"My husband is my employer. We've concluded the employment contract, pursuant to which he is the employer, and I am the nanny. My workplace is my home and I look after our children."
Is it possible to conclude an employment contract with your spouse? Do Uzbekistan's labour legislation allow such practice, and who benefits from it?
According to the latest version of the Labour Code of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, an employment contract may be concluded between two individuals without the need to register the employer as juridical person (i.g. organization, private entrepreneur). Assume that two ordinary people reach an agreement between themselves, according to which one performs the work specified in the agreement and the other pays for the work done. According to Articles 514-520 of the Labour Code, such an agreement is concluded for the performance of household work: the services of a nanny, caregiver, gardener, housekeeper, and the law does not expressly prohibit such an employee to be close relative, including a spouse.
Such employment contract shall be in writing in accordance with the requirements set forth in Article 515 and is subject to registration with the tax authorities. The employee, in our case the wife, in turn, shall register as a self-employed person with the tax authorities and pay taxes and social contributions.
So what is the benefit? - one might ask.
Status of "self-employed person" and payment of taxes triggers the years of working experience - in Uzbek it is commonly called "staj". Persons who have job experience (staj) are given the right to receive pension benefits at old age. The longer your "staj" is the more you get paid after retirement.
Unfortunately, in our society it is not uncommon when husbands discourage their wives from working outside the home, and instead force them to be "stay-at-home mom".
Housework is not legally recognized as a “job” even though it requires as much time and effort as corporate work and is one of the most important forces driving society's progress. Many women are trapped doing house chores for decades but do not have official work experience and are left without a pension in their old age.
Unpaid house labour, by definition, is the performance of work within the house, caring for children, elderly or sick relatives without monetary compensation in return. This work is essential for life and the functioning of economies but its importance is often underestimated. According to the UN, women worldwide spend 2.5 times more time on unpaid household work than men, performing about 75% of all unpaid work. In Uzbekistan in 2022 alone, the level of economic
inactivity among women of working age was 33.1 percent, compared to 18.9 percent among men. The fact that 50.6 percent of women aged 25–49 with children over three years of age or without children were not working compared to 5.9 percent of men, indicates the predominance of women engaged in unpaid housework. These data, cited in the International Labor Organization's research "Women and the Labor Force in Uzbekistan," clearly illustrate a structural problem: a significant
proportion of women of working age are in fact engaged in unpaid work caring for children and running households, remaining outside the formal labour market and social security systems. In this regard, registering women as self-employed persons and having them pay social taxes could be useful practice, as it would provide a minimum level of social protection in old age. Such a measure would partially compensate for institutional inequality and recognize the economic value of unpaid house labour, which is often taken for granted and performed mainly by women.
Is it possible to conclude an employment contract with your spouse? Do Uzbekistan's labour legislation allow such practice, and who benefits from it?
According to the latest version of the Labour Code of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, an employment contract may be concluded between two individuals without the need to register the employer as juridical person (i.g. organization, private entrepreneur). Assume that two ordinary people reach an agreement between themselves, according to which one performs the work specified in the agreement and the other pays for the work done. According to Articles 514-520 of the Labour Code, such an agreement is concluded for the performance of household work: the services of a nanny, caregiver, gardener, housekeeper, and the law does not expressly prohibit such an employee to be close relative, including a spouse.
Such employment contract shall be in writing in accordance with the requirements set forth in Article 515 and is subject to registration with the tax authorities. The employee, in our case the wife, in turn, shall register as a self-employed person with the tax authorities and pay taxes and social contributions.
So what is the benefit? - one might ask.
Status of "self-employed person" and payment of taxes triggers the years of working experience - in Uzbek it is commonly called "staj". Persons who have job experience (staj) are given the right to receive pension benefits at old age. The longer your "staj" is the more you get paid after retirement.
Unfortunately, in our society it is not uncommon when husbands discourage their wives from working outside the home, and instead force them to be "stay-at-home mom".
Housework is not legally recognized as a “job” even though it requires as much time and effort as corporate work and is one of the most important forces driving society's progress. Many women are trapped doing house chores for decades but do not have official work experience and are left without a pension in their old age.
Unpaid house labour, by definition, is the performance of work within the house, caring for children, elderly or sick relatives without monetary compensation in return. This work is essential for life and the functioning of economies but its importance is often underestimated. According to the UN, women worldwide spend 2.5 times more time on unpaid household work than men, performing about 75% of all unpaid work. In Uzbekistan in 2022 alone, the level of economic
inactivity among women of working age was 33.1 percent, compared to 18.9 percent among men. The fact that 50.6 percent of women aged 25–49 with children over three years of age or without children were not working compared to 5.9 percent of men, indicates the predominance of women engaged in unpaid housework. These data, cited in the International Labor Organization's research "Women and the Labor Force in Uzbekistan," clearly illustrate a structural problem: a significant
proportion of women of working age are in fact engaged in unpaid work caring for children and running households, remaining outside the formal labour market and social security systems. In this regard, registering women as self-employed persons and having them pay social taxes could be useful practice, as it would provide a minimum level of social protection in old age. Such a measure would partially compensate for institutional inequality and recognize the economic value of unpaid house labour, which is often taken for granted and performed mainly by women.
Jalgasbaeva Gulbakhar.
