An Employee Fell Ill While on Leave: How to Extend Leave in Kazakhstan

In 2026, Articles 87 and 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan do not establish the procedure for extending annual paid leave due to illness: Article 87 regulates restrictions on a taxpayer’s disposal of property, while Article 97 regulates the registration of a sole proprietor and a person engaged in private practice (Articles 87 and 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan). Therefore, these provisions cannot be used to determine either the number of days to be added or the period for which the leave should be rescheduled.

Why Illness “Interrupts” Leave

The statement that annual paid leave is intended for rest and is granted with the employee’s position and average salary retained relates to labor legislation. Paragraph 2 of Article 87, as set out in the official text of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2026, contains no such rule: this article concerns restrictions on the disposal of property where grounds stipulated by tax legislation exist (Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

Therefore, Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan cannot be cited as grounds for automatically extending leave. The period of temporary incapacity for work and the subsequent use of leave days must be recorded separately in HR documents so that the dates of the employee’s absence correspond to the timesheet and payroll documents.

It is important to distinguish between the types of employee absence:

• annual paid leave — a rest period documented by the employer in an HR document;
• temporary incapacity for work — a period confirmed by a duly executed document issued by a medical organization;
• social leave — a separate type of release from work that must not be confused with annual paid leave.

Article 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan also does not regulate unpaid leave. In 2026, it establishes the specific rules for initial registration and amendments to the registration details of a sole proprietor and a person engaged in private practice (Article 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan). Consequently, this article cannot serve as grounds for resolving an HR matter concerning illness during social leave.

What the Employee Must Do

To enable the employer to document the periods of absence without discrepancies in HR records and the timesheet, the employee should take several steps:

1. Contact a medical organization and obtain a document confirming temporary incapacity for work.
2. Notify the employer of the illness by any available means. Written notification makes it possible to record the notification date and the expected period of absence.
3. State in writing how the employee wishes to use the leave days: continue the leave after the end of the temporary incapacity for work or use the corresponding days during another period.
4. Submit the closed temporary incapacity for work document to the employer for HR processing, completion of the timesheet, and calculation of payments.

If the employee does not return to work after the original leave end date and does not report the reason for the absence, the employer will not have a document allowing the period to be recorded correctly immediately. Timely written notification helps align the dates of the leave, illness, and subsequent return to work.

How the Employer Should Document the Leave Extension

A reference to paragraph 6 of Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan as grounds for issuing an employer’s act should be excluded. In the official text of this article, paragraph 6 concerns the tax authority’s delivery of a decision to restrict the disposal of property, an inventory report, and a decision to revoke the restriction (Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

To ensure consistent HR records, the employer should formalize the decision by an internal act. Depending on the selected procedure, the document may record:

• a change to the leave end date if the employee continues the leave after the temporary incapacity for work document is closed;
• use of the remaining days during another period if the employee returns to work after the illness and the leave days are granted later.

The employer’s act should specify the supporting document, the period of temporary incapacity for work, the dates of the previously documented leave, and the new period of absence. The employee’s written request makes it possible to record the selected option and prevent discrepancies between HR documents and the timesheet.

If the temporary incapacity for work continues beyond the original leave end date, the leave period and the illness period must be distinguished in the records. The actual return-to-work date is determined after the temporary incapacity for work document is closed and the subsequent period of absence is documented.

What the Accountant Should Consider When Calculating Payments

The accountant must reconcile the original leave order, the temporary incapacity for work document, the timesheet, and the employer’s subsequent act. Articles 87 and 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan provide no grounds for asserting that vacation pay must be reversed or retained for overlapping days: the cited provisions regulate other legal relations.

The practical sequence for processing the documents may be as follows:

• Check the overlapping dates. Determine which calendar days are included both in the original leave period and in the temporary incapacity for work document.
• Correct the timesheet based on the executed documents. Leave and temporary incapacity for work are recorded as separate periods of absence.
• Reconcile the amounts previously accrued with the final HR dates. The adjustment is made after the employer has formally documented the actual periods of leave and illness.
• Calculate payments separately for each basis. The calculation must correspond to the documents confirming the leave, temporary incapacity for work, and subsequent use of leave days.

When calculating the dates, it is also important to account separately for public holidays, temporary incapacity for work, and actual leave days. Combining these periods may result in an incorrect return-to-work date, an error in the timesheet, and discrepancies with the amounts accrued. Each period should be calculated based on its own supporting document.

Common Mistakes

• Citing Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a labor law provision. In 2026, it regulates restrictions on a taxpayer’s or tax agent’s disposal of property (Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).
• Treating Article 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a provision on unpaid leave. This article concerns the registration of a sole proprietor and a person engaged in private practice (Article 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).
• Failing to reconcile the dates in the documents. The periods in the medical document, leave order, timesheet, and payroll documents must correspond to one another.
• Changing accrued amounts before completing the HR documentation. The actual periods of absence must be recorded first, after which the calculations should be brought into line with them.
• Automatically selecting an option for the employee. The employee’s written request makes it possible to record when the employee intends to use the remaining leave days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the employer refuse to extend the leave if the employee falls ill? — Articles 87 and 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan do not answer this question. They cannot be used to substantiate either a mandatory extension or a refusal: both provisions regulate tax rather than labor relations.

Does the employee need to submit an application to extend the leave? — A written request records the employee’s wishes and the selected dates for the subsequent leave. Together with the temporary incapacity for work document, it serves as the basis for consistent HR processing.

What is paid for days of illness during leave: vacation pay or temporary incapacity benefits? — The accountant separates the payments after determining the actual periods of leave and temporary incapacity for work based on the executed documents. Articles 87 and 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan do not establish the procedure for this calculation.

Is unpaid leave extended if the employee falls ill? — Article 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan does not regulate unpaid leave. It concerns the registration of a sole proprietor and a person engaged in private practice, so it cannot be cited when documenting such leave (Article 97 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

How should a change to the leave period be documented? — For HR record-keeping purposes, the employer’s decision is recorded in an internal act specifying the temporary incapacity for work document, the original leave dates, and the new period of absence. A reference to paragraph 6 of Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan in such an act is incorrect because this paragraph concerns documents issued by the tax authority (Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

Sources

• Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Article 87. Restrictions on the disposal of property of a taxpayer (tax agent)
• Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Article 97. Specific rules for initial registration and amendments to the registration details of a sole proprietor and a person engaged in private practice