Part-time and full-time employment contracts

Article 13 – An employment contract shall be a part-time employment contract if the worker’s normal weekly working hours are determined to be significantly less than the equivalent worker working with a full-time employment contract.

A worker employed under a part-time employment contract shall not be treated differently from his full-time counterpart solely because of the partial duration of the employment contract, unless there is a reason justifying the discrimination. The part-time worker’s wages and divisible benefits related to money shall be paid in proportion to the time worked in comparison to the full-time equivalent worker.

An equivalent worker is a full-time worker employed in the same or similar job at the workplace. If there is no such worker at the workplace, the worker employed with a full-time employment contract who undertakes the same or similar work in the workplace that meets the conditions in that line of business shall be taken as basis.

The requests of the workers at the workplace to be transferred from part-time to full-time or from full-time to part-time when there are vacancies suitable for their qualifications shall be taken into consideration by the employer and the vacancies shall be announced in a timely manner.

(Additional paragraph: 29/1/2016-6663/21 Art.) After the end of the leaves stipulated in Article 74 of this law, one of the parents may request part-time work according to this article until the beginning of the month following the date of compulsory primary education age. This request shall be met by the employer and shall not be considered a valid reason for termination. The employee who starts part-time work within the scope of this paragraph may return to full-time work for the same child without benefiting from this right again. In the event that the employee who started part-time work starts full-time work, the employment contract of the employee hired in his/her place shall automatically terminate. The employee who wishes to benefit from this right or return to full-time work shall notify the employer in writing at least one month in advance. If one of the parents is not working, the working spouse cannot request part-time work. Those who adopt a child under the age of three together with their spouse or individually shall also benefit from this right from the date the child is actually delivered.

(Additional paragraph: 29/1/2016-6663/21 Art.) The sectors or jobs in which part-time work can be performed within the scope of the fifth paragraph and the procedures and principles regarding the implementation shall be determined by a regulation to be issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

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REGULATION ON PART-TIME WORK AFTER MATERNITY LEAVE OR UNPAID LEAVE

PART ONE
Purpose, Scope, Basis, and Definitions

Purpose
ARTICLE 1 – (1) The purpose of this Regulation is to determine the jobs in which the employee may work part-time after childbirth or adoption and to regulate the procedures and principles related to the implementation.

Scope
ARTICLE 2 – (1) This Regulation covers employees who request part-time work under the fifth paragraph of Article 13 of the Labor Law No. 4857 dated 22/5/2003, and their employers.

Basis
ARTICLE 3 – (1) This Regulation is prepared based on Article 13 of the Labor Law No. 4857.

Definitions
ARTICLE 4 – (1) In this Regulation, the following terms are defined as:
a) Maternity leave: The leave granted to a female employee for the period she is not working due to childbirth,
b) Ministry: The Ministry of Labor and Social Security,
c) Weekly working hours: The maximum weekly working hours of forty-five hours, or thirty-seven and a half hours for workers in underground mining,
d) Part-time work: Work performed by an employee up to two-thirds of the full-time equivalent work performed under a full-time employment contract,
e) Unpaid leave: The leave granted to the employee upon request, following the end of maternity leave.

PART TWO
Principles Regarding Maternity Leave and Unpaid Leave

Right to maternity leave
ARTICLE 5 – (1) A female employee is entitled to a total of sixteen weeks of leave, eight weeks before and eight weeks after childbirth.
(2) In case of multiple pregnancies, two additional weeks are added to the eight weeks before childbirth. However, if the health condition is documented with a doctor’s report, the female employee may work up to three weeks before childbirth if she wishes. In this case, the time worked is added to the postpartum period.
(3) In the event of premature birth, the unused pre-birth leave is added to the postpartum period.
(4) If the mother dies during childbirth or postpartum, the unused postpartum leave is granted to the father.
(5) For an employee who adopts a child under the age of three, either the adopting spouse or the adopting employee is entitled to eight weeks of maternity leave starting from the date the child is physically handed over to the family.
(6) The durations specified in the maternity leave can be extended before and after childbirth if necessary, according to the employee’s health condition and the nature of the work. These durations are determined by a doctor’s report.

Right to half-time unpaid leave
ARTICLE 6 – (1) After the end of maternity leave, female employees, or male or female employees who adopt a child under the age of three, are entitled to half of the weekly working hours for sixty days for the first birth, one hundred and twenty days for the second birth, and one hundred and eighty days for subsequent births, provided that the child is alive and at their request for the care and upbringing of the child.
(2) In the case of multiple births, an additional thirty days is added to these periods.
(3) If the child is born disabled, as documented by a doctor’s report, this period is extended to three hundred and sixty days.
(4) The breastfeeding leave of one and a half hours per day for a female employee benefiting from unpaid leave is not applied to children under the age of one.

Right to unpaid leave for up to six months
ARTICLE 7 – (1) Upon request, a female employee is entitled to up to six months of unpaid leave after the end of maternity leave.
(2) In the case of adopting a child under the age of three, unpaid leave is granted to one of the spouses or the adoptive parent.
(3) The period of unpaid leave mentioned in this article is not considered in the calculation of the annual paid leave entitlement.

