Amendments To Maternity Leave Under Turkish Labor Law Published

The amendments to the Labor Code regarding maternity leave have introduced an important regulatory change requiring private-sector employers and employees to recalculate maternity leave periods. As a result of the amendment made by Law No. 7578 to Article 74 of Labor Code No. 4857, the postnatal maternity leave period for female employees has been increased from 8 weeks to 16 weeks, and the total maternity leave period has been extended to 24 weeks. The regulation entered into force under the law published in the Official Gazette dated May 1, 2026 and numbered 33240.

This article examines the maternity leave amendments introduced by Law No. 7578 in terms of the new duration of maternity leave, the limit on prenatal work, the commencement of unpaid leave after childbirth, foster family leave, paternity leave, their effects on SSI processes and temporary incapacity allowance, and the transitional provision. It also provides a practical assessment of the matters employers should consider in their human resources, payroll, and personnel file processes.

How Has the Maternity Leave Period Changed Under the Labor Code?

Article 74 of Labor Code No. 4857 regulates the periods during which female employees may not be employed in the event of maternity. Before the amendment, the general rule was that female employees could not be employed for a total period of 16 weeks, consisting of 8 weeks before childbirth and 8 weeks after childbirth. Under the new regulation, the postnatal period has been increased to 16 weeks, and the total maternity leave period for singleton pregnancies has, as a rule, been set at 24 weeks. The main system for the 8-week prenatal period has been preserved. In the case of multiple pregnancies, however, the total leave period must be calculated separately due to the additional period applied to the prenatal leave.

In practice, this amendment will become particularly important when calculating the start and end dates of leave. The employer’s human resources department must monitor the start date of the prenatal medical report, the date of birth, and the 16-week postnatal period in a consistent manner within the same personnel file. Maternity leave is not an ordinary type of leave that an employee may waive at her discretion; it refers to a statutory period during which the employee must not be employed. Therefore, even if requested by the employee, allowing her to actually work during a certified maternity leave period may create risks in terms of occupational health and safety, social security compliance, and employee receivables.

The new period also directly affects postnatal return-to-work planning. Under the previous practice, options such as unpaid leave, annual leave, breastfeeding leave, or part-time work would come onto the agenda earlier, following the end of the 8-week postnatal maternity leave period. Going forward, these stages will, as a rule, be considered only after completion of the 16-week postnatal maternity leave period. Employers should therefore update their internal leave procedures, payroll software, and internal correspondence templates in line with the new 24-week system.

New Limit on Prenatal Work

The amendment to the Labor Code has also revised the limit on how long an employee may continue working before childbirth. Under the previous system, a female employee whose health condition was certified as suitable by a physician’s report could, if she wished, continue working until three weeks before the expected date of birth. Under the new regulation, this period has been reduced to two weeks. Accordingly, even with a physician’s approval, an employee may now work only until no later than two weeks before childbirth.

This amendment has consequences for the transfer of unused prenatal leave periods to the postnatal period. In practice, female employees may wish to work as close to childbirth as their health condition permits and add the unused prenatal periods to their postnatal leave. However, this planning must now be made not by reference to the former three-week threshold, but by reference to the new mandatory two-week cessation threshold. The key point employers must consider is that the employee’s request and the physician’s report are not, by themselves, sufficient; the statutory minimum non-working period must also be observed.

Continuing to apply the former date-calculation practice may create problems regarding SSI medical report records, temporary incapacity allowance, missing-day notifications, and wage calculations. In particular, allowing the employee to work during the final two-week period before childbirth upon her request would be a risky practice. Since the maternity leave provisions are mandatory in nature, the employer should refrain from requiring or permitting actual work during this period and should plan the leave by considering the physician’s report, the expected date of birth, and the actual date of birth together.

The Commencement Date of Postnatal Unpaid Leave Has Changed

Article 74 of the Labor Code also regulates the unpaid leave entitlement granted to female employees following maternity leave. Before the amendment, this unpaid leave became available after completion of the 16-week maternity leave period. Since the new regulation has increased the total maternity leave period to 24 weeks, the commencement date of the right to unpaid leave for up to six months has, in practice, been moved to a later date. In the relevant paragraph of the statutory text, the reference to “sixteen” has been replaced with “twenty-four.”

The key point to note is that the unpaid leave period itself has not been extended. A female employee may still, upon request, use unpaid leave for up to six months after the end of maternity leave. However, this right will now arise only after the total 24-week maternity leave period, which includes the 16-week postnatal period, has expired. Employers should therefore not determine the commencement date of unpaid leave based on return-to-work dates under the former system.

In practice, confusing maternity leave with unpaid leave is a significant area of risk. Maternity leave refers to a statutory period during which the employee may not be employed, whereas unpaid leave is a separate right used upon the employee’s request after maternity leave has ended. The employer may not treat the maternity leave period as unpaid leave or deduct this period from the employee’s unpaid leave entitlement. Accordingly, the unpaid leave request should be obtained in writing, and the leave payroll records, missing-day notifications, and personnel file should all be based on the same legal classification.

New Unpaid Leave Right for Employees Acting as Foster Families

The amendment to the Labor Code has also introduced a new leave entitlement for employees acting as foster families. Accordingly, an employee who becomes a foster family, either jointly with his or her spouse or individually, for one or more children shall be granted 10 days of unpaid leave upon request after the child is delivered to the employee. Unlike maternity leave, this regulation is not linked to childbirth, but to the placement of the child with the foster family. Therefore, the delivery date, rather than the date of birth, should be taken as the basis for determining the commencement of the leave.

