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9 Chapter Labor
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Overview of Labor Standards Act
■ System for flexible employment[Rules of an employee´s transfer]If an employee wants to transfer offices to another entity owned by a different person, the employee will not retain their rights based on continuous employment, and employment benefits linked to the length of employment will be reset.But, if the employee is transferred to a new entity owned by a different person as a result of a business transfer made by the employer, then the employee will retain all rights linked to the length of employment and will continue to work in the same place, and in such case the working conditions of the employee cannot be changed.In such a transfer, all of the employment agreements will also be directly transferred to the new owner.[Extension of trial employment period]If the employer and employee have agreed to include a trial clause in the employment contract, the duration of the trial term shall not exceed two months. The trial period may be extended up to four months if it’s by a collective agreement. Within the trial term the parties are free to terminate the employment contract without having to observe the notice term and without having to pay compensation. The employee’s entitlement to wages and other rights for the days worked is reserved.[Institutionalization of contracts of fixed-term employment]Employment contracts shall be made for a fixed term or indefinite known as open-ended contract period. In terms of the manner of working, these contracts may be concluded on a full-time or part-time basis, or with a probation period or in other forms possible. An employment contract for a definite period is known as a fixed term contract, has a specified term or which is based on the emergence of objective conditions like the completion of a certain work or the materialization of a certain event. An employment contract for a definite period must not be concluded more than once, except when there is an specific reason.[Institutionalization of labor contracts of part-time]This employment contract shall be considered as a part-time contract where the normal weekly working time of the employee has been fixed considerably shorter in relation to a comparable employee working full-time.There must be no difference between the part-time worker in comparison to a full-time employee solely because his contract is part-time. The divisible benefits to be accorded to a part-time employee in relation to wages and other monetary benefits must be paid in accordance to the length of his working time proportionate to a comparable employee working full-time.[Institutionalization of On-call labor]According to Turkish Law the employment relationship which foresees the performance of work by the employee upon the emergence of the need for his services, as agreed to in the written employment contract, qualifies as a part-time employment contract based on work on call. This means that when the employee is needed he will be called.In the event the length of the employee’s working time has not been determined by both, the employer and employee, the weekly working time is considered to have been fixed as twenty hours. The employee is entitled to wages irrespective of whether or not he is engaged in work during the time announced for work on call. Unless the contrary, the employer who has the right to request the employee to perform his obligation to work upon call must make the said call at least four days in advance.The employee is obliged to perform work upon the call communicated to him within the said time limit. If the daily working time has not been decided in the contract, the employer must engage the employee in work for a minimum of four consecutive hours at each call.■Rules of labor protection[Labor protection attend on changing office’s owner]Under Article 6 of the Turkish Labor Code, in the event that the workplace or a part of the workplace is transferred through a legal transaction, all of the existing employment agreements will also be transferred to the new owner together with all rights and obligations that have accrued under those agreements.The new employer will be held liable for debts accrued before the transfer date along with the old employer. The liability will expire following the end of two years following the transfer date.[Institutionalization of shorter working hours]The tendency to shorten weekly hours is quite high in industrialized countries of the European Union. With the reduction in working hours the decrease in the supply of labor force related to the decrease in population causes the economic labor force to fall. A decrease to 45 hours per week would result in employment for 1.867 workers. If the working hours were reduced by one hour per week, 231,000 additional jobs could be created.[Expansion of guaranteed employment plan]The employer, who terminates the contract of an employee engaged for an indefinite period, who is employed in an establishment with thirty or more workers and who meets a minimum seniority of six months, must depend on a valid reason for such termination connected with the capacity or conduct of the employee or based on the operational requirements of the establishment or service.The six-month minimum seniority of the employee shall be calculated on the basis of the sum of his employment periods in one or different establishments of the same employer. In the event the employer has more than one establishment in the same branch of activity, the number of employees shall be determined on the basis of the total number of employees in these establishments.■ Labor standards in Turkish Labor LawEmployees are entitled to paid annual vacation for the periods as long as the they have worked for at least one year including the probation period.Years of workMinimum paid vacation period1-5 years (inclusive)14 working days5-15 years20 working days15 years (inclusive) or longer26 working daysThese benefits are the minimum levels set by law and may be increased depending on the collective or personal employment contract.Days of OperationHours of operationBreakOfficesMondays to Fridays09:00 - 17.00with an hour's break at noon.BanksMondays to Fridays09:00 - 17.00with an hour's break at noon.StoresMondays to Sundays09:00 - 19.00During the summer months, the working day begins at 7am or 8am and end at 2pm, in some cities.■Wage Relation LawThe Minimum Wage Regulation (last modified in 2014). The purpose of the regulation is to lay out the principles to be applied when determining the minimum wage, and the workings and the meetings of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission. Provisions of this regulation covers all sectors employing all kind of workers with a job contract.Main articles in the Turkish Labor Law act related to wage are the following:ARTICLE 5. – Mentions that the application of special protective provisions due to the employee’s sex, race, sex, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and or similar reasons shall not justify paying the employee a lower wage. If the employer violates the above provisions in the execution or termination of the employment relationship, the employee may demand compensation up to four months’ wages plus other claims of which the employee has been deprived.ARTICLE 12 – Mentions that divisible amounts for a given time period relating to wages and other monetary benefits to be given to an employee working under a fixed-term contract shall be paid in proportion to the length of time during which the employee has worked in the company.
