Employee benefits, equipment, and workspace: what EORs cover in Kazakhstan
- Jun 1
- 12 min read
Table of contents
TL;DR
What benefits are legally required in Kazakhstan?
Is private health insurance mandatory in Kazakhstan?
What perks do competitive employers offer in Kazakhstan?
Workspace obligations for remote employees in Kazakhstan
Equipment and tools: who provides what?
Why benefits drive retention
EOR vs building your own HR in Kazakhstan
How Gegidze Helps
Final Thoughts
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
TL;DR
Kazakhstan's Labour Code specifies mandatory benefits that every employer must provide, minimum wage (KZT 85,000/month), 24 days of paid annual leave, 12 paid public holidays, sick leave, maternity/paternity leave, and pension contributions.
Private health insurance is not legally mandatory in Kazakhstan, but competitive employers offer it. Relying solely on public healthcare makes it harder to attract senior talent.
Remote work is legally defined in Kazakhstan's Labour Code. Employers must specify workspace terms in the employment contract and are responsible for providing, or reimbursing, the equipment and connectivity remote employees use.
Equipment provision, internet compensation, and ergonomic safety obligations apply to remote workers under Article 138 of Kazakhstan's Labour Code. "Bring your own device" is not a compliant default.
The EOR vs entity build decision comes down to headcount and commitment: EOR for under 30 people or market testing; own entity for long-term, large-scale operations.
A strong EOR in Kazakhstan does more than run payroll, it structures benefits that reflect market expectations and manages equipment procurement or reimbursement.
Retention in Kazakhstan depends on how the employer experience is structured from day one: compliant contracts, proper benefits, working tools, and a real onboarding process.
Hiring a remote employee in Kazakhstan is operationally simple. The talent market in Almaty and Astana is growing, tech, finance, operations, and logistics roles are well-served by bilingual professionals comfortable with international work environments.
What trips up most foreign companies is what happens after the hire. What benefits are mandatory? Who provides the laptop? What does remote work legally require? How does pension contribution work? What perks actually keep people from looking elsewhere?
This guide answers those questions directly. It covers every mandatory benefit under Kazakhstan's Labour Code, what competitive employers add on top, how remote workspace obligations work in practice, and how an employer of record manages the entire stack so you do not have to build an HR function in Almaty from scratch.
What benefits are legally required in Kazakhstan?
Before any conversation about competitive perks, every employer in Kazakhstan must cover the statutory baseline. These are not optional. An employer of record handles all of the following as a default, because legally, every employer must.
Minimum wage
The national minimum wage in Kazakhstan is KZT 85,000 per month gross. Every employee, regardless of role or sector, must earn at least this amount. The EOR ensures every employment contract exceeds this threshold and that payroll is processed accordingly.
Working hours and overtime
Kazakhstan operates on a standard 40-hour, five-day working week. Overtime is legally permitted but must be compensated, typically at 1.5x the base hourly rate, and is capped under Labour Code provisions. A compliant employment contract specifies the working hours arrangement and the overtime compensation structure.
Paid annual leave
Every employee is entitled to a minimum of 24 calendar days of paid annual leave per year. Public holidays are not counted toward this total. Kazakhstan has 12 public holidays per year, all of which must be paid. The EOR tracks accrual and carries forward entitlement correctly through payroll.
Sick leave
Employees are entitled to paid sick leave, supported by a medical certificate. The employer pays initially; if the leave extends beyond a short initial period, the State Social Insurance Fund provides coverage. The EOR manages the documentation process and payroll adjustments correctly.
Maternity and paternity leave
Mothers receive 70 calendar days of maternity leave before the birth date and 56 days after (extended to 70 days for complicated or multiple births). These periods are covered by state social insurance. Fathers are entitled to unpaid paternity leave; parental leave rights exist for both parents. The EOR processes the relevant documentation and ensures the leave entitlement is correctly administered.
Pension and social contributions
Employees contribute 10% of gross salary to the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF). Employers contribute 2.5% starting from 2025 (applicable to employees born after 1975), with this rate increasing on a defined schedule. Additionally, both employer and employee make mandatory contributions to the State Social Insurance Fund and the Mandatory Social Health Insurance (MSHI) Fund. The EOR calculates, deducts, and remits all of these contributions monthly.
