The proposed innovations, according to official sources, are designed to simplify labor relations and reduce bureaucracy. This is expected to reduce administrative costs.
The Ministry (MTSOiM KR) hopes that with the introduction of an electronic system a centralized database will be created. “The digital transition will accelerate the process of drafting and approving employment contracts and work books,” explains the department. “Employers will be able to quickly create, edit and sign documents in electronic format, reducing time spent on paperwork. The system will also provide employees with access to workbooks.”
The digitization of document flow is a continuation of reforms aimed at introducing new technologies into labor relations. Since October 1 of this year, for example, rules have already come into force in the republic according to which payments to employees must be made in non-monetary form and employers must maintain an electronic register of employees and update information about them in a timely manner. In case of non-compliance with the requirement, a fine of 3,000 soms is foreseen for natural persons and 6,500 soms for legal entities. However, the government is only willing to punish private structures with the ruble. Budgetary organizations will not be fined.
As the Ministry of Labor explained to the RG correspondent, the government has entrusted the department with the task of transferring all processes to a digital format.
“To date, the State Agency for Civil Service Affairs, together with the state-owned company Infocom, under the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, has developed a module for electronic labor books, and is now in the development process “- noted Bermet Karabaeva, head of the Department for the preparation of labor decisions and the development of active measures of the Ministry of Labor and Labor of the Kyrgyz Republic. – Naturally, the module will go through an adaptation stage and, in the second step, its widespread distribution will be considered, not only to civil servants, but also to all working citizens. It is important to understand that all this is done to protect the interests of workers and for their convenience, to simplify procedures for obtaining government and commercial services. The same applications for loans or mortgages will be received in digital format: there will be no need to run and collect certificates, it is enough to provide extracts from the Tunduk system.
But above all, as the representative of the department emphasizes, digitalization develops social protection. The system reflects all records, as well as accruals and deductions, which is convenient when applying for a pension and receiving social services, including medical ones. And, according to Karabaeva, every worker must demand that the employer officially register and pay all social and security contributions.
Once again, sick leave certificates and their accruals will soon be issued in electronic format. All this will be monitored by the responsible government agencies. It will no longer be possible to hide in the shadows and receive salaries “in envelopes.”
“People must understand that formalizing labor relations is a guarantee of social protection,” Bermet Karabaeva emphasizes, adding that when preparing the reform, the promoters took into account the opinions and wishes of the business community.
At the same time
According to the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, the volume of non-monetary payments in 2023 increased by 32.3 percent compared to 2022. Taking into account the digitalization of the labor market, this figure may increase significantly.
Competent
Sergey Ponomarev, President of the Association of Markets, Trade and Service Enterprises of the Kyrgyz Republic:
– The electronic work book, non-cash transfers of salaries, as well as changes in the rates of social and security contributions are fragments of a chain, a single transformation of the social protection system. Its main objective is to remove employers and employees from the parallel sector. It is necessary for the former to understand that it is cheaper and more convenient to pay and register “blank” than to hide data and then pay large fines. And the latter, that is, the employees, finally realized that they have rights and must defend them, that their future pension depends on legal registration and the deduction of contributions. I don’t want to, of course, but I also need to think about old age.
At the same time, social and security contributions remain the same today. Namely, education of children in schools and kindergartens, medical care. God forbid, of course, but if a person is hospitalized under the Compulsory Health Insurance (CHI) system, he will pay much less than without it.
Furthermore, as a citizen and as a leader of a business association, I believe that all these innovations aim primarily at transparency.
There is one more important point. Often, when citizens begin to collect certificates to apply for a pension, it turns out that the organizations in which they worked no longer exist. There is no documentary base, nor marks in the Social Fund. The digital system will eliminate these cases. In this case, the document processing procedure will literally be reduced to pressing a button.
It is clear and understandable that not everyone will immediately switch to the new format. People are conservative by nature. They need time. But a little later these procedures will become familiar to you. After all, until recently online commerce and payment through mobile applications seemed strange to us, but now they have become common and banal. Therefore, sooner or later we will reach a new level of financial transparency and protection of workers’ rights.
