How to hire and pay employees in Kazakhstan

Employment income in Kazakhstan is taxed at a flat rate of 10%.

Local Taxes

Employer and employee contributions in Kazakhstan are calculated based on the employee's remuneration, subject to the following maximums:

Effective January 1, 2025, MMW or Monthly Minimum Wage is set at KZT 85,000.

Employer Contributions

OPPC contributions apply for employees engaged in jobs that is deemed to have harmful work conditions by the authorized state authority.

In addition to the above, employers are also obligated to contribute for Social Insurance at a rate of 3.5% of the employee's wage. This contribution Insurance is deductible from Social Tax.

Employee Contributions

Payment of Wages

An employee's salary must be paid at least once a month, no later than by the first 10 days of the month.

Minimum Wage

An employment contract can be terminated by mutual agreement or at the unilateral decision of either party, provided that the proper procedures are followed.

Employers who dismiss their employees must generally document the act, indicating the grounds for the termination in accordance with the Labor Code. Employees may be dismissed in accordance with the reasons and procedures stipulated in Articles 52–53 of the Labor Code.

Moreover, when dismissing an employee as a disciplinary action, it shall be carried out in compliance with the procedure for applying disciplinary sanction provided in Articles 65–66 of the Labor Code

Notice Period

When terminating an employment contract, the terminating party is generally obligated to observe a notice period of at least a month, though a shorter or longer notice period may apply depending on the reason for the termination or whether there are any agreements between the contracting parties to that effect.

Severance Pay

Employees may be entitled to receive the following compensation as a result of their loss of work:

Probationary Period

When concluding a employment contract, a probationary period of up to 3 months may be established in the employment contract. For the heads of organizations and their deputies, chief accountants and their deputies, heads of branches, representative offices of organizations, the probationary period may be increased to 6 months.

In the event of a negative result, the employer shall have the right to terminate the employment contract with the employee by giving them a notice indicating the reasons for the termination. If the probationary period has expired and the employer has not notified the employee of their termination, the employee shall be considered to have passed the probationary period.

Work Time Rules

Standard Working Hours

Standard working hours are subject to a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

Break Period

Employees shall be entitled to a break period of at least 30 minutes for rest and eating, which are not included in the employee's working hours.

Furthermore, nursing employees with children under the 1.5 years old shall be entitled to additional breaks to feed their child at least every 3 hours of work for the following duration:

Unlike regular breaks, nursing breaks shall be included as part of the employee's working hours.

Overtime

Overtime work is allowed only with the written consent of the employee, except when otherwise allowed by Law. Employees performing overtime work shall be paid at 150% of their normal hourly rate.

Overtime work shall not exceed 2 hours per day or, for heavy work or those with harmful and/or dangerous working conditions, an hour per day. The following limits to overtime work must also be observed when establishing a cumulative accounting of working time:

Weekly Rest Days

A 5-day work week is generally set for employees, though where this is inappropriate due to nature of production and working conditions, a 6-day work week may be established instead.

Generally, an employee's day off include a Sunday, with the other days, if any, being set by a collective agreement or labor regulations.

Employees can only be required to work on their weekly days off with their written consent, except when otherwise allowed by Law. Those who work on their weekly rest day shall be entitled to either a compensatory rest day or be paid at 150% of their normal hourly rate.

Note: Employees shall be entitled to a daily rest period of at least 12 consecutive hours between work days.

Holiday and Leave Entitlements

Public Holidays

The conditions under which an employee is allowed to work on public holidays are the same as those for their weekly rest days. There are 15 days of public holidays in Kazakhstan for 2025.

Note: Public holidays that fall on a weekend shall be extended by a day, except for Orthodox Christmas Day and Kurban Ait.

Annual Leave

Employees are entitled to 24 calendar days of paid annual leave, with 6 additional calendar days of paid annual leave being granted to those engaged in heavy work, work with harmful and/or dangerous working conditions and those with certain disabilities.

Payment for annual leave shall be made not later than 3 working days prior to the commencement of the leave and, in the event of granting the leave outside the vacation schedule, not later than 3 working days from the date of its grant.

Paid annual leave can be divided into parts, provided that one of the parts of paid annual labor leave is at least 14 calendar days. The postponement of annual leave to the subsequent year is allowed in case of the employee's temporary disability or at the time of their maternity leave.

Note: It is forbidden not to grant an unused paid annual leave or a part thereof for 2 consecutive years.

Sick Leave

Employers are obligated to pay social allowance to their employees for temporary disability from the first day of disability until their work capacity is restored or until their disability is established.

Employers may dismiss an employee who has been absent for more than 2 consecutive months due to temporary disability, except for those on maternity leave. A longer period of disability may be established for certain diseases by the relevant health authority.

Maternity Leave

Employees shall be entitled to 70 calendar days of pre-natal leave and 56 calendar days of post-natal leave.

In the event that the employee has a "complicated" delivery or gives birth to multiple children, they shall be entitled to 70 calendar days of pre-natal leave and 70 calendar days of post-natal leave.

Different maternity leave duration may be granted for different situations, such as premature birth or stillbirth. For more information, refer to Article 99 of the Labor Code.

Paternity Leave

Employees shall be entitled to 5 calendar days of unpaid leave in the event of the birth of their child.

Parental Leave

Employees shall be entitled to unpaid leave to care for a child until they reach the 3 years of age.

This leave shall be granted on the basis of the employee's written application with indication of its duration and the provision of a birth certificate or other document confirming the birth of the child.

Other Leave

Also see: Adoption Leave | Pregnancy Examination Leave | Study Leave

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