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Uzbekistan - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Tashkent

 

CLIMATE

Mostly midlatitude desert with long, hot summers and mild winters. There is semiarid grassland in east.

 

LANGUAGES

Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Uzbekistan’s legal system is an evolution of Soviet civil law. Uzbekistan still lacks an independent judicial system.

 

CURRENCY

Uzbekistani Sum (1 USD = 699.6500 UZS as of April 15, 2002).

The Uzbekistan Sum is a non-convertible currency.

 

UZBEKISTAN - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

UZBEKISTAN - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Toshkent

82 Chilanzarskaya

Tashkent, Uzbekistan 700115

Telephone: [7] (3712) 77-14-07

Fax: [7] (3712) 40-63-35

http://www.usembassy.uz/

 

Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan at Washington D.C.

1746 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20036

Telephone: (202) 887-5300

Fax: (202) 293-6804

http://www.uzbekistan.org/

 

UZBEKISTAN - HOLIDAYS

 

UZBEKISTAN - MINIMUM AGE

The minimum working age is 16 years. 15-year-olds can receive state permission to work but must work a shorter workday. In rural areas, younger children often help to harvest cotton and other crops.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Uzbekistan – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

UZBEKISTAN - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

As of September 2001, the minimum wage was 3,430 sums per month. The minimum wage does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Uzbekistan – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

UZBEKISTAN - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

UZBEKISTAN - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The law specifically provides that all workers have the right voluntarily to form and join unions of their choice, and that trade unions themselves voluntarily may associate territorially or sectorally. Membership in trade unions is optional. The law also declares all unions independent of the State's administrative and economic bodies (except where provided for by law), and states that trade unions should develop their own charters, structure, and executive bodies and organize their own work. However, in practice the overall structure of trade unions has not changed significantly since the Soviet era. Trade unions remain centralized hierarchically, and remain dependent on the Government. No alternative union structures exist. Independent unions do not exist.

 

There are a few professional associations and interest groups, such as a union of entrepreneurs, a union of renters, and an association of private physicians and pharmacists. There also are registered professional associations for judges and lawyers, both of which are quasi-governmental. An association of broadcasters that formed in 1998 has failed to gain government registration. The main activity of all registered associations is professional development. They do not license members and have no formal role in advocating the interests of members in relation to the Government.

 

According to the law, the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions (CFTU) has a consultative voice in the preparation of all legislation affecting workers and is entitled to draft laws on labor and social issues. Trade unions are described legally as organizations that defend the right to work and to protect jobs, and emphasis is placed on the unions' responsibility for "social protection" and social justice--especially unemployment compensation, pensions, and worker retraining.

 

The trade union law does not mention strikes or cite a right to strike; however, the law does give the unions oversight for both individual and collective labor disputes, which are defined as those involving alleged violations of labor laws, worker rights, or collective agreements. There were several reports of strikes during the year, which were the result of delayed payment of workers. According to reports, workers received at least partial payment as the result of their strikes. The media did not report on the strikes. It is not clear whether trade unions played a role in the organization of these strikes. Observers believe that the rarity of strikes reflects the absence of truly representative trade unions due to a falling standard of living and growing unemployment raised social tensions. There were several localized and short strikes during the year.

 

The law on unions provides that unions may choose their own international affiliations; however, none have done so.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Trade unions may conclude agreements with enterprises; however, progress in privatization has been very limited and collective bargaining does not occur. As a result, there is no experience with negotiations that could be described as adversarial between unions and private employers. The State still is the major employer, and the state-appointed union leaders do not view themselves as having conflicts of interest with the State.

 

The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Finance, in consultation with the CFTU, set the wages for various categories of state employees. In the small private sector, management establishes wages or negotiates them with those who contract for employment.

 

The law forbids discrimination against union members and their officers.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution specifically prohibits forced or bonded labor except as legal punishment or as may be specified by law; however, trafficking in women for the purpose of prostitution was a problem. In addition, persons, including teachers and sometimes passersby in automobiles and busses, are forced to participate in the compulsory mobilization of labor for the cotton harvest.

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, trafficking in girls for prostitution was a problem. In addition the large-scale compulsory mobilization of youth and students (by closing schools) to help with the cotton harvest during the fall, continued to occur. Student labor in the cotton fields is paid poorly, and students sometimes must pay for their food.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The minimum working age is 16 years; 15-year-olds can receive state permission to work but must work a shorter workday. In rural areas, younger children often help to harvest cotton and other crops. The Labor Ministry has an inspection service, which is responsible for enforcing compliance with these and other regulations governing employment conditions.

 

The Government has not ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, trafficking in girls for prostitution was a problem. Compulsory mobilization of children, mostly in rural areas, does occur during the cotton harvest.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Ministry of Labor, in consultation with the CFTU, sets the minimum wage. As of September, the minimum wage was approximately $3 (3,430 soums) per month. The minimum wage does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.

 

The standard workweek is set at 41 hours and requires a 24-hour rest period. Some factories apparently have reduced work hours in order to avoid layoffs. Overtime pay exists in theory but is not always paid in practice. Pay arrearages of 3 to 6 months are not uncommon for workers in state-owned industries, and the problem appeared to be growing.

 

The Labor Ministry establishes occupational health and safety standards in consultation with the unions. There is a health and safety inspection directorate in the Ministry. The local press occasionally published complaints about the failure of unions and government authorities to do enough to promote worker safety. Although written regulations may provide adequate safeguards, workers in hazardous jobs often lack protective clothing and equipment. Workers are permitted to leave jobs that are hazardous without jeopardizing their employability in other jobs; however, in practice high rates of underemployment make such action difficult.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

There are no laws that specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, and trafficking in women and girls from Uzbekistan for the purpose of prostitution was a problem, particularly to the Persian Gulf, South Korea, Thailand, and Turkey. There are no reliable statistics on this problem; and it does not appear to be widespread, although anecdotal reports from NGO's indicate that the number of young women from Uzbekistan who are trafficked into prostitution abroad is growing. Many victims are unwilling to come forward due to both societal pressure and the fear of retaliation from their traffickers. Traffickers most often target young women between the ages of 18 and 30. Agents in nightclubs or prostitution rings solicit these women, many of whom previously engaged in prostitution. In large cities such as Tashkent and Samarkand, traffickers use newspaper advertisements to lure women by promising high-paying work or marriage abroad. Travel agencies promising tour packages and work in Turkey, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also solicit prostitutes. Victims often are promised jobs as dancers or waitresses in nightclubs or restaurants in the destination country. In its 2000 annual report, Human Rights Watch claimed that, traffickers after bribing law enforcement officials, had arranged for women and girls as young as 13 to work as prostitutes in the UAE.

 

The Government has not acknowledged the problem of trafficking publicly, but has taken some measures to combat it. According to NGO representatives, the police force in Samarkand formed a special unit on trafficking in women in 1998, but the unit's effectiveness has been hampered by a lack of resources. Border guards at airports were directed to give more scrutiny to unaccompanied young women traveling to Turkey, the UAE, and South Korea; they are authorized to deny such women permission to leave the country. There was no information available on whether the Government had prosecuted any traffickers, by year's end. There is no government program to educate or assist potential victims.

 

There are no NGO's that address trafficking specifically, although several have attempted to gain information on the subject.

 

 

UZBEKISTAN - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

UZBEKISTAN - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The standard workweek is set at 41 hours and requires a 24-hour rest period. Some factories apparently have reduced work hours in order to avoid layoffs.

 

Overtime pay exists in theory but is not always paid in practice.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Uzbekistan – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)