The main idea of the study is to substantiate legislative proposals, recommendations on the introduction in Kazakhstan of the standards of social protection systems of OECD member countries. As a result of the research, conclusions were drawn up aimed at improving the norms of the current legislation and law enforcement practice, and on modernizing measures to implement social policy in the context of the process of the progressive development of Kazakhstan as a social state. The purpose of the article is to develop recommendations, proposals focused on the further development of the legal framework of the social sphere in Kazakhstan as a perspective orientation of legal science and as the most important mechanism for implementing a number of constitutional human and citizen rights. The purpose of the study is limited to four main areas, namely the analysis of social protection systems of OECD countries in the event of the following social risks: disability, poverty, retirement age, and social security guarantees for the family and the child. The applied objective of the work is related to the justification and elaboration of a set of proposals to improve the current social legislation, proposals to increase the effectiveness of state social policy, to introduce the standards of OECD countries in the field of social protection into Kazakhstan's domestic law. Targeted users of the research results are the interested state bodies, the scientific community, students, undergraduates, doctoral students, a wide range of persons interested in the problems of legal provision of state social policy, social human rights.

No country in the world has achieved full gender equality in labour relations. Kazakhstan has just begun a long way of creating legislative and organizational conditions for equality in the workplace. It is obvious that to create a more equal, gender-sensitive society, a state will require profound changes in perceptions, attitudes, stereotypes, and laws. Facilitating such changes is justified not only from a moral but also from an economic point of view. Today, the requirements for women in society in the performance of labour functions are the same as for men. However, in family and domestic relations, there is a persistence of the gender stereotype of male privileges. There is no change in sectoral gender segregation. Women still make up more than 70% of employees in the health, education, and social services sectors, while women's representation in the financial and public sectors is slightly more than half. Traditionally, these types of sectors are less profitable compared to "male industries," such as construction, oil and gas, mining, and transport. The level of attracting female labour in innovative, infrastructural, and high-tech projects and programs is very low. The issue of expanding the economic opportunities of rural women, who are denied access to public and state resources and services, remains relevant. In the article, we show the possibilities for ensuring equal employment of men and women in Kazakhstan. The proposals on the improvement of legislation on labour protection and labour conditions and improvement of working conditions are presented, and the possibilities of introducing and expanding flexible forms of employment are considered. Conclusions are drawn on the revision of the list

International ratings confirm that Kazakhstan is a leader in Central Asia in addressing the causes of gender inequality; however, there are still significant gender differences in key areas. In particular, gender discrimination in the labor market is complex: when hiring or dismissing, while restricting access to certain professions and positions, in matters of promotion and career growth, when remuneration is paid for performing the same work, not related to differences in labor efficiency. Discrimination is especially sensitive in relation to pregnant women and women with young children. Discrimination continues with access to social measures for avoiding poverty and in the pension system. Further progress requires more strategically significant and focused actions to identify and bridge the remaining factors of systemic discrimination and gender gaps. In the article, we show the insufficient attention of the legal science of Kazakhstan to the problems of regulation of equality. We present the author’s methodology for analyzing labor and social legislation from the perspective of regulating gender equality, consisting of several assessments: Kazakhstan’s fulfillment of international obligations; implementation of the principle of nondiscrimination in labor and social legislation; administrative and judicial mechanisms to protect against discrimination based on sex; and opportunities for implementing best foreign and international practices for the regulation of equality.

Issue under consideration: existing legal resources to support gender equality in the workplace. We systematised the provisions of Kazakhstan labour law, which should guarantee the prohibition of discrimination based on sex. The analysis resulted in fi ve themes: "Characteristics of women's labour", "Analysis of labour laws differentiation", "Evaluation of labour rights discrimination" and "Characteristics of the new labour legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan", "Characteristics of workers with a special social status". We analysed the essence of the method of differentiation of labour legislation, which affects the establishment of special working conditions for women and workers with family responsibilities. We suggested a correlation between the content of legal norms and the level of guarantees of gender equality in the labour market.The results show that family circumstances, gender equality are factors infl uencing the formation of labour legislation, state policy in the fi eld of wage labour. The creation of a favourable environment for labour relations of the considered categories of workers should be carried out through labour contracts, acts of the employer, social partnership agreements, collective agreements. However, priority should be given to normative acts of national action. Ensuring gender equality in fact always requires the implementation of special measures by the employer, which must be guaranteed by a coercive state mechanism. At least this thesis is true for the conditions of Kazakhstan, a country with a transition economy, when business does not have high social activity, and state power is in a period of transformation. Importance should be given to the monitoring and implementation of international obligations in the fi eld of ensuring the prohibition of discrimination, the implementation of best practices and standards. The post-Soviet law of Kazakhstan recognises the priority of international law over national law, and this channel should be maximally used to promote the value of gender equality.

We argue that using human dignity as a criterion for determining social protection measures is an effective method. Although the concept of human dignity used in the constitutions of individual countries and international documents is vague and contradictory, it can be taken as a basis when justifying the human right to such a level of social protection that guarantees life with human dignity. That is, we adhere to the widespread opinion that human rights are justified by human dignity. We discuss how the concept of human dignity can influence the coercion of state authorities in Kazakhstan to fulfil their obligations to citizens on social assistance, how this concept can influence state social policy. Thus, the submissions can serve as a basis for the improvement of the regulatory legal framework in rights and freedoms protection.