A French colony until 1953, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a landlocked country in southeast Asia bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. The economy depends heavily on investment and trade with Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Although rich in mineral resources, the majority of Lao’s economy and employment still depends on subsistence agriculture. The tourism industry is also growing rapidly and is expected to contribute a much larger share to the national economy. In Laos, the politically and culturally dominant Lao people make up the majority of the population and reside mostly in the lowlands. The other ethnic groups represented, who reside mostly in the foothills and mountains are the Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other indigenous hill tribes.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, contracts are deemed to be concluded for an indefinite period unless the employment contract states the term in writing. Contracts are also deemed as concluded for an indefinite period when neither party requests the termination of a fixed-term contract and the employee continues working after the agreement's expiry. Labor contracts concluded for an indefinite period cannot be renewed for a fixed-term without the employee's prior consent.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, employment contracts must be in writing and contain a list of specified terms found in the Labor Code. Terms of the labor contract can be changed only upon the written consent of both parties. In the case of fixed-term labor contracts, the employment contract must state the contract duration and circumstances that serve as a ground for concluding such fixed-term contracts.
According to a new amendment to the Labor Code, employment contracts can be made in electronic form now with digital signatures of both parties.
Employment contracts can include provisions on non-disclosure of state, business, commercial and other statutory confidential information, as well as commitment of an employee to work after training for a period stated in the contract or reimbursement of training costs when such training was provided by an employer and labor contract is terminated upon initiative of an employee prior to the contract expiry date.
The Kyrgyz Republic's Labor Code allows employers to conclude fixed-term contracts with employees for temporary and seasonal work when the work can only be done within a certain period (or season) due to natural conditions.
An employee can be employed on a temporary employment contract for a maximum of 2 months. Employers cannot implement a probationary period for temporary employees. Temporary employees are entitled to 2 working days of paid leave per month. In addition, these employees may be engaged to work on weekends and holidays if the written employment contract allows it. The employee is entitled to 200% of their regular hourly wages for work completed on such days.
Employers must give temporary employees written notice of 3 calendar days before termination. However, they are not required to pay any severance.
The Kyrgyz Republic's Labor Code provides that the probationary period in any job cannot exceed 3 months for regular employees.
For the following employees, the probationary period cannot exceed 6 months:
Heads of organizations and their deputies
Chief accountants and their deputies
Heads of branches
Representative offices
Other separate structural divisions of the organization.
The labor law prohibits the use of probationary periods for the following categories of employees:
Persons under the age of 18 years
Disabled persons
Temporary workers
Persons who have graduated from educational organizations of primary, secondary, and higher vocational education, who are working for the first time in their specialty
Workers transferring to work in another locality or another organization.
Employers can implement a probationary period for seasonal employees, but it may not exceed 2 weeks.
As stipulated by the Kyrgyz Republic's Labor Code, employees' normal work hours are 40 hours per week.
For the following categories of employees, hours of work are reduced as follows:
For workers aged 14 to 16 years: not more than 24 hours per week
For workers 16 to 18 years: not more than 36 hours per week
For workers engaged in heavy physical work or who work in harmful or dangerous working conditions: not more than 36 hours per week
For disabled persons with levels I or II disability ratings: not more than 36 hours per week.
The employer's internal labor schedule determines weekly day-offs: employees will receive 2 or 1 day off per week. In a 6-day workweek, daily working hours cannot exceed 7 hours; for a 5-day workweek, the workday cannot exceed 8 hours.
Per the Kyrgyz Republic's labor law, employees are entitled to paid annual leave of 28 calendar days after 11 months of continuous work in the same organization. Employees are entitled to a proportionate amount of leave after 14 days of employment. Parties may agree to grant paid leave before the expiration of 11 months.
Leave for the second and following years of work can be granted at any time within the business year in accordance with the organization's internal regulations.
The Kyrgyz Republic law requires that the employee be paid at least 3 days before starting their annual leave.
Employers can transfer the annual leave of an employee to the next year if providing leave to an employee in the current working year could adversely impact the ordinary course of work.
The Kyrgyz Republic's Labor Code does not contain specific provisions on sick leave. The Labor Code states that, during a temporary incapacity for work, the employer must pay the employee a temporary incapacity allowance. The social insurance fund provides the allowance.
The sickness allowance is equal to 60% of the insured employee's average daily wages in the 3 months before the incapacity began. It is paid for the first 10 working days if the employee has worked for less than 5 years. The sickness allowance is equal to 80% of the average daily wage if the employee has worked for 5 to 7 years and 100% of the average daily wage if the employee has worked for 8 or more years. After 10 days, the monthly benefit amount is 50 times the basic rate.
Per the Kyrgyz Republic's Labor Code, upon application and based on a medical certificate, women are entitled to a prenatal leave of 70 calendar days and a leave of 56 calendar days after the child's birth (70 days in case of complicated confinement or the birth of 2 or more children). The total maternity leave is 126 calendar days and is provided to the mother in full irrespective of the number of prenatal days she used.
For women working in high-mountain areas, maternity leave duration is 140 days: 70 days before and 70 days after the delivery (for complicated deliveries, 86 days after the birth, and for multiple births, 110 days after the birth).
The employer pays the first ten days of maternity leave, following which employees on maternity leave receive social insurance benefits from the state. 100% of the insured's average daily earnings in the 3 months before maternity leave commenced are paid for the first 10 working days. From the 11th day to the 126th calendar day of leave, 10 times the basic rate is paid.
The Labor Code of the Kyrgyz Republic does not explicitly provide for paternity leave. Employees are entitled to up to 5 days' unpaid leave for birth of a child in their family. Upon request, working women are entitled to additional unpaid maternity leave until their child reaches the age of 18 months. This unpaid maternity leave can also be used in its entirety or partially by the father, grandmother, grandfather, and any other relative of the child or de facto guardian taking care of the child.
According to the Kyrgyz Republic's Labor Code, employers must give a notice period of at least 1 month before terminating an indefinite employment contract. Fixed-term contracts can also be terminated before their expiry by providing a written notice to the employee. However, if the employee is dismissed due to a reorganization or a reduction of the organization's staff, the employer may terminate the employment agreement before the expiration of the notice period. In that case, however, the employer is required to compensate the employee an amount not lower than the average wage for each day remaining before the expiration of the notice period. An employee can terminate a fixed-term contract of 2 months or less by giving a written notice 3 days in advance.
During the notice period, the employee is entitled to 1 paid day off per week to look for another job.
Employers must give temporary and seasonal employees (as well as employees on a probationary period) written notice of 3 calendar days before termination.
Employees have the right to terminate an indefinite-term or fixed-term employment contract by giving the employer 1 month's written notice. During the settlement review period, the employee's employer is obligated to issue the employee a work record book and reduce the amounts due.
The Kyrgyz Republic's Labor Code requires the payment of severance benefits equal to at least 2 months' average wages when the contract is terminated for the following reasons:
Liquidation of the organization or termination of the individual employer
Reduction in the number of employees due to reorganization
Change in the ownership of the organization.
Additional severance benefits may be available to employees who apply with the state employment office within 10 days of being dismissed for the above reasons.
The severance pay is equal to at least 1 month's average wages when the contract is terminated for the following reasons:
The employee's refusal to transfer in connection with the transfer of the employer to another locality
The employee reporting for military service or other civil services or relocating in connection with the transfer of a spouse to military service in another locality
Restoration of an employee who previously performed the work upon the state labor inspector or court's decision.
