Kazakhstanis will not be held administratively liable for the absence of an employment contract solely on the grounds that they work as self-employed. If an employer substitutes labor relations with self-employment, the employer bears responsibility for allowing an employee to work without an employment contract. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population said this in response to a request from Kursiv.
Back in June 2026, Kursiv wrote that the State Revenue Committee constantly checks citizens working under a special tax regime for the self-employed. The tax authority conducted an analysis to identify companies substituting employment contracts with self-employment.
In this regard, the editorial staff sent requests to the State Revenue Committee, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, and the Ministry of National Economy to find out how many such cases had been identified during this time and who ultimately bore responsibility.
The problem is that some companies ask their employees to register as self-employed in order not to pay pension and social contributions for them. This leads to workers receiving fewer social guarantees.
In response to Kursiv's request, the Ministry of Labor said that employment contracts and self-employment should be distinguished. During an inspection, officials look at, for example, whether a person has a specific position, whether they are obliged to perform the work personally, whether they are subject to the employer's schedule and rules, and whether they receive wages for their labor function.
If an inspector establishes that these were labor relations, the employer must formalize an employment contract. At the same time, the relations are considered to have arisen from the day the person actually started working.
For allowing a person to work without an employment contract, the employer may face administrative liability under Article 86 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Inspectors may also issue a mandatory order to eliminate the violation.
At the same time, a self-employed person does not automatically become a violator simply because they work under a special tax regime. They can be held liable only if there is a separate offense.
Kursiv sent a detailed request to the ministry asking for data on the substitution of employment contracts with self-employment. The Ministry of Labor noted that it does not have separate statistics.
The agency also could not tell Kursiv how many employers committed such violations, how many workers they affected, and in which regions or industries this practice occurs most often.
The number of inspections, orders, and fines in such cases, as well as the number of workers who were given employment contracts after violations were identified, are also not accounted for separately.
The State Revenue Committee under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan told Kursiv that as of October 1, 2026, 981,200 individuals apply the special tax regime (STR) for the self-employed, of whom 807,300 have legalized their activities.
Overall, self-employment appeared on January 1, 2026. Already at the end of the first month, 256,000 people registered under this regime. By July, the figure had grown to 489,500 entrepreneurs, and in August there was a sharp surge in interest, to 622,000 self-employed.
In September, the indicator decreased to 513,700 individuals, but taking into account the value as of October 1 (981,200 individuals), it then almost doubled within a month.
The SRC also said that over the 8 months of 2026, the amount of social payments paid by persons applying the STR for the self-employed amounted to 20.8 billion tenge.
By types of economic activity, the largest share of self-employed persons falls on taxi activity – 519,600 people (53%), courier activity – 292,500 people (30%), as well as rental (sublease) and management of own or rented residential real estate – 37,000 people (3.8%).
"In the context of the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the largest number of self-employed persons is observed in the cities of Astana and Almaty – 123,000 or 13%, also Almaty region – 98,000 or 10%, Shymkent city – 68,000 or 6.9%, Turkestan region – 66,000 or 6.8% and Karaganda region – 54,000 or 5.5%," the agency shared statistics.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the list of activities for the self-employed is planned to be expanded by another 13 areas. This refers to digital professions.