Employees are provided with following type of leaves:

• paid annual leaves;
• social leaves.

Paid annual leaves is designated for employees rest, efficiency restoration, health strengthening and other needs of the employee and are provided for the definite number of calendar days guaranteeing working place (position) and an average salary.

Employees are provided with following type of paid annual leaves:

• the main paid annual leave;
• an additional paid annual leave.

The social leave is a release of the employee from work to the definite period in the purposes of creation of favorable conditions for maternity, passing the screening, childcare, getting an education on-job and other social aims.

The following types of social leaves are provided to employees:

• unpaid leave;
• educational leave;
• pregnancy and maternity and adoption of newborn leave;
• unpaid leave to attend to a child up to the age of three years;
• leave for undergoing screening tests in an amount of no more than three working days during the year;
• leave for medical registration for pregnancy up to twelve weeks in an amount of at least three working days.

The period of the social leave is counted to labor experience, except as otherwise permitted by applicable law of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Provision of leave is executed by act of the employer.

Duration of the main paid annual leave

The main annual paid leave to employees are granted for twenty-four calendar days, if more days are not provided by this Code and other normative legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, employment, collective agreements and acts of the employer.

Additional paid annual leaves

Additional paid annual leaves are provided: 

1. Employees engaged in heavy work or work in harmful and (or) hazardous working conditions, not less than six calendar days according to the List of production facilities, workshops, professions and positions, list of heavy work, work with harmful and (or) dangerous working conditions.

Additional annual paid leave available to employees whose work is heavy, harmful and (or) dangerous conditions confirmed by the results of attestation of industrial facilities on labor conditions.

In the event of failure to employer certification of industrial facilities on labor conditions, as well as jobs, are not subject to certification, the additional annual paid leave shall be granted in full in accordance with the List of production facilities, workshops, professions and positions, list of heavy work, work in harmful and ( or) dangerous working conditions;

2. Persons with disabilities of Groups I and II — for a period of not less than six calendar days.

Additional paid annual leave is granted to the employees of the sending party based on the results of certification of production facilities for the working conditions of the receiving party.

The other categories of workers are provided with additional annual leave and its duration can be set by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Additional annual paid leaves of incentive nature for long-term continuous operation, the implementation of important, complex, urgent work, and other types of work may be established for employees by labor, collective agreements.

Calculation of the duration of annual paid leave

The duration of annual paid leave is calculated in calendar days, excluding public holidays falling on days of annual paid leave, regardless of the applicable operating modes and shift schedules.

When calculating the total duration of annual paid leave an additional annual paid leaves are added to the basic annual paid leave.

Calculation of labor experience while provision of annual paid leave

The labor experience while provision of annual paid leave includes:

• actual time worked;
• the time when the employee actually did not work, but he retains a place of work (position) and salary in whole or in part;
• the time when the employee actually did not work due to temporary incapacity for work, including time spent on maternity leave;
• the time when the employee actually did not work before reinstatement.

Determination of period and order of annual paid leave provision

Annual paid leave is provided to an employee for the first and subsequent years of work by mutual agreement at any given time of the year.

The working year is twelve calendar months, calculated from the first day of the employee.

According to the agreement between the employee and the employer paid annual leave may be divided into parts. In this case, one of the parts of the paid annual labor leave must be at least fourteen calendar days.

Payment for annual leave is made not later than three working days prior to its beginning, and in the case if annual leave is provided out of the schedule of leaves - no later than three working days from the date it is granted.

Employees who work under an employment contract on part-time work, annual paid leave shall be granted at the same time as leave on the main job.

If the duration of annual paid leave under the employment contract on part-time work is less than the length of leave on the main work, the employer at the request of the employee - pluralist gives him leave without pay for the days that make the difference in the duration of the leaves.

Provision of leave, transfer or review of annual paid leave is made by act of the employer.

Order of annual paid leave provision:

The order of annual paid leave is determined annually in accordance with the schedule of leaves approved by the employer, taking into account the views of employees, or set out the schedule of leaves by agreement of the parties.

The order of granting paid annual labour leave to employees performing military service in the reserve shall be determined on the basis of paragraph 1 of this Article, as well as in accordance with the schedule of training sessions or military training assemblies (if any).

In the event of a change in the schedule of leaves due to production necessity the employer must notify the employee about it in less than two weeks before the start of the leave.

Cases and order of annual paid leave transfer

Annual paid leave is transferred in whole or in part in the following cases:

• temporary incapacity for work of the employee;
• maternity and pregnancy leave.

Annual paid leave (its part) in the cases prescribed by paragraph 1 of this article is transferred at the request of the employee during the period of annual paid leave. The transferred leave by agreement of the parties may be attached to the leave for the next business year, or at the request of the employee provided separately in the current working year.

Non-provision of the unused annual paid leave or part of it for two consecutive years is prohibited.

Recalling from annual paid leave

Annual paid leave may be terminated by the employer in the event of operational needs only with the written consent of the employee.

Unused annual paid leave in connection with the revocation by agreement of the employment contract parties is provided for the current business year or the next business year, at any time either joins the annual paid leave for the next business year.
In case of recalling from the employee's annual paid leave instead of the unused part of leave at other times by agreement between the employee and employer compensation payments for unused days of the annual paid leave is made to the employee.

