In Kazakhstan, the payment of wages "in an envelope", or, as it is called in another way, "gray salary", is still actively practiced when the employment relationship is not formalized. Often, employees agree to such a scheme without realizing all the risks and long-term consequences. It is important to understand that the refusal of an official salary directly deprives an employee of social protection, savings for a future pension and the opportunity to rely on state support in unforeseen life circumstances.

The Department of State Revenue for the city of Almaty emphasizes: official employment is not just a formality, but the basis of your social security.

In practice, there are two main types of payments "in an envelope".:

• part of the salary is paid officially, the rest is paid in cash.;
• the employee is not officially registered with the company and receives the entire amount of salary "in an envelope".

The employer convinces the employee that such schemes are beneficial – supposedly then, the employee has more money "on hand", because they do not need to pay taxes and social payments. However, this view is erroneous: such an approach is beneficial only to the employer and harms not only the state, but mainly the employee himself.

Pension and health issues

Official employment provides:

• formation of pension savings;
• access to mortgages, car loans and other loans at a lower interest rate;
• receiving sick leave and vacation payments;
• disability benefits.

A person working without official registration is deprived of the possibility of monthly accrual of pension contributions, which means that by retirement age he may be left without a sufficient financial cushion. In addition, the length of service for this period of work will not be taken into account, which will affect not only the funded, but also the amount of the basic pension from the state.

Also, the lack of stable deductions may make it difficult to obtain loans: banks may refuse to lend or offer high interest rates.

In case of disability, the amount of the benefit depends on the official income, insurance length of service and the degree of disability. And if you work informally, you may lose this benefit, including hospital payments. In addition, informal employment deprives an employee of vacation payments, which must be provided without fail for the period worked.

Risks of loss of social support

Official employment provides access to social guarantees:

• termination or redundancy payments;
• job loss benefits;
• maternity payments;
• medical care within the framework of compulsory social health insurance (CSHI).

Employers make social contributions for employees to the State Social Insurance Fund. These contributions entitle you to financial support in the event of dismissal, job loss, or maternity leave. If the employee is not officially registered, he does not get access to these payments.

In addition, participation in the CSHI system is possible only with regular contributions. This provides free medical care according to the established list of services.

Women who receive income informally may be limited in the amount of state payments for pregnancy and childbirth, child care benefits, which in this case are calculated in a minimum amount.

Each employee can check the completeness of the employer's transfer of all mandatory salary payments (pension contributions, social contributions, individual income tax, CSHI, etc.) through the e-government portal "eGov.kz ", UAPF personal account "enpf.kz ", in the taxpayer's Office on the website "kgd.gov.kz ", also using the "e-Salyq" application Azamat".

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/kgd-almaty/press/news/details/1034473?lang=kk