Legal aspects of regulating the investment of pension savings in the context of the digitalization of employment in the Republic of Kazakhstan

Abstract

This article examines the legal aspects of regulating pension savings investment in the context of the digitalization
of employment in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The aim of the study is to analyze the impact of platform
employment and the digital transformation of the labor market on the mechanisms for the formation, administration, and investment of pension savings, as well as to identify legal challenges and prospects for improving legislation in this area. The study employs general scientific and specialized legal methods, including formal legal, comparative legal, systemic, analytical, and statistical methods. The empirical basis of the study comprises the provisions of the Social Code and Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, official materials of the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF), the results of sociological research, data from pilot projects on platform employment, and scientific publications on the digital economy and pension provision. The study found that the digitalization of employment contributes to expanding coverage of the funded pension system by engaging platform workers and self-employed individuals. It also found that the introduction of digital platforms and automated mechanisms for the payment of mandatory pension contributions simplifies the administration of social payments and reduces the level of informal employment. At the same time, legal uncertainty surrounding the status of platform workers, the ineffectiveness of pension asset investment, and low levels of financial literacy among certain population groups were identified as significant challenges. The authors conclude that further improvements to the labor, social, and digital legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan are necessary, as is the development of comprehensive mechanisms to protect the rights of platform workers and improve the efficiency of pension savings management in the context of the digitalization of the economy.