PART THREE
Duration, Form, and Conditions of Part-Time Work

Request and form of part-time work
ARTICLE 8 – (1) The employee may request part-time work at any time from the end of the maternity leave mentioned in Article 5, the unpaid leave mentioned in Article 6, or the unpaid leave mentioned in Article 7, until the beginning of the month following the start of the child’s compulsory primary education.
(2) A part-time work request can be made by interrupting the unpaid leave mentioned in Article 7. It is not required to use the entire unpaid leave.
(3) A part-time work request must be submitted in writing to the employer at least one month before the employee wishes to start benefiting from this right.

Elements of the part-time work request
ARTICLE 9 – (1) The part-time work request must include the date of commencement of part-time work and the preferred working hours if work is to be performed on all working days, or the preferred working days if work is to be performed on specific days of the week.
(2) The employee must attach a document proving that the spouse is employed to the part-time work request.
(3) The employee’s part-time work request letter is kept in the employee’s personnel file by the employer.

Conditions for part-time work request
ARTICLE 10 – (1) If one parent is not employed, the working parent cannot request part-time work. However, this condition does not apply if:
a) One parent has an illness that requires constant care and treatment, documented by a doctor’s report obtained from a fully equipped hospital or university hospital,
b) Custody is granted to one of the parents by a court, in which case the parent with custody may request part-time work,
c) A child under the age of three is adopted individually.
(2) The conditions for part-time work requests mentioned in the first paragraph are only required at the time of application. If these conditions are lost during part-time work, the right continues.

Employer’s obligation to fulfill the part-time work request
ARTICLE 11 – (1) The employer must fulfill a properly made part-time work request within one month from the date of notification.
(2) The employer must notify the employee in writing that the request has been fulfilled.
(3) If the employer fails to respond to the employee’s request letter within the specified time, the request becomes valid on the date specified by the employee or the first working day following that date.
(4) The part-time work request cannot be considered a valid reason for termination, provided that the employee starts performing their duties on the specified date.

PART FOUR
Principles of Implementation

Jobs suitable for part-time work
ARTICLE 12 – (1) Part-time work can be done in the following jobs if the employer approves:
a) Jobs in private healthcare institutions that are required to be performed full-time by the relevant legislation, such as responsible managers, responsible physicians, laboratory supervisors, and those involved in healthcare services,
b) Jobs in industries where continuous work is required due to the nature of the job, with workers employed in successive shifts,
c) Seasonal, campaign, or contractual jobs that last less than one year,
d) Jobs where the division of work hours into workdays of the week is not suitable due to the nature of the work.
(2) In jobs not listed in the first paragraph, part-time work can be done without the condition of employer approval.

Determination by collective agreement
ARTICLE 13 – (1) In collective labor agreements concluded under the provisions of the Law on Trade Unions and Collective Labor Agreements No. 6356 dated 18/10/2012, the parties may determine the jobs suitable for part-time work without being bound by the provisions of Article 12.

Transition to full-time work
ARTICLE 14 – (1) An employee who has started part-time work may return to full-time work, provided they do not benefit from this right again for the same child.
(2) The employee wishing to return to full-time work must notify the employer in writing at least one month in advance.
(3) When an employee who has transitioned to part-time work returns to full-time work, the employment contract of the replacement employee automatically terminates.
(4) If the employee who has transitioned to part-time work terminates their employment contract, the employment contract of the replacement employee converts to an indefinite and full-time contract, provided that written consent is obtained.

Determination of working hours
ARTICLE 15 – (1) The time interval within which the determined daily and weekly working hours will be performed in part-time work is determined by the employer, taking into account local customs, the nature of the work performed by the employee, and the employee’s request.
(2) The wages and divisible monetary benefits of a part-time employee are paid in proportion to the time worked.

PART FIVE
Miscellaneous and Final Provisions

Healthcare services
ARTICLE 16 – (1) In the implementation of this Regulation, healthcare services include jobs performed by physicians, specialists according to the legislation on medical specialization, nurses, midwives, opticians, and other professionals defined in the additional Article 13 of the Law on the Practice of Medicine and Its Branches No. 1219 dated 11/4/1928.

SECTION FIVE Miscellaneous and Final Provisions

Healthcare Service Jobs

ARTICLE 16 – (1) In the implementation of this Regulation, healthcare service jobs refer to the work performed by physicians and specialists according to medical specialization legislation, nurses, midwives, opticians, and other professionals defined in the supplementary Article 13 of the Law No. 1219 dated 11/4/1928 on the Practice of Medicine and its Branches.

Situations Not Covered

ARTICLE 17 – (1) In cases not covered by this Regulation, the Ministry is authorized to make the necessary arrangements to eliminate any uncertainties in implementation and to ensure consistency in application, provided that these arrangements are not contrary to the legislation.

(2) Part-time work performed according to this Regulation is subject to the provisions regarding part-time work as stipulated in the relevant legislation.

Enforcement

ARTICLE 18 – (1) This Regulation shall enter into force on the date of its publication.

Execution

ARTICLE 19 – (1) The provisions of this Regulation shall be executed by the Minister of Labor and Social Security.

Source: Labor Law No. 4857
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