March 26, Minsk / Corr. BELTA/. In Belarus, changes have been made to the regulations on the procedure and amount of reimbursement of expenses, guarantees and compensation for business trips. This is provided for by Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 214 of March 22, 2024. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection told BELTA about the essence of the innovations.
Thus, the daily allowance for business trips within Belarus is increasing from Br9 to Br12 per day.
Travel expenses
It is clarified that travel expenses to the place of business trip and back are subject to reimbursement only when traveling by regular transport. In this case, travel is subject to reimbursement at the actual cost indicated in the travel document without taking into account the mandatory requirements for its content established by law.
The provision is supplemented by a rule according to which, if an employee returns to his place of residence every day and there are no travel documents (tickets), reimbursement of travel expenses to the place of business trip and back will be 0.1 of the base amount in each direction for each day of the business trip.
The document is supplemented by the procedure for reimbursement of travel expenses from the place of residence on a business trip to the place of business trip and back in the case where the place of residence on a business trip differs from the place of business trip - based on supporting documents. This procedure is provided for in paragraph 14 of the regulation, since in practice the employer can determine a different place of residence for an employee on a business trip relative to the locality (settlements) where he is sent.
Renting housing
It is specified that if the posted worker does not provide supporting documents, then reimbursement of expenses for renting residential premises is made for calendar days of stay at the place of assignment (in the amount of 5% to 20% of the amount of reimbursement of these expenses established in Appendix 1 and 2 to the regulations, and in budgetary organizations - 5%).
It is also stipulated that if a posted worker does not live in a hotel, but with an individual entrepreneur or individual, or with a sanatorium, health resort or other organization providing accommodation services, then a comparison of living expenses is made with the cost of a first category room in a hotel in the locality , to which the employee is sent on a business trip, or a nearby locality if there is no hotel at the place of business trip.
The regulation includes a rule on reimbursement of expenses for renting residential premises during a temporary stop along the route in the territory of Belarus.
The Ministry of Labor explained that, based on the conditions of the business trip and other unforeseen circumstances, the posted worker may have a planned or unplanned temporary stopover both when traveling abroad and within Belarus.
The document is supplemented by a rule stipulating that if an employee has a corporate debit card and there are no supporting documents for renting residential premises when traveling on business trips across the territory of Belarus, expenses for hiring residential premises are reimbursed in an amount not exceeding 20%, but not less than 5%, and for budget-financed organizations in the amount of 5%, the amount of reimbursement of these expenses established in Appendix 1 to the regulation.
Clause 41 of Chapter 7 of the regulations (this chapter of the regulations regulates the travel expenses of drivers engaged in domestic and international transportation) establishes the procedure for making a general payment in the event of a temporary disability of the driver during a business trip.
Other travel expenses
The list of other travel expenses subject to reimbursement is expanding with the mandatory submission of supporting documents. We are talking about the fee for registering vehicles in the electronic queue system for entry into road checkpoints across the border of Belarus and commission costs for performing transactions to exchange one type of foreign currency for another, including taxes and fees for such transactions.
The Ministry of Labor noted that the decree comes into force on April 6, 2024 and applies to relationships that arose on business trips from the date the decree came into force. In this regard, for business trips starting from April 6, 2024, payment of daily allowances and reimbursement of the above travel expenses are made in the manner and in the amounts established by the resolution, including for employees sent on business trips before April 6, 2024.
