Kazakh Woman Sues Employer Over Delayed Child Support Payments

A resident of Kazakhstan faced a situation where child support was deducted from her children's father's salary but never reached her due to the employer company's accounts being frozen. Justice was ultimately restored only in the cassation instance, reports infohub.kz.

According to the court's press service, the employer withheld 513,362 tenge in child support from the employee's wages. However, the funds could not be transferred to the recipient because the company's accounts were seized. As of September 1, 2025, the father's child support arrears amounted to 1.1 million tenge. The company's official was held administratively liable for failing to comply with the bailiff's demands.

The woman filed a lawsuit seeking to recover the withheld but unpaid child support from the company, as well as a penalty. However, the courts of first instance dismissed her claims, reasoning that the employer is not a debtor in child support obligations and bears no material liability to the claimant.

The cassation court disagreed with this position. The judges noted that the employer is obliged to transfer withheld child support to the recipient no later than three days from the date of salary payment. Responsibility for delaying such transfers falls on the organization's official.

"After child support is deducted from an employee's wages, that money ceases to belong to the employee and does not become the employer's property. It has a designated purpose and must be transferred to the recipient. The presence of seizures or other encumbrances on the legal entity's accounts does not relieve the employer of this obligation. Since the withheld child support was not transferred, the employer's obligation resulted in a separate monetary debt to the recipient. Therefore, the plaintiff is entitled to demand recovery directly from the organization," the court explained.

Ultimately, the court ordered the company to pay the recipient 513,362 tenge in withheld but unpaid child support, plus a penalty of 168,690 tenge. Additionally, the organization was ordered to pay state fees of 10,230 tenge.