Employment
A 2015 Labour Code that widened contractual freedom
The 2015 Labour Code replaced the 2007 statute, expanding the grounds for termination and the scope for individual agreement while retaining a 40-hour week and statutory leave.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Conciliation commissions handle disputes at larger employers before court; labour inspectorate enforces standards.
- Deadline — Individual labour dispute claim within one year, or three months for reinstatement
- Deadline — One month's notice of dismissal on most grounds
Governing law
- Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan2015
- Law on Trade Unions2014
- Law on Compulsory Social Insurance
In practice
Minimum paid annual leave is 24 calendar days. The 2015 code added employer-initiated termination grounds and allowed more matters to be settled by individual contract, which drew ILO criticism alongside restrictions on union registration in the 2014 trade union law; those restrictions were eased by later amendments after ILO supervisory findings. Written contracts are mandatory, fixed terms are limited to one year with renewal consequences, and severance applies on redundancy and liquidation.