Recalling from annual paid leave of the employee who has not attained the age of eighteen years, pregnant women who provided the employer with a pregnancy certificate and workers engaged in heavy work or work in harmful and (or) dangerous working conditions is prohibited.

Unpaid leave

By agreement of the parties of the employment contract on the basis of statements of the employee, he may be granted with leave without pay.

The duration of unpaid leave is determined by agreement between the employee and the employer.

On the basis of the employee notice the employer must grant leave without pay for up to five calendar days for:

• marriage registration;
• child birth;
• death of close relatives, as well as the spouse (wife) and (or) their relatives (full and half brothers and sisters, parents (parent), children, grandfather, grandmother, grandchildren);
• other cases prescribed by labor, collective agreement.

The employer shall grant an employee unpaid leave for the period during which the employee stays in organizations providing special social services to victims of domestic violence, but for no more than thirty calendar days.

Unpaid leave shall be granted on the basis of a written notice from the employee specifying its duration and accompanied by a copy of the contract for the provision of special social services.

Educational leave

Employees studying at educational institutions are granted with study leave to prepare for and taking tests and examinations, laboratory work, preparation and defense of diploma work (project) to undergo training programs for military-trained reserve.

Payment for study leave is determined by agreements, collective labor contract, training contract.

The employer provides workers directed for training, internship abroad in the framework of the international "Bolashak" scholarship, educational leaves with the employer (positions).

Leave due to paternity and child (children) birth, adoption of child (children) 

Pregnant women, women who have a child (children), women (men) who have adopted (adopt) a newborn child (children) are provided with the following release in connection with the birth of a child:

• maternity leave;
• leave for workers who adopt (adopt) a newborn child (children);
• leave to attend to a child up to the age of three years.

A pregnant woman from the date specified in the sheet of temporary disability, giving the right to maternity leave, is executed by presenting sheet of temporary disability, confirming the right for this kind of leave. 

Pregnant women processed it by providing the childcare sick leave confirming the right for the given type of leave from the date indicated in the list of sick leave which gives right for the leave due pregnancy and childbirth. 

Leave due to paternity and child (children) birth is provided with duration:

• seventy calendar days before childbirth and fifty six calendar days after childbirth - while easy delivery;
• seventy calendar days before childbirth and seventy calendar days after childbirth - while complicated delivery;
• ninety one calendar day before childbirth and seventy nine calendar days (in case of complicated delivery or birth of two and more children) after childbirth - for women living on the territories suffered from nuclear tests effect, while easy delivery;
• seventy calendar days after childbirth - in case of childbirth when the period of pregnancy is during twenty two and twenty nine weeks and birth of a child with the body weight five hundred gramms and more who lives out more than seven days;
• fifty six calendar days after childbirth - in case of childbirth when the period of pregnancy is during twenty two and twenty nine weeks and birth of a dead unborn child or child with the body weight five hundred gramms and more who dies before seven days;
• ninety three calendar days after childbirth - for women living on the territories suffered from nuclear tests effect in case of childbirth when the period of pregnancy is during twenty two and twenty nine weeks and birth of a child with the body weight five hundred gramms and more who lives out more than seven days;
• seventy nine calendar days after childbirth - for women living on the territories suffered from nuclear tests effect, in case of childbirth when the period of pregnancy is during twenty two and twenty nine weeks and birth of a dead unborn child or child with the body weight five hundred gramms and more who dies before seven days.

When a woman applies for a sheet of temporary disability during pregnancy, the leave is calculated in total and is provided completely regardless of the number of days actually used by her before childbirth and the duration of work with the employer.

When a woman applies for a certificate of temporary incapacity for work in the period after childbirth, only leave after childbirth is granted for the duration provided for in part two of this paragraph.

Employees who adopt (adopt) a newborn child (children) are provided (one parent) with leave for the period from the date of adoption (adoption) and prior to the expiration of fifty-six days after the birth of the child.

The employer shall pay maternity leave and leave granted to employees who have adopted a newborn child (children), while retaining average earnings, where this is provided for by the employment and/or collective agreement or an employer’s act, minus the amount of the social payment for loss of income related to pregnancy and childbirth or the adoption of a newborn child (children), paid in accordance with the Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Unpaid leave to attend to a child up to the age of three years

The employer is obliged to grant unpaid leave to the employee to attend to a child up to the age of three years:

• at the choice of parents - mother or father of the child;
• a parent raising a child alone;
• other relative actually raising a child left without parents or guardian;
• employee who adopted a newborn child (children).

Unpaid leave to attend to a child up to the age of three years is provided on the basis of a written application of the employee with an indication of its duration and the provision of a birth certificate or other document confirming the fact of birth.

The employee can use unpaid leave to attend to a child up to the age of three years in whole or partly.

During unpaid leave to attend to a child up to the age of three years the employee retained job (position).

If an employee returns to work before the expiry of unpaid childcare leave until the child reaches the age of three, the employee shall notify the employer of such intention one month before returning to work.