Nearly 2,700 officials penalized for labor legislation violations in Uzbekistan

Since the year's start, 13,364 labor law violations have been officially recorded in Uzbekistan, Gazeta.uz reports with reference to the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction.

From January through April, the State Labor Inspection identified the most violations in the following areas:

- Institutions of public education (schools) — 5,612 cases (averaging 1,403 violations per month);
- Preschool education institutions (kindergartens) — 2,173 cases (543 monthly);
- Ministry of Health system — 1,215 cases (303 monthly);
- Agriculture — 452 cases (113 monthly);
- Construction organizations — 266 cases (66 monthly).

In 2023, the majority of labor law infractions occurred within the education field — 21,286 cases (an average of 1,773 monthly), healthcare — 3589 cases (299 monthly), construction — 1,867 cases (155 monthly), agriculture — 1,775 cases (147 monthly), whilst there were 686 in the industry, 539 in transport, 274 in the banking and finance system, 237 in trade and services, and 10,977 in other sectors.

Comparing monthly averages, the education and healthcare sectors were found to have more violations.

In total, 4,321 inspections were carried out during the audit, resulting in 2,682 officials being fined approximately 6.2 billion UZS (nearly 2.5 million UZS per individual). Another 166 cases were transferred to law enforcement agencies.

The majority of detected violations were related to:

- Incorrect labor contracts — 617 cases;
- Wage payments — 1,462 cases;
- Providing leave benefits — 1,474 cases;
- Failing to provide or hiding information about workplace positions — 846 cases;
- Illegal dismissals — 312 cases;
- Failing to organize training and verification of employee knowledge — 626 cases;
- Not providing special clothing and protective equipment — 332 cases.

As a result, 44,413 unofficial job positions were registered by the State Labor Inspection, and 26.4 billion UZS in wages were awarded to 5,997 citizens.

During this period, there were 7,157 inquiries, of which 4,663 were satisfied and explanations were provided for 2,697. Most of the inquiries were related to timely payment and other types of compensation — 3,637, illegal dismissals — 605, informal use of an employee — 467, and violations in recruiting practices — 382.