Almost 73 percent of Kyrgyz citizens are employed in the informal sector. The Minister of Social Development Taalaigul Isakunova told.
«When we say that today almost 73 percent of the country’s citizens are employed in the informal sector, this means that we have no opportunity to regulate this sphere of business relations. Oral contracts on labor relations are concluded, closed accounting is being kept, vacant places are being hidden. In this case, it is impossible to talk about the provision of an eight-hour working day, safe work, social guarantees, all deductions to future pensions, compensation for any injury in production,» Taalaigul Isakunova admitted.
According to her, many experts call the Kyrgyz labor legislation a good one. However, in fact, a large part of people is busy and forced to be engaged in the informal sector.
Kyrgyz citizens, who leave country to find job, can also find themselves in involuntary servitude.
A huge number of people today has to be in labor migration. The facts of forced labor, labor exploitation, and unsafe labor are registered. There were cases of death of our citizens. But Kyrgyz citizens, who travel to Russia, Kazakhstan, other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, must remember that there are agreements within the union: there is not only a single market for the production of goods, but also a single labor market now.
Any officially arrived citizen has the full right to demand from the employer compliance with all legislation of the host EEU country, all social guarantees that he must be provided with.
«But we are talking about the fact that a huge number of people get into an unregulated sphere. They informally leave, and then get into different situations — right up to being injured, and die. This area (informal departure and employment) is now very difficult to regulate. But within the framework of EEU and in other countries, there are many developed mechanisms, we have official agreements, treaties,» the minister said.
According to her, Russia is also doing everything possible to ensure, in the presence of an official hiring of a citizen, the observance of all legislation, regarding labor safety, social guarantees by the employers — citizens of the Russian Federation.
