Turkey's Ministry of Labour and Social Security has announced secondary legislation with details of conditions, procedures and restrictions for recent changes to maternity leave, unpaid leave following maternity leave, as well as part-time employment eligibility up until a child begins primary education (more).

The Regulation on the Part-Time Employment Following the Maternity Leave or Unpaid Leave ("Regulation") was published in Official Gazette number 29882 on 8 November 2016, entering into effect on the same date.

In parallel with the Labour Law, the Regulation provides that:

  • Female employees are entitled to sixteen weeks' maternity leave; eight weeks before the delivery and eight weeks after the delivery.
  • When adoption a child younger than three years, one of the adopting parents is entitled to eight weeks maternity leave, starting from the actual date of adoption.
  • Employees who gave birth or adopted a child younger than three years are entitled to unpaid leave for half of their weekly working hours for the following periods:

    • 60 days for the first delivery.
    • 120 days for the second delivery.
    • 180 days for the third delivery.

Requests to Work Part Time

Employees may request to work part-time at any time following the end of maternity leave or unpaid leave after the maternity leave, up until the child reaches mandatory primary education age (currently six years old).

The Regulation provides details for criteria and restrictions:

  • If one of the parents is unemployed, the working parent may not request part-time work. However, this restriction is waived if:

    • One of the parents has a disease requiring constant care and treatment.
    • The parent applying for part-time work has sole guardianship of the child, granted by the court.
    • Sole adoption of a child under three years old.
  • Employer consent is generally not required for requests to work part-time. However, employer consent is required for part-time work in relation to:

    • Work carried out by employees who are regulated to work full time at private health institutions.
    • Industrial work carried out 24/7 by consecutive work shifts.
    • Seasonal or campaign work which will continue for less than one year.
    • Work which is not suitable to be carried out by dividing between working days of the week.

Please see this link for the full text of the Regulation (only available in Turkish).

Information first published in the MA | Gazette, a fortnightly legal update newsletter produced by Moroğlu Arseven.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.