Vacation, Public Holidays, and PTO in Belarus: A Complete Guide for Foreign Employers

Time off is one of the first places a foreign employer trips up in Belarus. The rules themselves aren’t complicated, but they don’t line up with Western defaults, and the gaps are easy to miss until a payslip or a leave request doesn’t add up. Leave is counted in calendar days, it builds against a personal working year rather than the calendar year, and public holidays behave in a way that catches most people out the first time.

This guide walks through every kind of paid time off in Belarus, what each one costs, and where the traps are, so you can budget properly and stay on the right side of the law when you hire in Belarus.

The rule that changes everything: calendar days, not working days

Start here because practically every misconception stems from it. Belarusian leave is measured in calendar days, and the statutory minimum for basic annual leave is 24 calendar days. That is not equal to 24 working days. When the weekends are removed from a leave period, 24 calendar days equates to approximately 17 to 18 working days off, which is significantly fewer than a Western “24 days’ holiday”.

The second surprise is when the clock starts. Leave doesn’t accrue against the calendar year. It builds against the employee’s working year – the twelve months running from their hire date – so two people who started in different months are on different cycles. Keep both of these in mind and the rest of the system makes sense.

Annual leave: how it actually works

The 24-day minimum is the floor – comfortably above the international minimum-leave standards set by ILO convention – and a handful of rules sit around it that you need for planning and payroll.

• When it can be taken. Entitlement starts building from day one, but an employee normally takes their first leave after six months of continuous work, unless you agree otherwise.
• Splitting it up. Leave can be divided by agreement, but at least one part has to be 14 calendar days or more, so an employee can’t slice the whole year into odd days.
• Carrying it over. Leave is meant to be used within the year. Rolling unused days into the next one happens only in limited cases and by agreement, not automatically.
• Paying for it. Vacation pay is based on average earnings and has to reach the employee before the leave begins – commonly at least two days ahead, not on the next payroll run.
• Additional leave. Some categories earn extra days on top of the 24 – long service, irregular hours, or hazardous conditions – so the real entitlement for a given role can be higher.

Unused days don’t simply vanish, either: when someone leaves, you pay out whatever leave they’ve accrued and not taken. It’s one of the hidden costs of hiring in Belarus that rarely makes it into an initial budget.

The public-holiday quirk worth knowing before you plan a project

Belarus has nine official public holidays that every employer has to observe, published on the President’s official calendar each year. Most guides ignore this section: if a public holiday falls during an employee’s vacation period, that day does not count as a vacation day and is not paid as such. The leave is simply extended by the number of holidays that overlapped; the employee receives the additional days off, but you do not pay for the extension.

Two more things follow from that. Anyone who works a public holiday is owed a premium rate or a replacement day off. And the Council of Ministers issues a decree each year that shuffles working days around holidays to build long weekends. In 2026, for instance, the working day of 20 April was moved to Saturday 25 April around Radunitsa. Because Radunitsa follows the Orthodox calendar, its date moves every year, so the calendar is worth re-checking annually rather than copying last year’s.

The nine holidays for 2026:

1-2 January	New Year
7 January	Orthodox Christmas
8 March	International Women’s Day
21 April (movable)	Radunitsa (Day of Remembrance)
1 May	Labour Day
9 May	Victory Day
3 July	Independence Day
7 November	October Revolution Day
25 December	Catholic Christmas

Sick leave

Paid sick leave runs through the state social-insurance system and needs a medical certificate. Pay is based on average earnings, usually around 80% for the first stretch of days and 100% after that, up to a statutory cap, and it can run for a long stretch – up to roughly 120 days. The exact percentages and caps are set by regulation and change, so confirm the current figures against the Labour Code and related acts before you model them.

The crucial element for a foreign employer is that when a legal certificate exists, unpaid sick leave is not an option. The benefit is owed, thus it should be factored into your budget rather than considered as an outlier.

Maternity, parental, and paternity leave

Family leave in Belarus is generous by Western standards, and a small company must adequately plan for it rather than be surprised by it.