Termination and severance
If employment ends due to company liquidation or organisational restructuring, the employer owes a minimum of one month's average salary in severance, plus payment for all accrued unused annual leave. The EOR manages the full exit process in compliance with these obligations, including the documentation required by the Labour Code.
Is private health insurance mandatory in Kazakhstan?
No. There is no legal requirement to provide private health insurance in Kazakhstan. Every working resident is enrolled in the Mandatory Social Health Insurance (MSHI) system, employers contribute to the fund as part of the standard payroll contribution structure, and the state covers certain groups including children, pensioners, and the unemployed.
The public coverage provides baseline access. It is not premium, and it does not signal to competitive candidates that your company is a serious employer.
Why most international employers offer private plans anyway
Senior developers, finance leads, operations managers, anyone with options will ask what private health benefits you offer. The MSHI system is functional. It is not what a candidate compares against an offer from a company that provides direct-access private clinic coverage and family-inclusive policies.
Common private health structures in Kazakhstan's international employer market include basic supplemental coverage at private clinics, family-inclusive tiers, and direct-access arrangements that eliminate the referral delays of the public system.
Private health insurance is one of the fastest ways to differentiate your offer from a purely compliant but competitively undifferentiated employer. For companies also hiring through remote jobs platforms, the benefit structure is often the deciding factor between two otherwise similar offers.
Private health insurance in Kazakhstan is not required by law. It is, increasingly, required by the talent market. A senior engineer who has received offers from two international companies will factor in the benefits structure. The company offering supplemental private coverage wins that comparison more often than not. |
What perks do competitive employers offer in Kazakhstan?
Statutory compliance gets you to the starting line. Perks are what keep high-performing remote employees from taking other calls.
Comprehensive private health insurance
Fast access, private clinics, family-inclusive tiers. Not the bare minimum, a package that signals the company views the employee as a long-term investment.
Performance-based bonuses
Quarterly bonuses tied to measurable KPIs are standard practice in Kazakhstan's technology and finance sectors. Cash compensation above base salary is a strong retention tool, particularly in a market where inflation has compressed real wage growth.
Learning and development budgets
Certifications, online courses, language training, technical skills development. In IT and business process outsourcing sectors, employees expect a defined upskilling path, not just salary. Companies that offer this retain people longer. Companies that do not lose them to those that do.
Flexible and remote-first work models
Hybrid schedules and fully remote arrangements are no longer differentiating perks, they are baseline expectations. Companies that offer remote employee flexibility and structured async work models attract more applications from qualified candidates in Kazakhstan than those requiring fixed office attendance.
Wellness perks
Gym memberships, wellness stipends, and mental health application access are valued by younger professionals in particular. The cost per employee is low relative to the retention signal they send.
Housing and relocation support
Kazakhstan's professional workforce is mobile. For hires relocating from regional cities to Almaty or Astana, housing stipends or temporary accommodation during onboarding are a meaningful differentiator.
Additional pension contributions
The statutory employer pension rate is the minimum. Companies in banking and energy sectors frequently top up with supplementary pension schemes. It is a long-term retention mechanism that attracts candidates with a multi-year employment horizon.
Workspace obligations for remote employees in Kazakhstan
Remote work in Kazakhstan is not an informal arrangement. It is legally defined in the Labour Code as an official employment format, with specific obligations that attach to it.
What the employment contract must specify
A remote work employment contract in Kazakhstan must define: where the work takes place, what tools and equipment are provided, how the employee communicates with the employer, and what the working hours arrangement is. These are not optional clauses, they are required elements of a compliant remote employment contract. An EOR drafts all of this correctly.
Equipment provision is a legal obligation
Employers must provide the equipment and connectivity needed for remote work, or reimburse employees who use their own. This is not a soft expectation, it is grounded in Kazakhstan's Labour Code provisions on remote work. The required provision includes laptop or desktop, internet connectivity, communication software, and role-relevant peripherals such as headsets, keyboards, and monitors.
The "bring your own device" approach is not a compliant default in Kazakhstan. If an employee uses their own equipment, the employer must reimburse costs through a supplementary agreement to the employment contract, including installation, maintenance, and relevant utility costs.