ARTICLE 13 - Mentions that an employee working under a part-time employment contract must not be subjected to differential treatment in comparison to a comparable full-time employee, the divisible benefits to be accorded to a part-time employee in relation to wages and other monetary benefits must be paid in accordance to the length of his working time proportionate to a comparable employee working full-time.
ARTICLE 14. – Mentions that employment in a work on call contract, the employee is entitled to wages whether or not he is engaged in work during the time announced for working on call.
ARTICLE 21. – Mentions that when there is a termination of contract the employee shall be paid up to four months’ total of his wages and other entitlements for the time he is not re-engaged in work until the finalization of the court’s verdict.ARTICLE 27. – Mentions that during the term of notice the employer must grant the employee the permission to seek a new place of employment within working hours without any deduction from his wage. The time devoted to this purpose should not be less than two hours daily and if the employee so requests such hours may be added together and taken at one time. But if the employee wishes to take these hours at one time, he must do so on the days immediately preceding the day on which his employment ceases and must inform the employer in advance.ARTICLE 38. -Mentions that by Law no employer may impose a fine on an employee’s wage for reasons other than those indicated in the collective agreement or the employment contract. The employee must be notified at once with the reason.
Deductions must not exceed three days’ wages in any one month.
These deductions shall be credited within one month to the account of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in a bank established in Turkey and must be designated by the Ministry for use in the training of and social services for employees. Every employer must maintain a separate account in his establishment showing such deductions. A committee presided over by the Minister of Labor and Social Security and including employees’ representatives shall decide where and in what amounts the fines thus collected are to be used. Rules for the establishment and working methods of this committee shall be indicated in a regulation to be issued.■ Status of wageThe average monthly swage that workers take home is 1671 TRY, or 709 USD. Turkey generally has quite a low cost of living.According with Turkish no deductions of any kind can be made to the employee’s wages this can be made only by Law determined every two years at the latest by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security through the Minimum Wage Fixing Board not by the employer or any other Agency.■Minimum wageMinimum Wages in Turkey increased to 1647 from 1273.50 in December of 2015. The amount is the decided by the Minimum Wage Fixing Board and their decisions are final and become effective upon their publication in the Official Gazette. The board is presided over by one of its members to be designated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, it shall be composed with the General Director of Labor or his deputy, the General Director of Occupational Health and Safety or his deputy, the chairman of the Economic Statistics Institute of the State Institute for Statistics or his deputy, representative of the Under- Secretariat of Treasury, the head of the relevant department of the State Planning Organization or his representative, five employees’ representatives from different branches of activity selected by the highest – ranking labor organization representing the majority of employees and five employers’ representatives selected by the employer organization representing the majority of employers.■Status of labor hoursUnder Article 63 of the Turkish Labor Code, working hours in a week cannot exceed 45 hours. Further, working hours per day cannot exceed 11 hours. The 45 hours of work time can be distributed unevenly between the days of the week by mutual agreement of the parties (through employment contracts or collective agreements) to the extent that the maximum daily limit of working hours is not exceeded.These limits cannot be exceeded even by way of agreement between the employer and employee. The working hours exceeding these limits are considered as overtime work and must be compensated by an overtime work payment by the employer.In 2014 in comparison with other countries affiliated to the OECD the Average annual hours actually worked in Turkey was 1 832.0, which locates Turkey in place 24th of the list of all countries in the OECD.
