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Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Kazakhstan (RATIFICATION: 2013)

The Committee takes note of the supplementary information provided by the Government in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020). The Committee proceeded with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the supplementary information received from the Government this year, as well as on the basis of the information at its disposal in 2019.

Article 1(2) of the Convention. Definition. Other members of the immediate family. In its previous comment, the Committee: (i) recalled that, in addition to children, Article 1(2) of the Convention also covers men and women workers with responsibilities for other members of their immediate family who clearly need their care and support, and (ii) asked the Government to provide information on the legal provisions that give effect to the Convention in this regard. In its report, the Government details the measures in relation to men and women workers with dependent children, but not to other members of their immediate family who clearly need their care and support. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate how the Convention is applied to men and women workers with responsibilities for other members of their immediate family who clearly need their care and support.

Article 3. National policy. The Committee previously asked the Government to provide information on the legal and practical measures taken or envisaged to enable men and women workers with family responsibilities to engage in employment without being discriminated against and to do so without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities, including those taken in the framework of the 2006–16 National Strategy for Gender Equality. The Committee notes that in its reply, the Government once again emphasizes that the labour laws guarantee non-discrimination on the grounds of sex. In this respect, the Committee notes the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on the fifth periodic report of Kazakhstan, in which it expresses its concern regarding: (i) the substitution of the gender equality strategy for the period 2006–2016 with the “concept for family and gender policy for the period up to 2030”, which, by combining gender equality and family issues, reinforces traditional stereotypes about women’s roles and responsibilities in the family, and which reportedly has been met with strong opposition in society; and (ii) the lack of information about the outcome of the first action plan to implement the concept for family and gender policy (2017–2019) (CEDAW/C/KAZ/CO/5, 12 November 2019, para. 15). Furthermore, the Committee notes that, while CEDAW commends the Government for favouring the involvement of fathers in child care, including through the promotion of paternity leave, it is concerned about the discriminatory gender stereotypes that limit women’s roles to domestic work and child care, undermining the empowerment of women in the economic, social and political spheres (CEDAW/C/KAZ/CO/5, 12 November 2019, para. 23, (b)).The Committee recalls that the Convention requires the adoption of a national policy to enable persons with family responsibilities who are engaged or wish to engage in employment to exercise their right to do so without being subject to discrimination and, to the extent possible, without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities. This national policy, which is broad in scope and applies to all sectors of economic activity and to all categories of workers, should be implemented through the adoption of a combination of specific measures of a legal, administrative, policy or practical nature, adapted to the national conditions relating to rates of participation in employment and job security, working conditions, social security and the provision of community services. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information concerning: (i) the legal and practical measures taken or envisaged to enable men and women workers with family responsibilities to engage in employment without being discriminated against and to do so without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities; (ii) the evaluation of the outcome of the implementation of the first action plan for the family and gender policy (2017–2019) on the situation of men and women workers with family responsibilities in order to adapt the implementation of the second action plan. Please provide a copy of the second action plan for the family and gender policy, 2020-2022.

Article 4(b). Working hours and leave entitlements. The Committee recalls that there remain provisions of the Labour Code (sections 76(4)(1) and 82(3)) that seemingly suggest that childcare obligations are expected to be performed exclusively by the mother, and, only in her absence, by the father, which reinforces stereotypes with regard to the roles traditionally assigned to both sexes in terms of family responsibilities. In this regard, it refers to its previous comments in respect of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The Committee therefore once again requests the Government: (i) to indicate any measures taken or envisaged to ensure that entitlements aimed at reconciling work with family responsibilities are available to men and women on an equal footing; and (ii) to provide information, disaggregated by sex, on the number of men and women exercising their right to parental leave, and an indication of the number of men and women employees requesting unpaid parental leave, flexible working time arrangements, reduced working hours or home work in order to better combine work with family responsibilities.

Article 5. Childcare facilities. With reference to its previous comment on the extent of childcare services and their beneficiaries, the Committee notes the Government’s general indication that section 6 of the Education Act provides that the local executive authorities of a city or of the capital may create, reorganize and dissolve, in accordance with national laws, state education institutions offering development programmes and preschool, primary, basic secondary and general secondary education, technical and vocational and post-secondary education programmes and extracurricular programmes for children, as well as state education institutions offering specialized and personalized general education programmes. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide information – including statistical information – on the available childcare services and facilities (in the public and private sectors), including the total number of places; their geographical distribution; the number and age of children requiring care and any other types of services available to men and women workers with family responsibilities.

Article 6. Awareness raising. The Committee recalls that it requested the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to raise public awareness of the problems encountered by workers with family responsibilities in preparing for, entering, participating in or advancing in economic activity. It notes that the Government has not provided information on this subject in its reply. It therefore wishes to recall that the measures taken to implement a national policy under Article 3 of the Convention should be accompanied by a major awareness-raising campaign to promote the notion that the family is the concern of each individual, man and woman, and that society must enable all persons with dependants both to exercise their family responsibilities and to participate fully in the labour force (see General Survey on Workers with Family Responsibilities, 1993, para. 90). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to implement an information and education policy which engenders broader public understanding of the problems encountered by workers with family responsibilities and of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women workers with family responsibilities and workers without family responsibilities.

Article 7. Integration in the labour force. Concerning the communication of information on any practical and legislative measures taken or envisaged to take account of the special needs of male and female workers with family responsibilities with a view to enabling them to enter and remain in the labour force and to return to employment after an absence due to such responsibilities, the Committee refers to its comments under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111).

Article 8. Protection against dismissal on the ground of family responsibilities. The Committee recalls that section 42(1) of the Labour Act (amendment) provides that several grounds, including family responsibilities, shall not constitute fair and sufficient cause for dismissal or the application of disciplinary measures against a worker. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the effect given in practice to section 42(1) of the Labour Act (amendment), including information on any cases examined by the courts.

Article 11. Workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government describing the general machinery for collective bargaining at the national level. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which employers’ and workers’ organizations have participated in practice in the preparation and application of the measures taken to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.

Enforcement. Noting that the Government has not provided information on this subject, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information (including statistical information) on the activities of the supervisory authorities and law enforcement mechanisms, including the labour inspection service, to give effect to the provisions of the Convention, indicating any administrative or judicial decisions relating to the application of the Convention. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information, including statistical data disaggregated by sex, studies, surveys or reports to enable the Committee to assess how the principles of the Convention are applied in practice, with an indication of the progress made in addressing existing inequalities between men and women workers with family responsibilities and between these workers and workers without such responsibilities.

The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the Committee’s General Observation, adopted in 2019, recalling the relevance, importance and practical usefulness of the principles contained in the Convention and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 165), which seek to ensure that all workers with family responsibilities – women as well as men – are not disadvantaged in relation to other workers and, in particular, that women with family responsibilities are not disadvantaged in comparison to men with family responsibilities. Recalling the objective of the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work to achieve gender equality at work through a transformative agenda and stressing the importance of the Convention in achieving this objective, the Committee has called upon member States and employers’ and workers’ organizations to strengthen efforts towards achieving these specific objectives.