Labor and social vacation (leave) in Belarus

1. The employee submits an application
2. Checking the possibility of granting leave
3. Execution of a leave order
4. Payment of vacation pay

Here is an instruction on the procedure for granting labor leave. On the website, in addition to reading this instruction, you can quickly fill out and download all the documents on the topic in our program.

Step 1. The employee submits an application for employment leave

We recommend using the sample application for work leave available in our program. Additionally, there is application for unpaid leave.

Step 2. Checking the possibility of granting leave to an employee

The head is obliged to put his visa in the upper left corner of the application. If the supervisor agrees to grant leave, the inscription "Provide" and the signature of the supervisor are affixed. If the manager does not agree to grant leave, the inscription "Do not provide" is affixed with the justification of the reason for the refusal to grant leave and the signature of the manager.

As a general rule, labor leave is granted in accordance with the vacation schedule.

Early granting of leave at the initiative of the employer

Labor leave may be granted ahead of schedule, that is, until the time specified in the schedule of labor vacations or in an individual agreement with the employee. The employer's right to early unilateral granting of labor leave can be realized only when work is suspended. If the employer's activity continues, the employer has no right to early provision of labor leave. The suspension should be unexpected. It can only be caused by exceptional and unforeseen circumstances: an accident, a natural disaster, lack of energy resources, raw materials, and the like.

It should be noted that early labor leave on the initiative of the employer can be granted only to all employees or their individual categories, but not individually to any employee.

Granting leave for the first working year

As a general rule, labor leave for the first working year is granted no earlier than after 6 months of work with the employer. However, the employer has the right to grant part of the labor leave, but not less than 14 calendar days in proportion to the time worked, if 6 months of work have not yet passed for the employer.

Before the expiration of 6 months of work, the employer is obliged to provide labor leave at the request of the employee:

• women before or after maternity leave;
• persons under the age of 18;
• employees hired in the order of transfer;
• part-time workers, if the work leave at the main place of work falls for a period of up to 6 months of part-time work;
• participants of the Great Patriotic War;
• women who have two or more children under the age of 14 or a disabled child under the age of 18;
• employees receiving general secondary, vocational, specialized secondary, higher, postgraduate education, special education at the level of general secondary education in the evening or correspondence form of education;
• in other cases provided for by legislation, collective agreement, agreement or employment contract.

Provision of leave for the second and subsequent working years

The employer has the right to grant the employee an employment leave regardless of how much time the employee has worked since the beginning of the working year giving the right to leave in the second and subsequent working years.

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Step 3. Execution of a leave order

In case of granting labor leave, the employer is obliged to issue an order for granting labor leave and familiarize the employee with it under signature.

If an employee refuses to use the vacation within a certain period for him without legal grounds, the employer has the right to refuse to transfer the vacation to the employee and not to pay monetary compensation for the unused vacation. At the same time, the average earnings paid before the expected departure on vacation are credited to the employee's salary.

Additionally there is also unpaid leave order.

Step 4. Payment of vacation pay

The employer is obliged to pay the average earnings during the working leave no later than two days before the start of the vacation. Employees who are in an employment relationship with the employer on the terms of a contract, the average earnings during the working leave must be paid no later than one day before the start of the vacation.

In case of non-compliance with the payment deadlines, the employee has the right to:

• go on vacation;
• continue working (not going on vacation) by notifying the employer in writing about the reasons for his action. In this case, the labor leave at the request of the employee is transferred to another time of the current working year, determined by agreement between the employee and the employer.

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