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The study Employment of migrant workers in the informal economy in Kazakhstan: a study of Southern Kazakhstan has been recently published within the framework of the ILO-EU project “Towards Sustainable Partnerships for the Effective Governance of Labour Migration”. The paper analyses the employment and living conditions of migrants in the informal economy and identifies options for increasing decent work opportunities. In conclusion, the study makes policy and legislative recommendations for reducing irregular employment, reducing the size of the informal economy, and increasing the protection of rights for migrant workers within the context of well-managed labour migration. The study included a representative sample survey of irregular migrant workers in South Kazakhstan. Data collection was made in 2008.
Kazakhstan’s economic growth has given it a new role of a destination country for migrant workers. There are no reliable data on the scale of labour migration to Kazakhstan, since much of it is irregular and not, therefore, registered by official statistics. In 2007 about 60,000 migrant workers were registered in the country. During the economic crisis in 2009 this has fallen to just a little over 30,000 work permits to migrant workers. The number of migrant workers without work permits or registration is much higher. An idea can be had from regularization process in 2006 where it was evident that at least 164,500 were irregularly employed in the country. According to our survey the largest proportion of irregular migrant workers in Southern Kazakhstan, are Uzbekistan nationals who account for about 85% of the total. About 7% of migrant workers come from the Kyrgyz Republic.
The survey found that most migrant workers do not have a written employment contract. On average, migrant workers earn in Kazakhstan about 39,241 tenge a month (325 US dollars) which is 28% below the average wage in Kazakhstan, amounting, in April 2008, to 54,500 tenge. The best paid are skilled construction workers (58,853 tenge or 487 US dollars) and workers in the services sphere (50,763 tenge or 420 US dollars). Irregular migrant workers do not enjoy any social security benefits under Kazakh legislation.
The survey found that about 20% of workers do not have any lunch or rest break during the working day. On average, one working day lasts 11.6 hours (minus time spent on lunch and rest). Kazakh workers employed informally in the same sectors as migrants have approximately the same average working day. The working week lasts, on average, 75.4 working hours (varying between 37 and 126 hours a week), which exceeds the norm permitted by Kazakhstan law by 35.4 working hours or by 89%. Nearly 98% of migrant workers work longer than permitted by Kazakhstan law. Adequate occupational health and safety conditions were also found to be lacking. Only in 13% of enterprises in which migrants work are there first-aid kits, fire extinguishers and special means of protection (helmets, masks, safety ropes).
As many as a third of migrant workers do not hold their own passports. About 66% of those workers whose passports are taken away from them in Kazakhstan say that they would not want to keep their own passports and were pleased to hand them in to the employer or recruiter. This probably reflects low awareness of rights and/or the lack of a safe place to store the document. Approximately 40% of migrant workers have been detained at least once by the Kazakhstan police and half the cases, the migrants are released after a bribe. Approximately a third of all migrant workers (29%) have encountered the problem of not receiving the money promised for the work they have done. Analysis shows that they have not real levers for addressing such a situation. None of the migrants surveyed had ever approached a non-governmental organisation for assistance or knew they exist. Similarly none of the workers were members of trade unions. Migrant workers are not sufficiently aware of their human and labour rights. Many migrants believe that they are not entitled to the same length of working day as local workers, to compensation from the employer for job-related harm, or to equal working conditions and so on.
The study highlights the need to improve employment and working conditions of migrants in the informal economy both by increasing the protection of such workers and reducing irregular employment. As a follow-up to the study ILO has been engaged since early last year in South Kazakhstan in training of trade unions and NGOs for legal assistance to migrant workers, extending trade union activities to migrant workers and introducing better occupational safety and health practices in farms employing migrant labour.
The study can be accessed at the ilo website.
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