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

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Kazakhstan (Ratification: 1999)

Workers with family responsibilities. The Committee refers to its previous comments regarding section 187 of the Labour Code of 2007, which required written consent of women with children under the age of 7 years or other persons bringing up motherless children under the age of 7, in cases of night work, overtime work, and rotation work. Sections 188 and 189 granted entitlements to child-feeding breaks or part-time work only to fathers of motherless children. The Committee notes that the protective measures in the new Labour Code of 2015 regarding overtime work, business trips and rotation work have been limited to pregnant women, and that both parents and adoptive parents with a child under the age of 3 are now entitled to work part time (section 70(3)). Written consent for night work is only required from working mothers of children under the age of 7 or persons taking care of motherless children. However, special breaks continue to be granted only to working women with children under 18 months, or stepfathers raising motherless children under 18 months of age (section 82(3)). The Committee emphasizes the importance of granting entitlements for workers with family responsibilities to men and women on an equal footing and it refers in this regard to its comments on the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156).

Enforcement. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that, in 2015, the General Prosecutor and the competent state agencies detected 124 cases concerning differentiated wages for Kazakh and foreign workers (in 72 businesses). More generally, investigations by regional prosecutors resulted in 134 supervision orders and 156 administrative cases that were launched against state agencies and business owners. The Committee notes, however, that the Government does not provide specific information on cases of discrimination based on any of the grounds enumerated in the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on compliance with the relevant legislation and any violations detected by labour inspectors, as well as any court or administrative decisions relating to the principle of the Convention including any remedies granted and sanctions imposed.