From July 15 international enterprises may engage international employees to work in Belarus only after compliance with the several terms
REVERA lawyers want to remind that starting from July 15, 2016 the amendments to the Law on External Labour Migration (hereinafter - the Law) will come into force. One of the amendments will affect the definition “employer in the Republic of Belarus” applied to international enterprise. Only those international enterprise which carries out the recruitment of migrant workers to work in their representative office opened in the Republic of Belarus will fall into the category of the “employer in the Republic of Belarus”.
On the one hand this amendment can be deemed as the problem solution — no necessity to obtain special permission for the secondees in the Republic of Belarus.
However, the people introduced the amendment differently explain the purpose of the definition “employer in the Republic of Belarus” being updated (see Commercial and Industrial Law #5, May 2016) and legal effect of this amendment.
Thus, according to the point of view of Mr. V. Margevich, the Deputy Chief of the Administration of External Labour Migration, Refugees and Refuge of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration of Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Republic of Belarus from July 15, 2016 the international enterprises carrying out activity in the Republic of Belarus not through the representative office opened in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot engage foreign workers to work in the Republic of Belarus unless otherwise is specified by the specially adopted regulatory-legal act (e.g. Presidential Act).
Such understanding and application of the legal norm can lead to negative consequences and create additional complications for projects realization with participation of international enterprises in the Republic of Belarus which presupposes engagement of international workers of such enterprises to work in Belarus, for example to carry out activities of general contractor or installation activities and equipment commissioning.
Most probably such an interpretation which will require international enterprises and their Belarusian partners to look for alternative ways to engage workers of the international enterprise in Belarus will be used in practice
REVERA specialists may suggest the following solutions of the situation:
- to create a legal entity in Belarus and obtain necessary permissions for carrying out labour activities with regard to international workers on behalf of this legal entity;
- to employ workers of the international enterprise to the Belarusian partner’s company (with its consent) with obtaining special permissions for carrying out labour activities on behalf of this partner;
- to employ Belarus citizens or foreigners having residence permit in Belarus to international enterprise.
