Employment in Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan recognizes employment through a трудовой договор, the employment contract that sets the worker's function, pay, working conditions and duties. Dependent employment is only one part of the labour market: the 2022 Census recorded 2,311,192 employed people of working age, including 1,335,318 employees and 1,090,910 people working in enterprises, organizations or institutions. Agriculture, household activity, individual entrepreneurship and other forms of work remain separate categories and should not automatically be treated as dependent employment. A person can apply directly to an employer, register with the state Employment Service or use the Population Employment Portal operated through the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population. The Employment Service provides vacancy information, counselling, job placement, vocational guidance, training, retraining and skills development without a worker-side placement fee. Local labour and employment bodies in cities and etrap centres register applicants, collect vacancies and organize vacancy events. The portal lists vacancies from enterprises of different ownership forms, state institutions and individual entrepreneurs. Applicants can record their education, work experience and desired position, but vacancy availability and conditions should be checked before applying. Private placement for work abroad is limited to licensed legal entities, and Turkmen citizens seeking work abroad follow a national procedure. Citizens have the right to choose their profession, activity and place of work. Permanent-resident foreign citizens and stateless persons generally have the same employment rights under the employment legislation, while separate Cabinet rules can apply to foreign labour. Unjustified refusal to hire is prohibited. A job applicant can request the reason for refusal in writing, and the employer should provide it within three days. The law also gives special protection in some cases, including quota referrals, directed graduates, pregnant workers, parents of children under three and some returning conscripts, although formal rights and actual access can differ. Typical hiring documents include an identity document or passport, a military-registration document where relevant, a трудовая книжка or work book except for a first job or some secondary employment, and a diploma or proof of qualification where the position requires it. A medical certificate and other documents may be required when the law specifically provides for them. An employer may not demand documents that are not legally required for the position. No official worker placement fee was identified, but medical and document costs are not published as one uniform national amount. Hiring normally starts with a written application and an employer hiring order. An employer who is an individual signs an employment contract with the worker. If the employer admits a person to work with its knowledge, an employment relationship can arise even when the paperwork is incomplete. The hiring order should be issued within three calendar days after the actual start of work. The worker must be informed of it against signature within three days and may request a copy. The employer must explain the job function, pay, rights and duties, internal rules and safety requirements. An employment contract may be indefinite or fixed-term. A fixed-term contract may last up to five years and is allowed only for a non-permanent or otherwise legally defined reason, such as replacement work, seasonal or temporary work, an emergency, foreign assignment, work for a small business or an individual employer, training or secondary employment. An employer may not use repeated fixed-term contracts simply to avoid employment guarantees. If the worker continues working after the fixed term ends and neither side ends the relationship, the contract becomes indefinite. Probation normally may last up to three months. The maximum is six months for enterprise heads, their deputies, chief accountants and branch heads. No probation applies in several protected situations, including workers under 18, graduates placed in their specialty, workers with disabilities, temporary or seasonal workers, certain pregnant workers and childcare cases, transfers, and competitive, elected or other specified appointments. During probation, the employer must give written notice no later than three calendar days before ending the relationship for an unsuccessful result. A worker may also leave during probation with three calendar days' notice. The general minimum working age is 18. Younger workers may work only in narrow artistic settings such as cinema, theatre, concerts or circus work, with consent from the worker, a parent or guardian and the guardianship authority, while schooling, health and moral development remain protected. Workers aged 16 to 18 may work no more than 36 hours per week, and workers under 16 no more than 24 hours per week. During employment, the worker performs the agreed function, follows internal rules and safety instructions, and completes required medical checks. The employer must provide the contracted work, safe and hygienic conditions, equal pay for work of equal value, full and timely wages, wage and withholding information, pension insurance, time records, training and safety measures, and reasonable accommodation for workers with disabilities. A normal working week may not exceed 40 hours. Schedules can use five working days with two days off, six working days with one day off or a rolling system. Night work runs from 22:00 to 06:00 and a night shift is normally shortened by one hour. Part-time work can be agreed between the parties. The employer must arrange reduced working time on request in specified cases, including pregnancy, caring for a child under 14 or a disabled child under 18, or caring for an ill family member. Overtime is limited to four hours over two consecutive days and 120 hours per year. Pregnant workers and workers under 18 may not be assigned overtime. A shift may last up to 12 hours, and the rest period between shifts should normally be at least 12 hours. A meal break normally lasts one to two hours and is usually provided after four hours of work. Basic annual paid leave is 30 calendar days. Pedagogical workers and education heads, and workers with disabilities, receive 45 days; researchers receive 45 days for doctoral studies and 36 days for candidate-level research. A worker normally obtains the first annual leave after 11 months of continuous work. The employer should notify the worker of the leave start no later than 15 days in advance. Hazardous work can bring at least three additional leave days. Unpaid leave is generally limited to 10 calendar days per year for valid reasons, with longer periods for specified groups. Unused annual and additional leave is compensated when employment ends. The minimum wage has been 1,410 manat from 1 January 2025. The contract or collective agreement can use a time-based or piece-rate wage system, but statutory pay may not fall below the minimum wage. Wages are generally paid at least twice a month. Leave pay should be paid no later than one day before leave begins. Payment may be made in cash or to a bank account at the worker's request, and the employer must provide wage and withholding information. A 2025 decree increased monthly wages by 10% for budget-funded institutions, self-supporting enterprises and public associations. Employers must provide induction, safety training, knowledge checks and required medical examinations. A worker may report or refuse work that threatens life or health. An enterprise with more than 50 workers must have an occupational-safety service or specialist. Formal law prohibits forced labour, but the ILO reported persistent widespread state-sponsored forced labour in cotton harvesting in 2024. Seasonal and field work therefore requires particular attention to whether recruitment is voluntary, pay and hours are clear, and complaint channels are accessible. A worker can normally end an indefinite or fixed-term contract by giving written notice two weeks in advance. The worker may withdraw the notice during that period, and an earlier end date can apply for specified urgent reasons such as study or elected office. The parties may also end the contract by written agreement at any time. Employer-initiated grounds include liquidation, redundancy, qualification mismatch, long absence, repeated breach, absence of more than three hours, intoxication, serious safety violations and false documents, among other statutory grounds. Liquidation or redundancy normally requires two months' written notice; qualification mismatch and fixed-term expiry generally require two weeks; specified misconduct can require three calendar days. In a redundancy case, the employer must offer a suitable vacancy at the same enterprise where one exists. Many employer dismissals require prior consent from a trade union or other worker representative, subject to exceptions. On the last workday, the termination order must state the exact legal ground, and the worker should receive the work book and a copy of the dismissal order. On request, the employer must provide a certificate showing the profession, qualification, employment period and wages within five days. Undisputed final sums are due on the dismissal day, or on the next day after the worker demands payment if the worker was absent. Liquidation or redundancy generally gives a severance payment equal to one month's average wage and continued average-wage support during placement for up to two months in total. A third month may be available when the worker contacts the Employment Service within two weeks and is not placed; refusing two suitable offers within three months removes that third-month continuation. A worker can challenge unlawful dismissal or transfer through a worker representative, employment or oversight bodies, or a court. Reinstatement and statutory compensation may follow, and a court can award at least three months' average wage instead of reinstatement at the worker's request. The Labour Market Development Concept through 2030 includes planned measures for digital vacancy services, labour-market data, labour-law modernization, stronger employment bodies and safety monitoring, retraining and international placement. These planned measures do not themselves create a current entitlement.