■BonusThere are no legal regulations in regards of bonus entitlements the regulation is by mutual agreement between employee and employer. Employers can decide to reward employees with bonuses based on performance. Bonuses are included in the employment contract this means that bonuses cannot be changed or revoked unilaterally by employers, according to law, changes may be made only after a written notice is delivered.■ Rules of retirement[Cases of severance pay]The severance pay amount is based on the last thirty days’ gross wage per year of employment starting on the date of employment. For periods of more than one year, this will be proportioned and included in the calculation. Along with wages paid to the employee, severance pay calculations consider the gross amounts of all money and benefits that are provided regularly such as travel expenses, food allowance, bonuses, etc. The amount of severance pay paid is limited by a severance pay upper limit in effect on the date of termination.■ Employment obligation of disabled personsIn the private sector workplaces employing fifty or more employees, the employer must employ disabled persons, numbers of which cannot be less than the %3 of total employees.■ Protection of female employeePregnant employees can take fully paid leave for:· Eight weeks before childbirth.· Eight weeks after childbirth.Pregnant employees or employees whose wives are pregnant will be entitled to nursing benefits if certain premium conditions are fulfilled.For women to be able to cash maternity benefits, they must have at least 120 days of contributions.Women receive a lump sum for pregnancy and childbirth benefits and they are entitled to a nursing grant as well. The lump sums are paid according to a schedule in law. The lump sum is increased for multiple births.The minimum and maximum daily covered earnings used to calculate maternity benefits are adjusted according to changes in the minimum wage.Additionally, Turkish citizens are entitled to a payment of TRY300 for the first child, TRY400 for the second child and TRY600 for the third and any following children. This birth aid is granted to parents who are Turkish citizens, and where both of them are Turkish citizens, the birth aid is granted to the mother of the children.All this benefits come from contributions to the Social Security, for workers is a deduction of 5% of their monthly earnings, this deductions will cover as well sickness.■Protection of childrenEmployment of children who have not completed the age of fifteen is prohibited. However, children who have completed the full age of fourteen and their primary education on light works that will not hinder their physical, mental and moral development, and for those who continue their education, in jobs that will not prevent their school attendance. However, children who have not completed the full age of fourteen may be employed in the artistic, cultural and advertising activities that will not hinder their physical, mental and moral development and that will not prevent their school attendance, on condition that a written contract is entered and permission is obtained for each activity separately. -
Employment contract, Labor contracts and working rules
■Employment contract[Expiry of employment contract]The contract shall terminate:a) in the case of an employee whose employment has lasted less than six months, at the end of the second week following the serving of notice to the other party;b) in the case of an employee whose employment has lasted for six months or more but for less than one-and-a-half years, at the end of the fourth week following the serving of notice to the other party;c) in the case of an employee whose employment has lasted for one-and-a-half years or more but for less than three years, at the end of the sixth week following the serving of notice to the other party;d) in the case of an employee whose employment has lasted for more than three years, at the end of the eighth week following the serving of notice to the other party.These are minimum periods and may be increased by contracts between the parties. The party who does not abide by the rule to serve notice shall pay compensation covering the wages which correspond to the term of notice. The employer may terminate the employment contract by paying in advance the wages corresponding to the term of notice.・Case of requiring advance notice for expiry of employment.The notice of termination shall be given by the employer in written form involving the reason for termination which must be specified in clear and precise terms.・Based on justifiable reasons, case of no requiring advance notice for expiry of employmentThe employer has the right to break the employment contract for serious misconduct or malicious or immoral behavior of the employee.・Collective dismissalWhen the employer contemplates collective terminations for reasons of an economic, technological, structural or similar nature necessitated by the requirements of the enterprise, the establishment or activity, he shall provide the union shop-stewards, the relevant regional directorate of labor and the Public Employment Office with written information at least 30 days prior to the intended lay-off.A collective dismissal occurs when,a) in establishments employing between 20 and 100 employees, a minimum of 10 employees.b) in establishments employing between 101 and 300 employees, a minimum of 10 percent of employees.c) in establishments employing 301 and more workers, a minimum of 30 employees, are to be terminated in accordance with Article 17 on the same date or at different dates within one month.The employer must send a notification with its intentions to collectively dismiss its employees, in writing, to the workplace labor union representatives, the relevant regional directorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the Turkish Employment Organization known as ISKUR. This notice must be sent 30 days prior to such dismissal and must include the reason for the contemplated lay-off, the number of persons and groups to be affected by the lay-off, as well as its timing.
■Working rulesThe rules of work are annexed to the contract, there is indicated additional information related to the place of work. Rules at the place of work are not regulated or required by law, it is common under big companies, the rules can include qualifications of management, procedures within the company, different types of safety rules, different authority given to different supervisors or employees etc., all needs to be set out in some form of document that must be given to the employees.
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