Safety obligations extend to the home office
Employer safety obligations do not stop at the office door. Remote workers in Kazakhstan are entitled to health and safety onboarding, ergonomic setup guidance, and working conditions that comply with occupational safety standards. The EOR handles this through onboarding documentation and ensures the employment contract specifies the relevant obligations.
Equipment and tools: who provides what?
Kazakhstan's Labour Code (Article 138 on telecommuting) is unambiguous: the employer provides the gear, or reimburses the employee for using their own. The terms must be written into a supplementary agreement to the employment contract. There is no compliant alternative.
What an EOR provides or procures
A strong EOR in Kazakhstan handles equipment provision through one of two routes. Either it procures and delivers hardware locally through vetted suppliers, ensuring onboarding timelines align with hardware delivery, or it structures and documents a reimbursement arrangement for employee-owned equipment. Either way, the accounting and financial services infrastructure for tracking these costs is maintained correctly in payroll records.
What must be documented
All equipment arrangements must be in writing. The supplementary agreement specifies what is provided, what reimbursement applies for employee-owned gear, and how compensation for internet and utility costs is processed. An EOR that does not produce this documentation is leaving a compliance gap in the employment contract.
Coworking as a perk, not a requirement
Some EOR arrangements include coworking memberships in Almaty, Astana, or other cities where the employee is based. This is not a legal requirement. It is a competitive benefit that suits employees who prefer a structured work environment and is particularly valued by technical and creative professionals who find fully home-based work isolating over time.
Why benefits drive retention
A remote employee who starts work in Kazakhstan without a laptop, without clarity on their sick leave entitlement, and without a welcome process that reflects a real employment relationship has already started looking at other options. Not because the salary is wrong. Because the experience signals that this hire was not seriously planned.
Benefits, equipment, and structured onboarding are not extras. They are evidence that the employment relationship is real. A compliant contract, correct pension contributions, private health coverage, and a laptop that arrives before the start date, these are the signals that retain people past the three-month mark.
For companies that approach talent management strategy seriously, the benefit structure in Kazakhstan is not a cost line. It is a retention investment. The EOR manages the compliance layer. The employer manages the culture layer. Both must be present for the arrangement to work.
EOR vs building your own HR in Kazakhstan
Two options exist for managing employment in Kazakhstan as a foreign company. The right one depends on headcount, timeline, and how committed you are to the market.
Factor | EOR (e.g. Team Up) | Build Own Entity |
Setup time | 3–7 days to first hire | 3–6 months for entity registration + HR infrastructure |
Setup cost | €0 | Typically €10,000–€50,000 in legal, banking, accounting setup |
Monthly cost | Flat fee per employee | Lower per-employee cost but substantial fixed overhead |
Compliance responsibility | Sits with the EOR | Sits entirely with your company |
Flexibility | Exit the market with minimal friction | Closing a Kazakh entity is a formal legal process |
Optimal headcount | Under 30 employees or market testing | 30+ employees with long-term commitment |
Control | EOR manages employment structure | Full control over every HR and payroll detail |
The EOR is not a permanent structure for most companies. It is the correct starting point, fast to deploy, low risk, no sunk cost if the market does not develop as expected. Companies that commit to Kazakhstan at scale transition to their own entity once the headcount justifies it. The EOR absorbs the complexity and cost during the testing phase.
How Gegidze Helps
Gegidze works with international founders structuring tax-efficient business operations across the Caucasus and Central Asia. For companies building teams in Kazakhstan alongside a Georgian entity, Gegidze provides:
Georgia as a regional hub for Central Asian payroll management, advising on how to register a company in Georgia as a low-cost operational base for teams with employees in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and beyond.
Tax structure for founders managing Kazakh remote teams, explaining how Georgia's low corporate tax rate interacts with the cost of Kazakh EOR arrangements and how to structure retained profits efficiently.
Individual entrepreneur registration, supporting founders who want individual entrepreneur in Georgia status as a personal income structure alongside their Kazakh-based EOR operation.
Georgia tax residency strategy, advising on how to obtain Georgian tax residency for founders managing Central Asian teams from Georgia and wanting to establish fiscal domicile here.
Multi-currency banking, helping companies open a corporate bank account in Georgia to manage KZT, USD, and EUR salary and operating cost flows from a single account.
