Civil Servant Reprimanded for Taking Autistic Son to Doctor

A health department employee in Aqmola Region was reprimanded for leaving work to take her son to a doctor’s appointment. The psychiatrist’s consultation was required to secure disability benefits, but the department considered her two-hour absence a gross violation of labor discipline.

The disciplinary commission was chaired by the head of the department for the protection of mothers and children, Orda.kz reports.

What Happened

On August 1, Zarema Karimovna submitted a memo to then-department head Serik Sakhiev, informing that she would be absent on the morning of August 4. The reason was a routine examination of her son at the regional Mental Health Center. The Regional Health Department head forwarded the memo to Diana Dyusembayeva, Mukasheva’s immediate supervisor. That same day, Dyusembayeva rejected the request and advised her to apply for unpaid leave for personal reasons.

Despite this refusal, on August 4 Mukasheva took her child to the doctor. Colleagues recorded her absence from 9:00 to 10:55, calling it a serious breach of labor law.

According to Article 22 of the Labor Code, an employee must fulfill their duties in accordance with labor and collective agreements, follow the employer’s acts, and observe labor discipline, reminded Saltanat Balgozhina, Chief Specialist of the Unified Personnel Management Service of the Aqmola Region Akim’s Office.

“My Son Has Autism; My Husband Survived Two Strokes”

Mukasheva’s son turned seven this year. He was previously diagnosed with psychomotor development retardation, but she struggled to accept it, hoping he would “catch up.” Doctors confirmed autism. 

Since April, ahead of school, the family began the required examinations to obtain disability status.

We are now at the final stage of the examination, which requires four mandatory visits to a psychiatrist, one each month. I had tried asking for leave verbally before, but the department head always complained — either I notified her too late, or too early, or presented her with a fait accompli, Mukasheva said.

She explained that she had no alternative: her husband is disabled, with group II status, having lost 75 percent of his capacity to work after two hemorrhagic strokes. He himself requires assistance.

Their eldest daughter is a student.

I faced complete lack of understanding. According to Dyusembayeva, I should take unpaid leave to accompany my child to the doctor. Does this mean that for one or two hours spent on my son’s appointments, I must take unpaid leave? I am the only income provider in the family, she said.

A Disrespectful Reason?

The doctor’s appointment itself lasted 10–15 minutes, but preparing a child with autism takes additional time, so Mukasheva had noted a reserve of time in her memo.

To dress him, walk to the bus stop, get on the bus with him — it all requires effort, fuss, and persuasion. The appointment was at 10:30 on August 4; by 10:55 I was already back at work. There are records of this on official information portals. Yet, despite my formal notification, an act of absence was filed stating ‘without a valid reason.’ Is accompanying a special-needs child to the doctor not a valid reason?

She stressed that in no secular state is there a legal norm denying a mother such a right.

A child’s condition is clearly a valid reason, and this is confirmed by the Supreme Court’s regulatory ruling. We support Zarema’s arguments. If a disciplinary penalty is imposed, we will challenge it in court. Such cases are very common in our practice. Then let’s declare rights violated and compensate when people are forced to work until late at night,said Dauren Nursapanov, chief coordinator for the protection of medical workers’ rights in administrative and criminal cases at the AQNIET trade union, in an interview with Orda.kz.

Illegal Act

Colleagues who conducted the internal investigation claimed that she systematically violated labor discipline, citing her absence on May 5.

As I mentioned earlier, we were required to see a psychiatrist once a month. On May 5, we also had an appointment. Yet they, including department head Diana Kairlinovna, drew up a report against me. But I had informed the acting deputy head of the department at that time, Aislu Nurgazinovna (Musanova — Ed.). She confirmed that I had asked her for time off and canceled the report. For some reason, however, it still appears in the investigation materials, which is unlawful and shows bias against me,
 said Zarema Karimovna.

Aislu Musanova is prepared, if necessary, to provide a written refutation of the May 6 report.

Mukasheva also referred to Article 18 of the Constitution of Kazakhstan.

Every person has the right to privacy, personal and family secrets, and to the protection of their honor and dignity. To protect my business reputation, I am forced to disclose all the difficult circumstances of my personal life in this explanation. Information about medical care, diagnoses, or treatment is a medical secret. Department head Diana Dyusembayeva, after many years in healthcare, should know this, yet she still demanded ‘relevant documents,’she said. 

The chief specialist also pointed out procedural violations during the investigation.

For example, the department head indicated different times in the official letter and the act: from 9:00 to 11:21 and from 9:00 to 10:55.