• Maternity leave runs 126 calendar days, rising to 140 for complicated or multiple births, and is paid through the state system.
• Childcare leave lets a parent or other caregiver stay off until the child turns three, with the job held open. It’s largely state-funded, but you have to keep the role available.
• Paternity leave gives the father up to 14 calendar days, usually unpaid, taken around the birth.

The one to plan around is childcare leave. A protected three-year absence is a real consideration for a lean foreign team, and it’s far easier to handle when someone else is carrying the legal-employer side of it.

Other statutory leave

A couple of smaller categories round out the picture. Employees studying at recognized institutions are eligible for paid or unpaid study leave for exams and coursework, as well as short unpaid leave for personal events such as marriage, birth, or bereavement. Neither is large, but both are entitlements rather than favours, so it helps to know they exist.

Working hours: the baseline PTO sits on

To put this in context, the average working week is 40 hours, divided into eight-hour days. Overtime is limited to four hours over two days and 180 hours per year, and it is paid at a premium, with pre-holiday days decreased by an hour. These norms come straight from the Belarusian Labour Code, and they’re the frame all the paid time off above is layered on top of.

What all this costs an employer

Time off isn’t free, and it isn’t the only thing sitting on top of salary. Employers also carry mandatory social contributions of roughly 34%, and paid leave, holidays, and sick pay are all real line items. If you’re weighing the true cost of a hire, it’s worth reading it alongside local IT salary benchmarks so the headline figure and the loaded cost don’t get confused.

Here’s the whole leave picture in one view:

Basic annual (labour) leave	24 calendar days minimum	Yes (average earnings)
Public holidays	9 days	Yes
Sick leave	Up to ~120 days	Yes (~80% then 100%)
Maternity	126 days (140 complicated/multiple)	Yes
Childcare	Until child turns 3	State-funded, job protected
Paternity	Up to 14 days	Usually unpaid

Getting it right without a local entity

Administering all of this correctly – the calendar-day maths, vacation pay landing before the leave starts, holidays stretching a vacation, sick-leave paperwork, a job held open for three years – is exactly the kind of local detail that trips up a company running payroll from abroad. An Employer of Record acts as the legal employer and handles every part of it, so leave is calculated and paid the way the law expects and the risk stays off your books.

If you already have a presence here and only need the numbers run correctly each month, managed payroll covers the calculations, the timing, and the filings.

Not sure which setup fits your team? Tell us who you’re hiring and where, and we’ll map the cleanest way to employ and pay them, time off included – get in touch.

FAQ

How many vacation days do employees get in Belarus?

At least 24 calendar days of basic annual leave, which is roughly 17 to 18 working days once weekends are excluded. Some roles earn additional days on top for long service, irregular hours, or hazardous conditions.

Are public holidays counted as vacation days?

No. If a public holiday falls during an employee’s vacation, it doesn’t count as a vacation day. The leave is extended by that many days, and the employer doesn’t pay for the extension.

Do employees get paid for unused vacation?

When employment ends, yes – any accrued but unused leave is paid out in the final settlement. During employment the expectation is that leave is actually taken within the year.

When does vacation pay have to be paid?

Before the leave begins, commonly at least two days in advance, and it’s calculated on average earnings rather than base salary alone. It doesn’t wait for the next regular payroll run.

How long is maternity leave in Belarus?

Maternity leave is 126 calendar days, or 140 for complicated or multiple births, paid through the state system. After it, a parent can take childcare leave until the child turns three, with the job protected.

How much is sick leave paid in Belarus?

Sick leave is paid on average earnings, typically around 80% for the first days and 100% after that, up to a cap, and it requires a medical certificate. When a certificate exists, the benefit must be paid. Confirm the current percentages, as they’re set by regulation.

Can a foreign company manage all this without a Belarusian entity?

Yes. An Employer of Record employs and pays the person locally on your behalf and handles leave, holidays, and sick pay correctly, so you don’t need to open a company in Belarus to hire compliantly.