to the foreigner.
The Law of the Republic of Belarus of December 30, 2022 "On Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On External Labor Migration" stipulates that if after July 1, 2023 a foreign citizen who got education in the Republic of Belarus applies for a job according to the specialty and qualification obtained, even regardless of the date of graduation, the employer does not need to issue a special permit.
These young specialists acquire the right to employment on an equal along with citizens of Belarus.
Employers of the Republic of Belarus engaging foreigners specified in part 2 of article 2 of the Law to carry out labor activities in the Republic of Belarus shall notify in writing the citizenship and migration units of the main department of internal affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee, departments of internal affairs of regional executive committees at their location (place of residence), unless otherwise provided for by legislative acts:
conclusion (extension of the validity) of an employment contract with a foreigner - within three working days from the date of its conclusion (extension of the term of validity);
- termination of an employment contract with a foreigner - within three working days from the date of its termination.
- The law abolishes the procedure for registering an employment contract concluded between a Belarusian employer and an immigrant worker.
The employers of the Republic of Belarus, attracting foreign labor under special permits, are obliged to notify the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the conclusion and termination of an employment contract with an immigrant worker within a period not exceeding three working days from the date of conclusion or termination of the employment contract (the form of notification is approved by the Decree of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus of May 16, 2023 № 98 "On the procedure and form of notification"). No. 98 "On the Procedure and Form of Notification"). The list of cases when a special permit may be revoked has been expanded. Among the newly introduced cases are the following:
- detection of the fact of non-implementation of labor activity by an immigrant worker within six months, including at the declared place of work;
- non-agreement of an employment contract within six months after receiving a special permit;
- failure by the employer to pay mandatory insurance contributions to the budget of the State extra-budgetary fund for the social protection of the population of the Republic of Belarus during the period of employment of an immigrant worker in cases where payment of such contributions is mandatory;
- receipt by an immigrant worker of a residence permit for the Republic of Belarus;
- loss or theft of the blank form of the special permit;
- expiration of the validity period of the special permit;
- inclusion of the profession of a worker (position of an employee) for which an immigrant worker whose employment contract has not been terminated in the list specified in the fourth paragraph of article 9 of the Act. of article 9 of the Act.
The list of documents to be submitted by the employer of the Republic of Belarus to the Department of Citizenship and Migration for the implementation of administrative procedures for the issuance and extension of the special permit is determined by the Resolution of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus No. 102 of May 19, 2023 "On Approval of the Regulations of Administrative Procedures".
