Kazakh officials urged to switch off office lights after hours to fight overwork

Tengrinews.kz – Authorities in North Kazakhstan have proposed switching off lights in government offices after hours in an effort to curb excessive overtime among civil servants.
At a recent Ethics Council meeting in the region, officials discussed ways to prevent overwork, including surprise inspections and stricter enforcement of labor rules. One of the key proposals was to automatically cut electricity in administrative buildings during non-working hours to discourage employees from staying late.

“Everyone is still working late. We continue receiving signals that staff are staying in their offices well past closing time. This issue is being addressed weakly. We'll be conducting unannounced raids across all government agencies. I’ll personally go undercover and visit offices multiple times to assess the real situation,” said Yerzhan Karymsakov, chairman of the regional Ethics Council.

Karymsakov noted that in the first half of the year, random checks uncovered 37 cases of overwork in departments of internal policy, health, education, economy, entrepreneurship, and digital technology.
While department heads claim overtime is only allowed by formal orders with appropriate compensation, council members expressed skepticism.

“People still consider working late as the norm. When we bring up the issue, people just laugh it off and keep working past 10 or 11 PM. But if someone’s still in the office at 18:30, that’s already a signal. They shouldn’t be using electricity that long either,” Karymsakov said.

The council also acknowledged the unspoken workplace culture in which subordinates remain in the office as long as their manager is present — an issue many employees hesitate to report.

“If someone finally admits they’re staying late because of their supervisor, we’ll take action against that manager for failing to ensure proper working hours,” Karymsakov concluded.