Coronavirus COVID-19 and Its Impact on Labor Relations in the Republic of Kazakhstan

 Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated March 15, 2020 No. 285 "On the introduction  of  a  state  of  emergency  in  the  Republic  of  Kazakhstan"  introduced  a  state  of emergency, valid from 8:00 of March 16, 2020 to 7:00 of April 15, 2020. In connection with the introduction of a state of emergency, employees faced with issues such as switching to remote work or part-time work, downtime at the enterprise, etc. 

 In  connection  with  the  introduction  of  a  state  of  emergency  on  the  territory  of Kazakhstan, employers  are  required  to  carry  out  sanitary  and  anti-epidemic  and  sanitary-preventive measures1 . Moreover, individual employers are required to: 

 •  comply  with  the  requirements  of  regulatory  legal  acts  in  the  sphere  of  sanitary  and  epidemiological  welfare  of  the  population  and  hygienic  standards,  as  well  as  acts  and sanitary  and  epidemiological  conclusions  of  officials  exercising  state  sanitary  and epidemiological control and supervision; 

 •  suspend entrepreneurial and (or) other activities in the event they pose a threat to the  life or health of the population; 

 •  carry  out  disinfection,  disinfection  and  deratization  measures  according  to  epidemiological  indications  and  regulations,  decrees  of  officials  of  the  sanitary-epidemiological service at their own expense 

 Due to the spread of coronavirus infection COVID-19 in the Republic of Kazakhstan, employees of many enterprises were put into the downtown mode, in accordance with para 10, article 1 of the  Labor  Code  of  the  Republic  of  Kazakhstan  (hereinafter  –  the  Labor  Code),  a  temporary suspension  of  work  for  economic  reasons,  technological,  organizational,  other  industrial  or natural nature. 

 With  regard  to  the  payment  of  downtime,  the  procedure  for  registering  downtime  and  the conditions  for  paying  for  downtime  for  reasons  beyond  the  control  of  the  employer  and employee are determined by labor and collective agreements and are set at a rate not lower than the minimum wage ( from January 1, 2020, the minimum wage is 42,500 KZT).2 In the event that the collective or labor agreements fix the amount higher, the employee has the right to demand it. If the employment agreement does not provide for payment of downtime, the employee is paid the minimum wage. 

 Also, many employers can switch to remote work to reduce the risk of infection, which is a special form of the labor process outside the employer’s location using information and communication technologies in the working process.3 At the same time, wages to employees will be paid in the usual amount, in accordance with the number of hours worked by the employee.4 

 At the same time, it is worth noting that the employer provides the employee with means of communication (communications) and bears the costs of their installation and maintenance.5 In case the employee uses his own means of communication on an ongoing basis, the  employer pays  compensation,  the  amount  and  procedure  for  payment  of  which  is  established  by agreement with the employee. In practice, this transfer is regulated not by an act of the employer (order), but by notification on behalf of the Employer with an offer to the employee to switch to remote  work  and,  if  the  employee  agrees,  an  additional  agreement  is  signed  to  the  existing employment agreement. By agreement of the parties, the remote employee may be reimbursed for other expenses related to the performance of work for the employer (the cost of electricity, water and other expenses), fixed by the employment agreement with the employee. 

 Alternatively,  by  agreement  between  the  employee  and  the  employer,  the  employee  may  be assigned to a part-time, for example: 

 1)  part-time;  in  other  words,  a  decrease  in  the  norm  of the duration  of daily  work  (work shift); 

 2)  part-time  work  week;  in  other  words,  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  working  days  in  a working week; 

 3)  a  simultaneous  decrease  in  the  standard  duration  of  daily  work  (work  shift)  and  a reduction in the number of working days in a work week 6. 

 It  is  worth  mentioning  that  this  part-time  working  hours  do  not  entail  any  restrictions  for employees regarding annual paid leave, calculation of seniority, etc. 

 As  for  workers  who  visited  the  country  with  coronavirus  and  who  were  quarantined,  their absence from work due to reasons beyond the control of the employee also fits the concept of “downtime”. Workers in this category should draw up a temporary disability certificate without visiting a hospital. In this case, the employer must not remove the employee from work on the basis of acts of the relevant authorities 7. 

 During  a  state  of  emergency,  the  employer  often  considers  such  an  opportunity  to  save  the organization’s  budget  as  vacation  without  pay.  It  should  be  remembered  that  this  type  of vacation  is  granted  only  by  agreement  of  the  parties,  the  duration  of  the  vacation  is  also regulated by agreement of the parties between the employee and the employer, and based on the statement of the employee, and not the internal act of the employer8. 

 Thus, in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus among the population, the Employer, for his part, is obliged to create conditions for the employee at his workplace: 

- provide him with personal protective equipment;  
- comply with the sanitary-disinfection regime in the organization;  
- ensure regular processing with the use of detergents and disinfectants of workplaces and premises, including alcohol-based antiseptic substances 

 Unicase Law Firm thanks you for your attention and hopes that this information will be  useful  to  you.  The  information  contained  in  this  publication  is  provided  in  an 

 abbreviated form and is intended only for general familiarization of customers. Please note that this information cannot be considered as a legal analysis and serve as the basis for professional judgment. Unicase Law Firm is not liable  for  damage  caused  to  any  person  as  a  result  of  an  action  or  refusal  of  action  based  on  the  information contained in this publication. 
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1 para. 4 of Article 90 of the Code on People’s Health and the Health Care System 

2 Art.112 of the Labor Code  

3 Para.1 Article 138 of Labor Code 

4 Article 103 of Labor Code 

5 Para 2 Article 138 of Labor Code 

6 Article 70 of Labor Code 

7 Article 48 of Labor Code 

8 Article 97 of Labor Code