The technical mission of the International Labour Organization (hereinafter – the ILO) held a number of meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter – the Ministry) and employers' associations, during which issues of technical support for the implementation of ILO Conventions №87 and №190 were discussed.
During the discussion of Convention №87 "On Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize", First Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan Akmadi Sarbasov informed about the ongoing work on the implementation of the ILO recommendations, including the developed amendments to national legislation.
In addition, during the Mission's visit, a meeting was held on the development of a draft law "On employers' Associations", which was attended by representatives of the National Confederation of Employers of the Republic of Kazakhstan "PARYZ", the Kazakhstan Association of Organizations of the Oil and Gas and Energy Complex "Kazenergy", the Republican Association of Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises, following which the parties agreed on creation of a working group for further discussion of this issue.
A round table was also held, during which representatives of the ILO made presentations explaining the norms of Convention №190 "On the Elimination of Violence and Harassment at Work". During the event, representatives of the ILO voiced a number of recommendations.
Following the visit, the members of the ILO technical mission positively assessed the work carried out by the Ministry to implement the provisions of Convention №87 and ensure the right to freedom of association for employees and employers, and also promised to share international experience and provide their technical support in further work on the implementation of the conventions.
Министерство труда и социальной защиты населения Республики Казахстан уведомляет о проведении интернет-конференции на тему «О расширении списка наборов открытых данных Министерства труда и социальной защиты населения».
Срок проведения: с 27 по 28 декабря 2021 года.
Ссылка на интернет-конференцию - https://dialog.egov.kz/conference/2141
Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan Sakeev R.K. held a meeting with the Representative of UNICEF in Kazakhstan Arthur van Diesen. During the meeting, priority areas of joint cooperation were discussed.
During the meeting, Sakeev R.K. noted that relations with UNICEF are developing in line with constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation. The Ministry also attaches great importance to strengthening cooperation with UNICEF.
From 2018-2020, the project «Technical support for the development of an effective system of social work within the framework of state social services» was implemented.
Within the framework of the Project, cooperation was carried out aimed at implementing the task of introducing an integrated model for the provision of social services and social assistance for the prevention of social ill-being, which is provided for by the Concept of Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2030, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 24, 2014 No. 396.
The pilot project «Allowance Plus» has been launched, which is aimed at strengthening support and providing comprehensive social assistance to families with children from among the recipients of TSA.
In addition, since 2019, the project «Development of psychosocial support and adaptation for children and adolescents involved in the HIV epidemic and their parents in the Republic of Kazakhstan» has been implemented.
Within the framework of the Project for 2019-2021, a tool for assessing and conducting research on the needs of children and adolescents living with HIV has been developed, training programs have been adapted for social work specialists providing social support to families, etc.
Also, Sakeev R.K. thanked for the expert assistance provided to the Ministry in the development of the draft Social Code.
Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Kazakhstan Serik Shapkenov held a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Kazakhstan Jun Yamada. During the courtesy visit, the parties discussed further cooperation on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Japan and the priorities of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter - the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan) on the basis of the Message of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the People of Kazakhstan dated September 1, 2021.
During the talks, Serik Shapkenov stressed that relations between the states as a whole are built exclusively in a friendly way, traditionally supported by ties at the highest level and continue to develop.
The Minister also noted that the MTSZN is exchanging experience in the social and labor sphere with the Japanese side in accordance with the agreements reached within the framework of the Kazakh-Japanese Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation.
«So, in 2018-2019, an exchange of experience was held in the field of social protection, formalization of the self–employed population and pension provision, which the parties are successfully studying», Serik Shapkenov said.
He also noted that one of the important unifying factors of the two countries is joint work on studying the consequences of nuclear tests.
«Our legislation provides for a number of measures aimed at social support for persons affected by nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site: one-time monetary compensation, additional pay and annual additional paid leave, preferential assignment of age pension payments and state social disability allowance, subject to the establishment of a causal relationship with the tests, and a monthly special allowance for direct participants in the tests», the head of the MTSZN said.
Serik Shapkenov also told the representative of Japan about the priorities of the department, which were identified in the framework of the President's Address to the People of Kazakhstan dated September 1, 2021 - raising the minimum wage and salaries of civil servants from among teachers, doctors and social workers.
In turn, Jun Yamada expressed gratitude for the joint work of the two states carried out in the social and labor sphere, and also noted the importance of the initiatives implemented by the MTSZN.
Министерство труда и социальной защиты населения Республики Казахстан уведомляет о проведении интернет-конференции на тему «Оказание соцподдержки многодетным семьям в Казахстане».
Срок проведения: 8 декабря 2021 года.
