Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

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

Article 1 of the Convention. Definitions. With respect to the definition of “dependent child”, the Committee notes that section 1(8) of the Law on Matrimony and Family 2011, defines a “child” as “a person under eighteen years of age (age of majority)” and that section 1(18) defines “legal representatives of a child” as “the parents (parent), adoptive parents, a trustee or a guardian, a foster parent and other persons, substituting them, carrying out care, education, nurturing, protection of rights and interests of a child”. Sections 60, 70(1) and (2), and 138(1) of the Law refer to the obligation to maintain their children. The Committee further notes that section 1(13) of the Law defines “close relatives” as the “parents (parent), children, adoptive parents, adopted children, brothers and sisters of the full and half blood, grandfather, grandmother, grandchildren”. The Committee recalls that the provisions of Article 1(2) of the Convention also extend to men and women workers with responsibilities for other members of their immediate family who clearly need their care and support and asks the Government to provide information on the legal provisions that apply to the Convention in this regard.

Article 3. National policy. The Committee notes that according to section 6 of the Labour Code of 2015 discrimination is prohibited on, among other grounds, sex. It also notes that Law No. 223-4 “On State Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for Men and Women”, includes provisions stating that men and women shall be ensured equal rights and opportunities for entering into an employment agreement, and gaining access to job openings, professional development, retraining and career growth. The Committee further notes that the Strategy for Gender Equality in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2006–16 includes, among its goals, to develop measures for supporting men and women who are engaged in taking care of and bringing up children, as well as mechanisms for involving men in taking care of the children. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the legal and practical measures taken or envisaged to enable persons, men and women, 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 Strategy for Gender Equality for 2006–16.

Article 4(b). Working hours and leave entitlements. The Committee notes that some provisions of the Labour Code concerning childcare provide for the exercise of relevant rights by both men and women. In this regard, the Committee notes that paid adoption leave for a newborn child of 56 days since the birth (section 99) and unpaid parental leave until the child is aged 3 (section 100) shall be granted to one of the parents or adoptive parents. The Committee further notes the possibility of using flexible models of labour organization, such as part-time work for pregnant women and one of the parents with a child under 3 years of age, or flexible working arrangements (sections 70 and 74). The Committee notes, however, that some other provisions suggest that childcare obligations are expected to be performed exclusively by the mother, and, only in her absence, by the father. For example, only working women with children under 18 months, and fathers (adopters) raising motherless children under 18 months are entitled to additional breaks for child feeding (section 82(3)). Written consent to undertake night work is only required from mothers with children under seven or other persons raising motherless children under seven (section 76(4)(1)). The Committee asks the Government 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. The Committee also asks the Government 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. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the Education Act states free compulsory preschool education up to the age of six or seven, which may take place within the family or preschool organizations. The Committee also notes that, according to the ILO report “Maternity protection and the childcare systems in Central Asia: national studies in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan”, the “Balapan” Programme for 2010–14 provided the establishment of new public nurseries and kindergartens and the granting to parents of children aged five and six of a state subsidy to attend kindergartens. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the extent of childcare and family services available for men and women workers with family responsibilities, the number of workers with family responsibilities making use of the existing childcare and family services and facilities, and the number and age of children requiring care.

Article 6. Awareness raising. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to promote information and education which engender broader public understanding of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women, and of the problems encountered by persons with family responsibilities who are employed or who want to become employed and on the impact of these activities on public opinion.

Article 7. Integration in the labour force. Recalling the importance of improving the employment possibilities and job security of workers with family responsibilities through strengthening their occupational qualifications, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on any practical and legal measures taken or envisaged to take into account the specific needs of men and women workers with family responsibilities in order to become and remain integrated in the labour force, as well as to re-enter the labour force after an absence due to family responsibilities.

Article 8. Protection against dismissal on the ground of family responsibilities. The Committee notes that section 54(2) of the Labour Code provides that no employment contract may be terminated at the employer’s discretion with respect to pregnant women presenting a pregnancy statement, women with children under 3 years of age, single mothers with children under 14 (or disabled children under 18), or other persons raising the said category of motherless children. While welcoming the provision concerning the protection against dismissal for workers with family responsibilities, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken to extend protection against dismissal for men and women workers with family responsibilities on an equal footing.

Article 11. Workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to promote social dialogue and tripartite cooperation in order to strengthen the laws, measures and policies giving effect to the Convention, and to provide information on the manner in which workers’ and employers’ organizations have exercised their right to participate in the design and implementation of such measures.

Practical application. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the supervisory authorities and enforcement mechanisms, including the labour inspectorate, in giving effect to the provisions of the Convention, as well as 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 that may enable the Committee to assess how the principles of the Convention are applied in practice, and how progress is being made to address existing inequalities between men and women workers with family responsibilities and between these workers and workers without such responsibilities.