Labour Law

Labor law arose due to the demands of workers for better conditions and to restrict the powers of workers.
Labor law defines your rights and obligations as workers, union members and employers in the workplace.
Labor- means human activity directed for creating any material and other values needed for people’s life.

Individual contract of employment
Means bilateral agreement between the employer and the worker in writing under which the worker undertakes to do work in a certain speciality with due observance of the employer’s instruments, while the employer undertakes to pay the worker in due time and full scope his wages.
Employer’s instruments- means documents issued by the employer.

Labour law
Labour law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which addresses the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations.

Generally, labour law covers:
Industrial relations - labour-management relations, collective bargaining and unfair labour practices.
Workplace health and safety
Employment standards, including general holidays, annual vacations, working hours, unjust dismissals, minimum wage, layoff procedures and severance pay.

The labour laws and regulations of the Republic of Kazakhstan are based on the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the principal law, which regulates the work, conditions and rights of the citizens and residents.

Law On Labor was issued on December 10, 1999 and came into force on January 1, 2000. There are 12 sections and 109 articles.
It regulates labor relations, contracts, leave, compensation, working hours and other issues.

Sphere of action of Labour Law
This Law shall cover labour relations in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The action of this Law shall extend to the foreigners who are engaged in labour activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan unless provided otherwise by the Constitution, laws and international treaties ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Prohibition of discrimination in the sphere of labour
Persons who consider that they have been discriminated in the sphere of labour may petition to the court.
Everyone shall have equal opportunities to exercise his labour rights. No one can be restricted in his labour rights or get any benefits in their realization on the grounds of gender, age, race, nationality, language, material and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, convictions, citizenship, membership of any social associations and because of any other circumstances not related to the business properties of the worker and results of his labour.

According to the Labour Law, the hours of work should not normally exceed 40 hours per week.

The minimum wage in Kazakhstan is 17,439 Kazakhstani tenge ($116) per month

The minimum age for conclusion of a contract of employment established by Article 11 of the Labour Law is 16 years.
Persons who have reached the age of 15 with consent of their parents can also conclude a contract of employment.
A contract of employment may also be concluded with a student (who must be 14 years of age and have the consent of a parent)to perform some light work.

International labour law
International labour law (also called "labour standards") is the body of rules spanning public and private international law which concern the rights and duties of employees, employers, trade unions and governments in regulating the workplace. The International Labour Organization and the World Trade Organization have been the main international bodies involved in
Reform labour markets.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have indirectly driven changes in labour policy by demanding structural adjustmentconditions for receiving loans or grants. Conflict of laws issues arise, determined by national courts, when people work in more than one country, and supra-national bodies, particularly in the law of the European Union, has a growing body of rules regarding labour rights.

History of labour law
Since the industrial revolution the labour movement has been concerned how economic globalisation would weaken the bargaining power of workers, as their employers could move to hire workers abroad without the protection of the labour standards at home. In the Fourth Annual International Congress in 1869, the following was resolved:“the extension of the principle of free trade, which induces between nations such a competition that the interest of the workman is liable to be lost sight of and sacrificed in the fierce international race between capitalists, demands that such [unions] should be still further extended and made international.