Turkish Labor Law
Based on the law no 7244 introduced to combat Covid-19’s impacts on the labor, there have been a lot changes to the business life in Turkey. One of these changes is the employer’s control over assigning unpaid leave on its workers. There is a new code to define the missing days for the workers to get paid during this unpaid leave.
How will unpaid leave due to the epidemic be applied ?
Due to the epidemic, many businesses had to stop or decrease the working time, harming both employers and employees. The most important change in the new law is the prohibition of layoffs by employers for 3 months. On the other hand, to support employers who struggle paying wages, the Turkish government introduced unpaid leave.
The unpaid leave used to be a leave that was initiated by the employee’s request and finalized by the approval of the employer. During the unpaid leave, the employment contract was suspended, the insurance premiums of the worker were not paid, the wages were not calculated. With the right granted by the new law, the employer can give unpaid leave to workers, whom he deems appropriate, for 3 months with a prohibition of termination. It is possible to employ some workers at work and leave some for unpaid leave. Unpaid leave can be applied by the employer for the whole month or in part.
During the unpaid leave, workers will receive wage support from the government. This support is determined as 39.24 TL per day. The amount will be applied not only to workers who are sent for unpaid leave, but also to those who cannot receive unemployment benefits after 15 March.
An administrative fine will be imposed on the employer who still employs his unpaid workers. If it is determined that the worker, who has left the work allowance, is working elsewhere, again, the penalty will be imposed on the employer who applied for a short-term work allowance.
How will SSI notifications of the worker on unpaid leave be done?
The employer, who could not terminate the employment contract under the influence of the pandemic, and grants his employee unpaid leave, will inform his employees of the SSI “28-PANDEMIC FREE PERMIT (4857 LATE. 10th MD)” due to the missing day. The code is defined in SGK Monthly Premium and Service Declaration and Concise and Premium Service Declaration screens.
How Will Other Unpaid Leaves Be Used In The Outbreak?
Notifications of workers who have been granted unpaid leave at their own request before or after the epidemic will continue to be reported with the code “21-Other Free Leave”. The new code will be used for workers assigned to unpaid leave by the employer after the law (28- Pandemic Unpaid Leave).
Maternity leave, which can be used after the maternity report, will also be reported to the institution with “19-Unpaid Maternity Leave”. If an employee who is on unpaid maternity leave during the pandemic, finishes the leave and resumes work but the employer sends her on unpaid leave once again, the “28-Pandemic Unpaid Leave” code will be used to notify the new unpaid leave.
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