Is a Shortening of Working Hours on the Horizon?
The Presidential Legal Policies Board is currently working on updating and renewing the legislation regarding working life with the ‘Turkish Labor Code Study’. The study aims to reduce working hours and review overtime wages.
Recently, the Turkish Labor Law Preparatory Meeting was held under the leadership of Mehmet Uçum, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Legal Policies Board. During the meeting, working groups on labor code/codification, individual labor law, collective labor law, occupational health and safety, social security law, and public personnel regime were formed, and preparations began.
The goal of these efforts is to protect, develop, and strengthen employee rights while supporting the national economy program with a social state approach and increasing efficiency in working life.
According to Türkiye Newspaper, there are plans to reduce the working hours from 45 hours per week to 40 hours. Additionally, there is a focus on standardizing differences in legislation regarding overtime wages, such as the 25 percent and 50 percent rates, to provide an integrated structure to the different rights in different labor laws.
These initiatives aim to create a more modern and equitable framework for working life in Turkey, benefiting both employees and the economy as a whole.
