Belarus government discusses labor market situation

Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko noted that the operation of the economy is one of the most important matters the government keeps an eye on upon instructions of the head of state. “In order to prevent market misbalance and mass layoffs as the output of merchandise and services is falling due to the epidemic situation in the world, the president and the government have made the necessary decisions. Tools have been created and ways have been identified to support enterprises and the businesses, which have been considerably affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the head of government underlined.

In her report Labor and Social Protection Minister Irina Kostevich noted that upon instructions of the head of state they are monitoring how Belarusian companies and organizations observe employee dismissal regulations. Up-to-date data testifies that no multiple blatant violations are committed. Yet the volume of working hours has been falling since April. The number of people working shorter hours or people put on leave by their employers or people having to deal with down time increased in May 2020 in comparison with May 2019.

The minister concluded that it is a forced response on the part of employers due to the disruption of logistics and manufacturing chains amid the pandemic. By exploring various employment options, the employers strive to keep their workers employed while unfortunately reducing their earnings.

On 28 May the head of state signed decrees No.178 and No.179 in order to keep people employed and provide workers with state guarantees – minimal salaries. The decrees are designed to support real sector workers and public sector employees, who are forced to work part time or be on down time due to objective reasons.

Employers actively seek consult regarding the application of decree No.178. As of 22 June over 420 employers have already received consultations. As many as 44 organizations have applied for relief packages. Nine organizations will get the requested sum within days so that the organizations could pay additional money to their workers. Five organizations have been denied relief due to objective reasons.

The prime minister instructed heads of municipal government agencies to cooperate with their local organizations in order to explain the available opportunities for getting relief.

In turn, Irina Kostevich said that in line with Belarus president decree No.178 over 5,000 citizens have already received additional financial support via state individualized welfare payments.

The government also discussed the payment of salaries on time. It was noted that every failure to pay salaries on time draws the attention of the State Labor Inspection Department. As many as 838 organizations and 800 officials were fined in January-May.

At the end of the session the prime minister gave specific instructions to keep the labor market situation stable and prevent arrears with salaries.