{"id":51214,"date":"2025-08-18T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/?post_type=legal_developments&p=51214"},"modified":"2025-08-18T11:57:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:57:18","slug":"kazakhstan-employment-regulations-on-maternity-leave","status":"publish","type":"legal_developments","link":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/thought-leadership\/kazakhstan-employment-regulations-on-maternity-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"Kazakhstan employment regulations on maternity leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kazakhstan employment regulations on maternity leave<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nurzhan Stamkulov, Ali Dautalinov, Assem Zhaksylykbayeva<\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyers, Synergy Partners Law Firm LLC<\/em><\/p>\n

Kazakhstan employment regulations provide for:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>
\na) mandatory maternity leave by law; \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and
\nb) optional unpaid leave to care for a child until the child reaches the age of 3.<\/p>\n

For employers it is important to consider the duration of maternity leave granted to employees<\/em> and calculations of payments<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In this article, we tried to cover answers to questions related to maternity leave and unpaid leave.<\/p>\n

The duration of maternity leave granted to employees by law <\/em><\/p>\n

In accordance with article 99.1 of Kazakh Employment code<\/em> a pregnant woman applies for maternity leave by submitting a medical certificate indicating the starting date when a woman will not attend the office\/place of job.<\/p>\n

The law allows women to take leave and not visit place of job not only before childbirth, but also after the childbirth with guaranteed minimum days.<\/p>\n

The duration of maternity leave depends medical conditions of a woman.<\/p>\n

For convenience, please see the table for duration of maternity leave.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Situations for maternity leave \u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nMinimum days when a woman will have leave during pregnancy \u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nMinimum days when a woman will have leave after a childbirth<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Usual situation for a woman<\/td>\n70 days<\/td>\n56 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A situation where a woman has complicated childbirth or<\/em> the birth of 2 or more children<\/td>\n70 days<\/td>\n70 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A situation where a woman was born or<\/em> lived in nuclear contaminated area<\/td>\n91 days<\/td>\n79 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A situation where a woman was born or<\/em> lived in nuclear contaminated area \u2014 complicated childbirth or<\/em> the birth of 2 or more children<\/td>\n91 days<\/td>\n93 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
If a woman has early childbirth on 22-29 weeks from the pregnancy date<\/p>\n

and<\/em><\/p>\n

a child is born with a body weight of 500 grams or<\/em> more<\/p>\n

and<\/em><\/p>\n

if a child has been lived more than 7 days<\/td>\n

The law does not provide leave. In practice the employer provides unpaid leave for days required to recover based on medical prescriptions or medical recommendations<\/td>\n70 days<\/p>\n

93 days for woman was born or lived in nuclear polluted area<\/p>\n

56 days, if a child lived less than 7 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

An employer must consider all relevant facts and medical conditions of the pregnancy when calculating the total duration of maternity leave. We recommend asking the pregnant employee for the necessary details.<\/p>\n

Due to outdated legal provisions and limited social coverage for maternity leave, in practice most companies try to continue paying a woman the same salary during pregnancy and for six months after the child\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

State social payments are made to pregnant women starting from the seventh month of pregnancy, as well as childcare payments until the child reaches 1.5 years of age. In practice, these amounts are very low, and employers often provide additional payments to bring the employee\u2019s income closer to her regular monthly salary.<\/p>\n

Employee\u2019s payments during maternity leave<\/em><\/p>\n

Please note that Kazakhstan employment law regulations indicate that an employer is free of any obligations to pay salary during maternity leave, unless it is stipulated by an employment agreement.<\/p>\n

In accordance with Article 99.4 of the Kazakhstan Employment Code<\/em>, an employer may provide payment for maternity leave if this is stipulated in the employment contract, collective agreement, or the company\u2019s internal policies.<\/p>\n

Usually in standard employment agreements there are no provisions related to any additional payments or an employers\u2019 obligations to pay during maternity leave.<\/p>\n

State payments during maternity leave <\/em><\/p>\n

During maternity leave, Kazakhstan state authorities will pay social payments to a woman in maternity leave during such 4 month that is about and rounded to average monthly salary calculated in accordance with Rules for calculating average salary<\/em>[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The article 77.1 of the Kazakhstan Social Code<\/em> stipulates that female individual must receive state payments from the State Social Insurance Fund (SSIF) or payments from the state during the maternity leave in any cases.<\/p>\n

This means an employee in case of maternity and pregnancy must receive social payments from state SSIF in any case.<\/p>\n

State social payments are calculated according to Rules for calculating the social benefits in connection with pregnancy and childbirth[2]<\/strong><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

We recommend skipping details on any state social payments, as it is a state obligation.<\/p>\n

Additional social payment regarding maternity leave <\/em><\/p>\n

In practice many companies try not only to follow employment law standards, but instead try to cover and pay additional payments related to maternity leave:<\/p>\n