She required an explanation within one day instead of the two working days prescribed by the rules on disciplinary sanctions. 

The rule requiring suspension of an investigation while an administrative civil servant is on a business trip was not followed. The composition of the commission differed from what was listed in the order, and no new order was included in the case materials.

Overall, questions remain about the legality of filing a report with the wording “without a valid reason.” Orda.kz has submitted a request to the regional department of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs.

Late Nights

Mukasheva said she had hoped common sense would prevail and the case would not reach trial. She called it absurd that a mother of a child with autism was being judged under the chairmanship of the very department responsible for protecting mothers and children, noting that the office had four specialists and she could have taken her son to the appointment and made up the hours later.

She noted that overtime was routine in the civil service, recalling how employees often stayed until two or three in the morning, sometimes even overnight, yet the Civil Service Agency never questioned why she was working at night or being given late assignments.

Her representative, lawyer Azamat Tashmaganbetov, cited paragraph 1 of Article 70 of the Law “On Marriage and Family,” which obliges parents to care for their child’s health.

With your actions, you are preventing her from fulfilling her legal obligation. Her husband is disabled, and the child has a serious diagnosis. There is simply no one else to accompany him. She did not leave work for personal convenience. Because of an hour and a half, you want to deprive her of her earnings for the whole day. That is wrong. In administrative law, we have the principle of balance — decisions must comply with both necessity and the law. 

He reminded the commission members — women and mothers themselves — of the need for humanity, pointing out that even in harsher times, people were not treated this way, and stressing that a mother caring for such a child should be supported, not punished.

An Inconvenient Employee?

Zarema Mukasheva believes the case is driven by personal hostility toward her as an “inconvenient employee.” During the investigation, Saltanat Balgozhina cited April memos related to her refusal to take on duties she considered outside her role, which Mukasheva sees as a key source of conflict.

The tensions grew after a departmental reorganization in November that merged the finance and economics & planning divisions.

When I was asked to read and sign my job description, I refused. I explained that it violated current legislation. Eighty percent of the chief accountant’s duties were transferred to me, along with many control functions not typical for a chief specialist. My representative, by power of attorney, submitted appeals to the regional Akim’s Office and the Agency for Civil Service Affairs. I believe that when violations of regulations are identified, the state body should recommend correcting them. If they had intervened, I would not be facing these problems with management, Mukasheva said.

The reasoned conclusion also noted that the head of the health department, Serik Sakhiev, had previously sent a letter to the akim’s office requesting an internal investigation into her refusal to sign the job description.

According to Mukasheva, pressure began after that — not only from the health department leadership, but also from the Akimat. She has repeatedly raised concerns about financial violations and systemic problems in the department.

For example, she refused to issue electronic keys to an employee hired by management who was formally listed in a subordinate medical organization but was expected to oversee billion-tenge government procurements for the health department.

At the disciplinary commission meeting, Mukasheva also pointed out the unlawful dismissal of deputy head for the protection of mothers and children, Yelena Ivanova, and claimed that pressure was being applied to deputy head for finance, Assel Kaldybayeva, who has already submitted her resignation. After her departure, the health department head will have no deputies left, although there are supposed to be three (the third for medical work).

Meanwhile, the regional Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS has three deputies, each earning close to one million tenge.

One of the most serious violations, which may trigger a criminal case, involves delays in returning the hospital and polyclinic of Avicenna-Burabay LLP, serving the Burabay district, to state control.

Eight years ago, these facilities were transferred to a business trust. Later, it emerged that the owner, in a “public-private partnership” with director Sergey Kilasyev and then-head of the regional health department Sulen Ilyasov, embezzled more than one billion tenge. They supplied second-hand, unusable medical equipment from abroad under the guise of new. The officials were imprisoned, but the businesswoman fled the country.

Paradoxically, she still receives state contracts. Despite a prosecutor’s order to terminate the agreement and return the facilities to state ownership, they remain under her management.

Having committed a crime against public health, she continues to profit from Kazakhstan's budget.

Meanwhile, rural medical centers of the LLP are in a dire state — ordinary people suffer from the greed of the founder and the inaction of officials.

“A Reprimand”

The commission ultimately issued Mukasheva a reprimand for violating labor discipline.

Yet the decision stands in stark contrast to recent statements by Labor Minister Svetlana Zhakupova, who highlighted that children with autism are under special protection of state institutions.

For many, the case raises doubts about whether the Aqmola Region Health Department is truly upholding that commitment.

Original Author: Assel Turar