Working Hours and Overtime in Belarus

In Belarus, your company must comply with working hour and overtime laws – including daily limits, overtime thresholds, and rest requirements – to stay compliant and build a strong employee experience.

As you plan workforce schedules through 2026, you should expect continued enforcement of existing working time rules, closer scrutiny of overtime practices, and potential updates to align with international labour standards. This means carefully tracking hours worked, obtaining consent for overtime where required, providing premium pay or compensatory rest, and ensuring that vulnerable groups – such as minors and pregnant employees – receive additional protections. Transparent policies, accurate timekeeping systems, and regular manager training will be essential to demonstrate compliance during inspections and to avoid disputes with employees.

• Standard Working Hours
• Overtime Thresholds
• Overtime Pay Rates
• Daily And Weekly Rest Requirements
• Night Work Restrictions
• Penalties For Non-Compliance

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Belarus?

An employee whose age is 16 or younger has a maximum of 5 hours per day and 23 hours per week. An employee whose age is 18 or older is allowed to work 40 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 30 minutes must be observed by employees who work more than 4 hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 9:00 to 18:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Belarus

Belarusian labour law generally limits normal working time to 40 hours per week for adult employees, usually spread over five working days. Daily working time is commonly set at 8 hours, although employers may use different schedules – such as compressed weeks or shift work – provided that the average weekly hours do not exceed the statutory limit over the applicable reference period. You should clearly document working schedules in employment contracts or internal regulations and ensure that any changes are communicated in advance.

For employees under 18, reduced limits apply. Employees aged 16–18 are typically limited to 36 hours per week, while those younger than 16 have even shorter permitted hours. These limits apply across all jobs the minor may hold, so you should confirm that a young worker is not exceeding the aggregate maximum if they work for more than one employer.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

• Continuous Process Manufacturing And Heavy Industry
• Healthcare And Emergency Medical Services
• Transport, Logistics, And Public Transportation
• Retail, Hospitality, And Catering With Extended Opening Hours
• Seasonal Agricultural And Harvest Work
• Security, Guarding, And Emergency Response Services

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managers and certain categories of highly autonomous employees may work under more flexible schedules, including irregular working hours. However, Belarusian law does not fully exempt these employees from working time protections. You should still monitor their total hours, ensure that rest periods and weekly days off are respected, and provide appropriate compensation or time off when their workload regularly exceeds normal limits. Any arrangement for irregular working time should be set out in writing, with clear expectations about availability, overtime compensation, and rest.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Belarus

Statutory full-time work in Belarus is based on a 40-hour workweek for adult employees. Most employers implement this as five 8-hour days, but six-day weeks with shorter daily hours are also possible if the total weekly hours remain within the legal limit. Part-time arrangements – such as reduced daily hours or fewer working days per week – are permitted by agreement and should be documented in the employment contract. When designing work schedules, you must ensure that full-time employees do not systematically exceed the 40-hour standard without triggering overtime rules and that part-time employees are not pressured into working beyond their agreed hours without proper consent and compensation.

Overtime Regulations In Belarus

What Counts As Overtime In Belarus?

Overtime in Belarus generally refers to any working time performed beyond the employee’s established daily or weekly norm, typically more than 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week for full-time adult employees. Overtime may also arise when employees are called in on their weekly rest day or on a public holiday, or when they are required to stay beyond their scheduled shift to complete urgent tasks. You should define normal working hours in each employment contract or internal policy so that any hours exceeding those limits can be clearly identified and compensated as overtime.

Overtime work is usually allowed only in exceptional or business-critical situations, such as urgent repairs, prevention of accidents, or meeting time-sensitive production needs. As an employer, you are expected to obtain the employee’s consent for overtime in most cases and to keep accurate records of all additional hours worked. Certain vulnerable categories – including pregnant employees, some parents of young children, and minors – are either prohibited from overtime or may only perform it under strict conditions.

Maximum Overtime In Belarus

Belarusian legislation sets quantitative limits on overtime to protect employee health and safety. While specific caps can vary depending on the legal basis and collective agreements, employers are generally required to ensure that overtime hours remain within a modest annual and weekly ceiling. You should avoid scheduling overtime that would cause an employee’s total working time to become excessive over any reference period and must never use overtime as a permanent substitute for adequate staffing.

In practice, this means planning workloads so that overtime is occasional rather than routine, monitoring overtime per employee, and implementing approval procedures for managers. You should also consider whether compensatory rest is appropriate after intensive periods of overtime, especially in safety-sensitive roles such as transport, healthcare, or heavy industry.

Overtime Payout Rates In Belarus

Overtime work in Belarus must be compensated at enhanced rates compared with normal working hours. Labour rules typically require a premium – for example, at least 1.5 times the employee’s regular hourly rate for the first hours of overtime and at least double pay for work performed on public holidays or weekly rest days. Collective agreements or company policies may provide even higher multipliers, but you cannot pay less than the statutory minimum.

Instead of or in addition to higher pay, employees may agree to receive compensatory time off for overtime, provided that the value of the time off is at least equivalent to the overtime premium they would otherwise receive. You should clearly document your overtime pay rules, explain them to employees, and ensure that payroll systems correctly calculate premiums based on the employee’s base salary and any regular allowances that form part of normal earnings.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Belarus

In Belarus, employees typically work around 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, and the law links rest periods and breaks directly to these standard working hours by requiring meal breaks during longer shifts, minimum daily rest between working days, and uninterrupted weekly rest so that employees can recover from their normal and overtime workload.

• Meal Break Requirements
• Daily Rest
• Weekly Rest
• Minors
• Employer Duties