The fact that this leave is unpaid is particularly important in practice in terms of payroll and SSI notifications. The employer should not confuse this leave with paternity leave or other paid excused leave. Keeping documents evidencing the employee’s foster family status and the delivery of the child in the personnel file will reduce potential uncertainty regarding the basis of the leave period. Since the employee must request this leave in order to use it, obtaining the request in writing will also be safer from an evidentiary perspective.

This regulation is important in that it strengthens the recognition of the foster family model in working life. However, in practice, incorrect classification of leave types may give rise to disputes regarding missing-day notifications or wage deductions. Employers should therefore add foster family leave as a separate category in their leave procedures, and human resources departments should assess this right separately from maternity leave, adoption leave, and paternity leave.

Paternity Leave Under Excused Leave Has Been Increased to 10 Days

Law No. 7578 has also amended Additional Article 2 of the Labor Code and increased paternity leave from 5 days to 10 days. Unlike maternity leave, this leave is a form of paid excused leave granted to male employees. Therefore, the employer must not make any wage deduction for this period.

The increase in paternity leave shows that the postnatal family care burden is now being addressed more broadly under labor law. In practice, however, paternity leave should not be confused with foster family leave or unpaid leave. Foster family leave is unpaid, whereas paternity leave is paid excused leave. Proper document and record management is important for employers. The birth certificate, leave request, and payroll record should be consistent with one another. Use of an incorrect leave code or making a wage deduction may later lead to employee receivables claims and payroll disputes.

Effects on SSI and Temporary Incapacity Allowance

The change in the maternity leave period has also been reflected in the provisions on maternity status and temporary incapacity allowance under Law No. 5510. Accordingly, the period taken as the basis for temporary incapacity allowance has been revised as 8 weeks before childbirth and 16 weeks after childbirth. In this way, consistency has been established between the 24-week maternity leave system under the Labor Code and SSI practice.

For employers, this change does not merely mean updating the leave form. Approval of medical reports, missing-day notifications, payroll records, and the employee’s actual status at the workplace must all be based on the same period calculation. If workplace records indicate that maternity leave has ended while the medical report continues in the SSI system, or vice versa, this may create audit risks and employee receivables disputes.

For this reason, maternity leave files should assess the prenatal medical report date, the actual date of birth, the 16-week postnatal period, and any unpaid leave request together. Particularly during the transition period, proceeding on the basis of the former 16-week total period may result in the employee using less leave than legally required or in incorrect SSI notifications.

Who Is Covered by the Transitional Provision?

The transition process has been separately regulated under the legislative amendment. Accordingly, persons whose maternity leave periods have been revised and whose maternity leave had expired under the former legislation as of the effective date may request an additional 8 weeks of maternity leave if, as of April 1, 2026, they have not yet completed the 24-week period from the date of birth. This request must be made within 10 business days from the effective date.

This provision is particularly important for employees who gave birth close to the date on which the regulation entered into force. Employers should review not only employees who will give birth after the amendment, but also employees whose leave process appears to have been completed under the former system. Otherwise, an employee may have been required to return to work early despite having an additional leave entitlement.

In practice, the safest approach is to review all maternity files falling within the transition period individually. The date of birth, the former leave end date, whether the 24-week period has expired, and whether the employee complied with the 10-business-day request period should be assessed in writing. Return-to-work decisions made without this calculation may later give rise to disputes regarding wages, leave entitlements, and SSI notifications.

Compliance and Error Risks for Employers

The amendments to the Labor Code regarding maternity leave require employers to update their human resources and payroll processes. Maternity leave must now be calculated as a total period of 24 weeks, while unpaid leave, paternity leave, and foster family leave must each be recorded according to their separate legal character. Treating these leave types under the same category increases the risk of underpayment or incorrect SSI notifications.

The most common error likely to arise is determining the return-to-work date based on the former 16-week system. Similarly, allowing or requiring work during the final two weeks before childbirth, deducting unpaid leave from maternity leave, or making wage deductions during paternity leave may give rise to employee receivables claims. In this process, it is important for evidentiary purposes that the employer keeps the employee’s request petitions, physician reports, birth certificates, and SSI records in the same file. In particular, if working conditions are made more burdensome after return from maternity leave, if the employee is subjected to adverse treatment for having used leave, or if pressure to terminate arises on that basis, the dispute may not remain limited to leave calculation alone.

Placing pressure on an employee for using maternity leave or unpaid leave, disproportionately changing the employee’s job description, excluding the employee upon return to work, or subjecting the employee to systematic adverse treatment may require a separate legal assessment. Although not every negative workplace conduct directly constitutes mobbing, the risk of a psychological harassment allegation and a mobbing lawsuit may arise where the continuity of the conduct, the targeted employee, its impact on the employee, and the evidence are assessed together.

This amendment has not only increased the duration of leave, but has also expanded the employer’s obligations regarding recordkeeping and process management. Particularly during the transition period, separate date calculations should be made for each employee, and internal regulations and leave forms should be adapted to the new rules. Failure to grant the employee’s statutory leave entitlement, making deductions from paid leave, or worsening working conditions due to the employee’s use of leave may, depending on the circumstances of the specific case, also give rise to discussions concerning termination of the employment contract for just cause.

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.