1. What changes on 8 June 2026
From 8 June 2026, Article 26 of the Labour Code of Kazakhstan was supplemented with clause 1-1: a civil-law contract may not be concluded with an individual if it contains even one sign of an employment contract from Article 27 of the Code. A contract with such a sign is recognised as an employment contract regardless of its name.
The key point: reclassification happens by operation of law — no separate court ruling is required. The labour inspectorate and the state revenue authorities assess the actual model of the relationship, not the title of the contract.
2. Signs that reclassify GPH as employment
Article 27 lists, among others, the following signs of an employment relationship:
- personal performance of work in a specific occupation, qualification or position;
- inclusion in the staff and performance of a permanent job function;
- subordination to the work schedule, routine and instructions of the employer;
- payment for the process of work (regular, like a salary) rather than for a specific result.
Just one sign is enough for a contract to be reclassified as employment.
3. Who must be moved to staff
The risk applies not to one-off and project contractors, but to those who in fact work as employees: they follow a schedule, occupy a workplace in the company's office, obey the routine, perform the same function on a permanent basis and receive regular fixed pay. Such people are better hired on staff under an employment contract (registered in the ESUTD system on enbek.kz). Genuinely independent, result-based work — one-off and project services without a schedule or subordination — can still be arranged under GPH or with the self-employed.
4. What a violation leads to
- Administrative fine. Liability for breaching the rules of formalising employment is set out in the Code of Administrative Offences of Kazakhstan. According to estimates and media reports, for businesses this is on the order of 30–150 MCI (in 2026, roughly 129,750 to 648,750 tenge) depending on the size of the business, and the amount doubles for a repeat offence within a year.
- Additional charges. For the whole period of the "hidden" employment, social tax, mandatory pension contributions (including the employer's OPVR), social deductions and OSMS contributions may be assessed retroactively.
- Obligations to the employee. Employment guarantees arise: paid leave (or compensation for unused leave) and so on.
5. What businesses should do now
- Audit your GPH contracts: the subject should describe a result, not a process; remove references to schedule, workplace and subordination.
- Move permanent "staff on GPH" onto the payroll and register the employment contracts in ESUTD.
- For genuinely independent contractors, keep the project model and proper paperwork (a result-based contract, an act, a receipt).
- Check the contractor's status and activity type. See the guide to working with the self-employed.
6. Where the self-employed fit in
The ban concerns the substitution of an employment relationship, not work with the self-employed as such. Engaging the self-employed under the special tax regime is legal — provided it is genuinely an independent contractor without signs of an employment relationship.
Official sources: Labour Code of Kazakhstan (adilet.zan.kz, Articles 26 and 27), Code of Administrative Offences (adilet.zan.kz), registration of employment contracts — enbek.kz. Fine amounts are given per expert estimates. This material is not legal advice — verify against the primary sources or consult a lawyer.