Tengrinews.kz - The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Kazakhstan has addressed whether December 31 could be designated as a public holiday.
According to Deputy Minister of Labor Askar Biakhmetov, the idea of making December 31 an official holiday is not currently under consideration.
“As far as I know, there are no discussions on this issue at the moment. According to the law on holidays, December 31 is not listed as a public holiday,” he said during a government briefing.
Shalkar Orazbekov, head of the ministry’s Department for Labor and Social Partnership, explained that the issue had been studied previously, including a review of international practices.
“We’ve looked into this matter several times. Based on international experience, we concluded that December 31 is a regular working day in all countries—unless it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. January 1 and 2 are designated holidays and days off. So, at this point, the proposal to make December 31 a holiday is not being considered,” Orazbekov said.
However, he added that individual employers may choose to give employees the day off or shorten the workday under their own internal policies.
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