Ссылка на интернет-конференцию - https://dialog.egov.kz/conference/2141
Representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic and the German Society for International Cooperation visited Kazakhstan on a working visit, during which they will study the experience of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter – the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and discuss the possibilities of bilateral cooperation.
At the meeting with the guests, Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Birzhanov spoke about the achievements of the MTSZN in the social and labor sphere.
«Currently, measures to promote employment in our country are being implemented within the framework of such projects as the State Program «Enbek», within which at least 700 thousand people are covered annually by measures to promote employment, and the Employment Roadmap, where temporary and permanent jobs are created through the construction and reconstruction of socially significant infrastructure facilities», Yerzhan Birzhanov shared.
He also noted that next year the instruments for the implementation of the State Program «Enbek» will continue to function within the framework of the National Project for the Development of Entrepreneurship for 2021-2025 (hereinafter - the National Project). As part of the National Project, it is planned to reduce the unemployment rate to 4.7%.
Also during the meeting, representatives of the MTSZN prepared two reports on the ongoing work in the social and labor sphere:
During the three-day visit, representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic and the German Society for International Cooperation will also visit JSC «Center for Human Resources Development» of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where they will be presented with the National Report «Labor Market of Kazakhstan. Development in the conditions of a new reality», and will also familiarize with the peculiarities of the work of the National Labor Forecasting System in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the portals «Electronic Labor Exchange», «Enbek Skills», as well as information systems «Unified system of accounting for labor contracts» and «Situational center of the social and labor sphere».
In addition, the guests will get acquainted with the principles of the family support center «Zhanuya», employment centers and social service centers in Nur-Sultan and Akmola region, as well as visit the metropolitan Chamber of Entrepreneurs and NCE RK «Atameken».
Министерство труда и социальной защиты населения Республики Казахстан уведомляет о проведении интернет-конференции на тему «О расширении списка наборов открытых данных Министерства труда и социальной защиты населения».
Срок проведения: с 19 ноября по 2 декабря 2021 года.
Ссылка на интернет-конференцию - https://dialog.egov.kz/conference/2085
First Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Kazakhstan Akmadi Sarbasov and Director of the Bureau of the International Labor Organization (hereinafter - ILO) for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Olga Kulayeva held online talks, during which plans for cooperation in conducting a National Dialogue on overcoming the pandemic, modernization of the labor inspection system, development of the Social Code and the project «Partnership in Youth Employment of the Commonwealth of Independent States» were considered.
At the beginning of his speech, Akmadi Sarbasov noted that cooperation with the ILO is of great importance for Kazakhstan: over the years of cooperation, 24 ILO conventions have been ratified, the obligations under which are implemented in the country's legislation, and at the moment work is underway to join Convention No. 175 «On Part-time Work».
He said that in order to bring the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in line with international standards, the law "On Amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on labor issues" was adopted in May 2020.
The First Vice Minister also noted that the issue of modernization of the labor inspection system will be worked out within the framework of the Action Plan to Ensure Safe Work in Kazakhstan until 2025, taking into account the requirements of the ILO conventions ratified by Kazakhstan.
Akmadi Sarbasov thanked the ILO experts for their comments and recommendations on the use of international social security standards in the concept of the Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as for the work carried out on the analysis of measures taken by Kazakhstan during the COVID-19 pandemic in the socio-labor, economic and health care system.
«The rapid diagnostics on employment allowed both to identify policy responses to the labor market and to analyze existing problems in more detail. And express diagnostics on social protection made it possible to review the measures taken, assess their effectiveness in terms of guaranteeing the income of employees and certain socially vulnerable groups in order to identify actions that contribute to expanding the coverage of social protection programs,» the speaker concluded.
At the end of his speech, the First Vice Minister thanked the ILO for the long and fruitful cooperation with Kazakhstan, noted the importance of resuming cooperation on the project «Partnership in Youth Employment of the Commonwealth of Independent States», as well as further joint work on improving social and labor policy, ensuring social justice and decent work in accordance with ILO standards.
First Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan Sarbasov A.A. held a meeting with the Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Central Asia Hans Schodder.
During the meeting, issues of transferring the functions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan on refugee issues to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on access of refugees to social protection and equal access to employment opportunities were discussed.
On October 28 this year, the XXXIV meeting of the Advisory Council on Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Population of the CIS member States was held online. The leadership of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter – the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection) informed the participants of the meeting about the measures taken to improve the social and labor sphere, ensure social justice and decent work. During the event, issues of improving the regulatory framework in the field of social security of the population in the CIS and the possibility of exchanging information and experience on the regulation of remote work were also discussed.
The event was attended by heads of relevant ministries from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation, representatives of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the General Confederation of Trade Unions, the Interstate Statistical Committee, the CIS Executive Committee and a number of country organizations.