Annual compliance and reporting, managing Georgia's tax deadlines and statutory filings for Georgian entities used as Central Asian operational hubs.
Final Thoughts
Hiring in Kazakhstan through an EOR is not complicated. The compliance framework is well-defined, the benefit structure is clear, and the remote work obligations are documented in statute. What trips up foreign companies is not the existence of the rules, it is not knowing them, or assuming that a payroll-only provider is sufficient.
The employer of record model handles the entire benefit and compliance stack: statutory contributions, paid leave, pension, equipment obligations, and the employment contract itself. What the EOR cannot do is build your employer reputation for you. That requires offering something above the statutory minimum, private health coverage, learning budgets, real onboarding, and equipment that arrives on time.
For founders who want to structure Kazakhstan operations efficiently alongside a Georgian entity or personal tax position, book a free consultation with Gegidze.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is private health insurance required by law in Kazakhstan?
No. The mandatory health coverage in Kazakhstan is the Mandatory Social Health Insurance (MSHI) system, into which both employers and employees contribute as part of the standard payroll structure. There is no legal requirement to provide private supplemental coverage. However, international employers operating in Kazakhstan's technology, finance, and professional services sectors almost universally offer private health insurance to remain competitive. It is an expectation of qualified candidates, not a legal obligation.
What is the minimum wage in Kazakhstan and how does it affect EOR pricing?
The national minimum wage in Kazakhstan is KZT 85,000 per month gross. Every employee must earn at least this amount. EOR pricing is separate from the minimum wage, an EOR like Team Up charges a flat service fee per remote employee per month regardless of the employee's salary level. The flat-fee model means EOR costs do not increase when employees receive salary rises above the minimum wage, unlike percentage-based pricing models that charge a proportion of gross salary.
What are the employer pension contribution rates in Kazakhstan?
Employer pension contributions in Kazakhstan are structured as follows: employees contribute 10% of gross salary to the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF). Employers contribute 2.5% starting from 2025 for employees born after 1975, with the rate increasing on a defined annual schedule through 2028. Both employer and employee also contribute to the State Social Insurance Fund and the Mandatory Social Health Insurance Fund. All of these are calculated, deducted, and remitted by the EOR as part of standard payroll processing.
Who is responsible for providing equipment to remote workers in Kazakhstan?
The employer is responsible under Article 138 of Kazakhstan's Labour Code. Remote work terms must be specified in the employment contract or a supplementary agreement. If the employer provides equipment directly, the terms of that provision must be documented. If the employee uses their own device, the employer must reimburse costs including installation, maintenance, internet, and relevant utility expenses. There is no compliant "bring your own device" default that eliminates employer responsibility. An EOR structures all of this in the contract and manages procurement or reimbursement accordingly.
What is the difference between EOR and payroll outsourcing in Kazakhstan?
Payroll outsourcing in Kazakhstan covers salary calculation, tax deduction, and filing, and nothing else. Your company remains the legal employer. You hold the compliance risk. To use payroll outsourcing, you must already have a registered legal entity in Kazakhstan. An EOR is the legal employer. Compliance responsibility transfers to the EOR. You can use an EOR without registering an entity in Kazakhstan. For a company without existing Kazakh infrastructure, payroll outsourcing is not a viable option, an EOR is the only compliant structure.
How do remote jobs in Kazakhstan compare to office-based roles for compliance purposes?
Remote work is legally equivalent to office employment in Kazakhstan, the Labour Code defines it as a formal employment format with specific documentation requirements. The compliance obligations are the same: correct contracts, pension contributions, health insurance enrolment, paid leave tracking, and equipment provision. The difference is that remote jobs require additional contract clauses on workspace, equipment, and connectivity. An EOR covers all of this without the employer needing to understand the specific requirements for each.
Can an EOR in Kazakhstan manage coworking and wellness perks?
Yes. A strong EOR can structure coworking memberships, wellness stipends, and other non-statutory benefits as part of the employment package. These are not legally required, but they are increasingly expected by candidates comparing international offers. The talent management strategy implication is clear: companies that include structured non-statutory benefits in their EOR arrangement retain Kazakhstan-based hires longer than those that offer only the statutory minimum.
