Kazakhstan’s lawmakers have proposed amendments to labor legislation that would prohibit the dismissal of single parents, regardless of gender. Currently, such legal protections apply only to single mothers.
Yerlan Sairov, a deputy of the Mazhilis (the lower house of parliament), said the provision is part of a bill to amend and supplement the Labor Code. The bill proposes replacing the term “single mothers” with “single parents,” thereby extending protection from dismissal to single fathers raising children on their own.
The Mazhilis has already approved the bill in its second reading and forwarded it to the Senate for consideration.
The draft law also introduces significant reforms in pension rights. Under the proposed changes to the Social Code, time spent by non-working fathers caring for young children will be counted toward their length of service when calculating old-age pensions. This amendment follows a February 2025 ruling by the Constitutional Court, which found gender inequality in the previous legislation after a citizen filed a constitutional appeal.
The bill covers a range of related areas. New provisions are being introduced into the Code on Public Health and the Healthcare System regarding the classification of occupational injuries. It also mandates the inclusion of rules on benefits and compensation, such as those related to workplace accidents, in collective labor agreements. Notably, occupational safety and health officers will be required to report directly to the head of the organization, thereby establishing management’s personal accountability for workplace conditions.
On the government’s initiative, the draft law includes amendments to the Law “On Permits and Notifications,” introducing licensing requirements for the provision of special social services in the field of social protection. It also outlines specific types of production that cannot be halted during strikes.
The bill expands the powers of the authorized labor body to approve procedures for providing employees with therapeutic and preventive nutrition. It further proposes setting permissible ratios between the highest and lowest salaries for a given profession or position within an organization, to be included in collective agreements.
As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, the government is considering broader labor law reforms to address workforce shortages in key sectors. In January, lawmakers discussed lowering the retirement age for shepherds and herders amid a shortage of workers in rural areas.