The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Advisory Council, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus Irina Kostevich. In her speech, she thanked the CIS representatives for their participation, and also spoke about the implementation of the decisions of the previous, XXXIII meeting of the Advisory Council, held on October 29, 2020.
After that, Irina Kostevich transferred the right of chairmanship from the Republic of Belarus, which presided in 2020-2021, to the Republic of Kazakhstan for the period 2021-2022.
In turn, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Kazakhstan Serik Shapkenov during his speech noted the high quality of the work of the Advisory Council, and also recalled that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Almaty Declaration, which defined the goals and principles of the CIS.
«The CIS is a unique and universal dialogue platform where cooperation is developing aimed at strengthening trust and mutual understanding, promoting initiatives to support stability and security in the CIS space.
The Advisory Council responds promptly to the realities of modern life, as evidenced by the ongoing work on the exchange of best practices between the participating states, which is moving into the format of developing and coordinating the regulatory framework in the social and labor sphere,» the minister said.
Serik Shapkenov stressed that the members of the Advisory Council have done a lot of work on the development of conceptual documents in the field of labor rationing, professional standards, working conditions in the workplace, etc. And the decisions taken at the meetings make it possible to introduce documents adopted at the interstate level into the practice of the work of the CIS member states in the field of social and labor relations.
«Within the framework of this meeting, we will consider a number of topical issues related to the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including law enforcement practice, exchange of information and experience on regulating remote work, ensuring occupational safety and health, including accident investigation», Serik Shapkenov concluded.
First Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Kazakhstan Akmadi Sarbasov informed the participants of the meeting about Kazakhstan's experience in improving the regulatory framework in the field of social security of citizens.
«On October 12 this year, the President signed the law "On Amendments and Additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on social protection of certain categories of citizens». The law is based on the proposals of members of the working group of the Senate and the Majilis of the Parliament, the Coordinating Council for Persons with Disabilities under the Government, as well as the public and the expert community. The Law contains 19 conceptual amendments and provides for amendments to 16 legislative acts. Starting from next month, people with disabilities and their families will begin to receive new benefits, feel innovations," Akmadi Sarbasov shared.
Having told about the norms stipulated in the mentioned law, the First Vice-Minister informed about the adoption of two other laws: "On social Entrepreneurship" and "On inclusive Education".
«The first of them defines the concept of social entrepreneurship, the main tasks and categories of subjects of social entrepreneurship, the mechanism for assigning the status of a social entrepreneur, and also provides extensive measures of state support. In general, the law is aimed at stimulating both business activity and employment of persons with disabilities.
The second law, adopted on the initiative of the Ministry of Education, is aimed at realizing the rights of persons with special educational needs at all levels of education. Amendments and additions have been made to the laws on education, on the rights of the child, on social protection of persons with disabilities», he informed.
Akmadi Sarbasov also noted that, in accordance with the instructions of the Head of State, work is underway to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The relevant bill is under consideration in the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
«The Ministry is also developing the Concept of the Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It will be adopted in 2022, and we plan to adopt the Code itself in 2023. One of the main innovations of the Social Code will be a separate chapter on improving the social service and providing special social services.
The model of the social service will be modernized – accreditation, certification of social workers, a new model of per capita financing will be introduced, the status of social workers will be increased and much more», Akmadi Sarbasov added.
The First Vice Minister also spoke about a number of difficulties faced by employers and representatives of the personnel service, including government agencies, in connection with the forced transfer of employees to a remote work format, especially in terms of imperfections of labor legislation.
«In this regard, amendments were adopted to the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan this year on the regulation of labor relations related to remote work. So, there are new modes of remote work, which are established by agreement of the parties: permanently, temporarily or combined.
In addition, the norms of the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan were specified on accounting for working hours in cases when the performance of work cannot be fixed by the employer with a specific time, as well as on accounting in the employment contract for the time during which the employee must be available for communication with the employer. Norms were provided for regulating the procedure and terms of remote work for employees performing official duties, whose work is regulated by special laws», Akmadi Sarbasov informed.
At the same time, he stressed that despite the remote format of work, the employer is not relieved of responsibility for ensuring the requirements of labor legislation, including on issues of employee safety and labor protection.
«At the same time, as part of the latest changes in the field of safe working conditions, it is additionally stipulated that the procedure for compliance by employees engaged in remote work with the requirements for safety and labor protection, as well as for ensuring the safe performance of work duties, is determined by the act of the employer.
In addition, the duties of the employer on safety and labor protection issues are differentiated into mandatory and solved by agreement of the parties, taking into account the specifics of the work», he concluded.