Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree on additional measures to protect workers from non‑payments under work contracts

The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, signed decree No. 45 "On Ensuring the Payment of Wages and Rewards" on February 12. This was reported by BELTA in the press service of the head of state.

According to the document, the Department of State Labor Inspection is granted the right to issue mandatory requirements for eliminating violations of legislation upon discovering facts of non-payment (partial payment) within the established timeframe not only of wages but also of rewards under civil law contracts.

In case of non-compliance by economic entities with these requirements, the recovery of such payments is carried out in an extrajudicial manner. The Department of Labor Inspection submits a proposal to the enforcement authorities to initiate enforcement proceedings in the interest of the citizen.

Moreover, to enhance the social protection of workers, the decree increases the amount of extraordinary payments withheld from employers to settle wage arrears, from 1.5 to 3 budgets of the subsistence minimum.

As reported by BELTA, the relevant draft decree was recently discussed at a meeting of the President with the leadership of the Council of Ministers. At that time, it was proposed to extend the same pre-trial debt recovery system that currently exists for unpaid wages to rewards under civil law contracts. This approach was supported by the head of state following the meeting.

The Minister of Labor and Social Protection, Andrei Labovich, explained to journalists that such a form of relationship between employers and workers, as contracts for work, is gaining popularity. Last year, about 650,000 people worked under civil law contracts. Of these, more than 220,000 worked only under such contracts.

However, this has also led to an increase in citizens' appeals to the Department of Labor Inspection regarding the non-payment of rewards. "Accordingly, there is a need to regulate issues of non-payment of rewards under civil law contracts in a manner analogous to the non-payment of wages," the minister noted.

Source belta.by