Kazakhstan strengthens labour inspection capacity in strategic compliance planning

ASTANA (ILO News) - From 26 to 28 November 2025, the International Labour Organization (ILO) conducted a three-day Strategic Compliance Planning workshop in Astana for senior and regional labour inspectors, legal specialists and specialists of the Committee of State Labour Inspection of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan has been an ILO member since 1993 and has ratified both the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) and the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129). As the world of work evolves, traditional inspection approaches are no longer sufficient to ensure effective enforcement of labour standards. The workshop focused on assisting the national labour inspectorate of Kazakhstan to strengthen compliance mechanisms, optimize limited resources, and develop forward-looking strategies and activities, aligned with the ILO’s global methodology on Strategic Compliance Planning (SCP).

© ILO

© ILO

Participants explored a six-step SCP approach, which includes analyzing the inspection system, identifying compliance challenges, understanding influencing factors, mapping stakeholders, formulating specific enforcement measures and designing time-bound compliance plan, to be implemented by the State Labour Inspectorate Committee in the period to come.

The workshop was facilitated by Ms. Rumsha Shahzad, ILO Technical Officer for Compliance and Technology (Social Dialogue, Labour Relations and Governance of Work Branch). Over the three days, participants worked through practical exercises, reviewed sector-specific challenges, and drafted strategic inspection interventions to be piloted in priority areas. The work focused on the two priority sectors: mining and construction, as identified by labour inspectors.

© ILO

© ILO

At the opening of the workshop, Mukhtar Tinekeev, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, highlighted the importance of ensuring the genuine independence of the State Labour Inspectorate, strengthening trust in its work, expanding its mandate and reinforcing legal safeguards to effectively protect the life and health of workers.

Kanybek Zhanbyrbayev, General Director of the National Confederation of Employers “PARYZ”, emphasized the need to develop genuine tripartism and partnership-based cooperation between the state, employers and workers, as well as the importance of shifting from a predominantly punitive approach to a system focused on prevention and support for compliance.

Meirambek Akhmetov, Chairman of the Committee of State Labour Inspection of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan, underlined the significance of introducing advanced international practices while taking into account national characteristics and legislation, and expressed interest in further strengthening the professional capacity of labour inspectors.

Darko Dochinski, Labour Administration, Labour Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health Specialist (ILO Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia), noted that support and trust from social partners constitute an important prerequisite for building a stronger, more independent and professional labour inspection system.

The activity was organized within the framework of the ILO RBSA-funded initiative Promoting occupational safety and health through social dialogue in the mining sector of Kazakhstan.