Belarusian workers remain without independent protection amid discrimination and forced labour
A new report dated 14 September 2026 by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Nils Muižnieks, gives particular attention to labour relations. The document focuses primarily on women’s rights and gender equality, but a significant part of it addresses employment, pay, workplace discrimination, the situation of independent trade unions and forced labour.
Although Belarusian law formally prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex, the Special Rapporteur points to persistent structural discrimination. According to the report, women carry out 1.7 times more unpaid domestic and childcare work than men. This limits their employment opportunities, career progression and access to better-paid jobs. The gender pay gap is estimated at 24–28%. In the information and communications technology sector, women’s pay was 37.7% lower than men’s.
Women account for 53% of the employed population, but remain concentrated mainly in traditionally lower-paid sectors: they make up 84.8% of workers in healthcare and social services and 81.8% of those employed in education.
The report also highlights the absence of a comprehensive system to protect workers from discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Belarus has still not ratified ILO Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work. The Special Rapporteur recommends ratifying both this Convention and ILO Convention No. 156 on workers with family responsibilities, as well as establishing effective complaints mechanisms and protection against sexual harassment at work.
Another problem is the continuing occupational restrictions imposed on women. In 2022, the list of prohibited occupations was reduced from 181 to 88, but the UN considers that the remaining restrictions continue to limit equal access to employment. The report stresses the ILO approach that hazardous working conditions should be addressed by improving occupational safety and health for all workers, rather than by excluding women from particular occupations.
Political loyalty is becoming a factor in access to employment
The report gives particular attention to politically motivated restrictions on the right to work. The Special Rapporteur reports an expansion of ideological screening, background checks and professional bans affecting people whom the authorities associate with broadly defined “extremist” offences. These restrictions affect public-sector employees, teachers, lawyers, notaries, tour guides, publishers and members of other professions. UN experts consider such practices incompatible with the right to work and the principle of non-discrimination.
As a result, the ability to work in one’s profession in Belarus may increasingly depend not only on qualifications, but also on perceived political loyalty.
The liquidation of independent trade unions has deprived workers of protection
A separate section of the report addresses the situation of trade unions. It notes the lack of institutional independence of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus, de facto compulsory membership, particularly in the public sector, and the organisation’s limited ability to secure changes to labour legislation. According to the report, all of this restricts workers’ ability to defend their labour rights.
The situation became even more serious after all independent trade unions, including the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, were liquidated in 2022. The report states that legitimate trade union activity has increasingly been criminalised through “extremism” legislation. The REP trade union and the Rabochy Rukh initiative were designated as “extremist formations”, while dozens of online resources linked to the labour and trade union movement were classified as “extremist materials”.
According to the figures cited in the report, as of May 2026, 15 female trade union activists were in detention, including Volha Brytsikava and Hanna Karneenka. Another 15 women had been released but not rehabilitated. At least ten female trade union activists had been added to the list of individuals associated with “extremist activity”, while at least two had been placed on the list of “terrorists”.
The UN recommends restoring the conditions necessary for independent trade unions to operate freely, ending the criminalisation of trade union activity and releasing trade union activists imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of their rights.
Forced labour in penal colonies remains a separate concern
The report also includes a dedicated section on women’s labour in places of detention.
The Special Rapporteur states that refusal to work in a penal colony is treated as a disciplinary offence and may result in placement in a punishment cell and, in certain cases, further criminal prosecution.
In particular, according to the report, most women in Penal Colony No. 4 in Homiel are engaged in sewing uniforms and manufacturing equipment for the Interior Ministry, the army, the prison system and the KGB. Former prisoners have reported outdated machinery, poor ventilation, industrial dust and chemicals, inadequate protective equipment, excessive production targets and workplace injuries.
According to the report, monthly remuneration may range from less than one euro to approximately €35, with further deductions made from these sums. In addition to production work, women also perform a significant amount of unpaid physical labour.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that Belarus reform the system of prison labour and ratify the 2014 Protocol to ILO Convention No. 29 on forced labour.
Overall, the labour-related sections of the new UN report show that the problems facing Belarusian workers go far beyond pay and working conditions. They include the absence of independent worker representation, discrimination, access to professions being made dependent on political loyalty, the lack of effective protection against workplace harassment and persecution, and the use of forced labour.
Among his recommendations to the international community, the Special Rapporteur specifically calls for continued support for independent Belarusian trade unions in exile through sustainable funding, protection measures, capacity-building and participation in international human rights mechanisms.
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