Turkish Labor Law
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As is known, Law No. 6663, which has been entered in force as of 10 February 2016, has introduced new choices for working women and adoptive parents, such as working half-time up to a certain periods and work part-time until the child begins to school, after the expire of statutory maternity leave and/or half-time work periods.
Now the fields and works in which the part time work is permissible, and application procedures and principles have been determined by the Regulation issued in Official Journal numbered 29882, dated 8 November 2016.
DEFINITIONS
What is half-time work?
It is simply working half of the weekly working time.
What is part-time work?
It is the work up to two thirds of full working time.
Working time
Working time is forty-five hours maximum weekly. Unless the contrary has been decided, working time shall be divided equally by the days of the week worked at the establishment. Working time for miners working underground is maximum 7,5 hours daily and 37.5 hours weekly.
MATERNITY LEAVE
- In principle female employees must not be engaged in work for a total period of sixteen weeks, eight weeks before confinement and eight weeks after confinement. In case of multiple pregnancies, an extra two week period shall be added to the eight weeks before confinement during which female employees must not work. However, a female employee whose health condition is suitable as approved by a physician’s certificate may work at the establishment if she so wishes up until the three weeks before delivery. In this case the time during which she has worked shall be added to the time period allowed to her after confinement.
- In the event of preterm birth, the unused leave periods will be added to postnatal leave.
- In case the mother dies in childbirth or after the child was born, the unused leaves related the post-natal period shall be used by the father.
- One of the married couple or the adopter who adopted a child under three years of age will be allowed up to 8 weeks maternity leave starting from the date the child is handed over to them.
HALF-TIME WORK AFTER BIRTH AND ADOPTION
After the maternity leave, on condition that baby is born alive, working women,(or the male or female adopter of a child under three years of age), may work half time up to;
- Sixty days on first childbirth,
- One hundred and twenty days on second,
- One hundred and eighty days for the third child.
- In case of multiple births, one month will be added to that periods,
- This period will be applied as 360 days in case of child was born with disability.
- There will be no breast-feeding leave within the above said durations.
UNPAID LEAVE
- If mother so wishes, she can take an unpaid leave of up to six months after the expiry of maternity leave.
- The same leave will be granted to one of the married couple or the adopter who adopted a child under three years of age.
- This leave period will not taken into consideration in determining the right to annual leave with pay.
PART TIME WORK UNTIL THE CHILD BEGINS THE SCHOOL
Part-time working claim
- After the leave periods (maternity leave, half-time work, unpaid leave), one of the parents may claim to work part-time until the first day of the month following the date child’s compulsory schooling begins.
- If employee is using his/her unpaid leave he may switch to part-time work without waiting to complete the 6 weeks.
- Employee who wants to claim part-time work should notify the employer in writing at least one month before he/she starts working part-time.
Elements of the claim
- In the part-time claim of employee’s; part-time beginning date, and the start and end hours if the employee will work in all days of the week, or the days to be worked in case employee will work in certain days of the week should be stated.
- The document showing employee’s spouse is employed should be attached to claim.
- The petition of part-time claim should be kept in employee’s personal file.
Conditions of part-time work claims
In case one of the parents is not working, the working partner cannot claim to work part-time, However this condition is not required under the following situations,
- In case one of the parents has a sickness, which requires continuous care, and on condition that this is certified by a physician report in a a general hospital or university hospital.
- If the claimant employee is legal guardian of the child, in case the guardianship of the child given to one of the parents by the court.
- In case the child under three years of age adopted solely.
Above conditions required only in the time of claim. Changing of situations during part-time work will have no effect.
Obligation of employer
- Due claims should be met by the employer within one month at most as of the application date.
- Employer notifies his acceptance of the part-time work claim to employee in written.
- In case the employer doesn’t answer employee’s petition (written claim) in due of time, the claim will be valid in the stated start time.
- The claim cannot constitute a just cause for the employer for terminating the employment contract, in case the employee turns to work in the stated time (at the end of the part-time work).
Fields and works in which part time work is permissible
In following fields and works, part-time work can be permissible only by the employer’s consent
- In private health establishments; responsible manager, responsible physician,
laboratory manager, and the employees who are supposed to work full time in the jobs considered as health service. - In the works performed by continuing shifts because of their nature and which are considered industrial work.
- Seasonal campaigns and contract works last less than one year.
- If the hours of work cannot be divided due to nature of the job.
In the works which are not specified above employee may work part-time without consent of employer.
Also, the type of jobs, in which part-time work is permissible, can be determined by collective agreements.
Switch to full time work
- Employee, who started to work part-time, may switch to fulltime working, on condition that not benefiting from this right again for the same child.
- Employee who wants to benefit from this right or wants to switch to full time working shall notify the employer in writing at least one month before.
- In case the part-time working employee returns to full time work, the employment contract of the (temporary) employee who replaced him/her during this period will be terminated automatically.
- In case the employment contract of part-time working employee is terminated, the employment contract of the temporary employee transforms to open-ended and full time contract as of the date of termination, provided that his/her written approval obtained.
Determination of working time
- The daily or weekly time periods to be worked in part-time will be determined by employer, also by taken into consideration of local tradition, nature of work and claim of employee.
- Wages and other dividable benefits of part-time working employee should be paid in proportion of the time worked.
