As it is known, a retirement reform is on the agenda of the Turkish labour life. In this regard, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey is currently preparing a new regulation bill regarding “Employees waiting for retirement age” (also known as EYT in Turkey).
Preparations on this issue are currently being carried out by the Ministry’s and the Social Security Institution’s bureaucracy, and the amendmend bill is expected to come to the agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly as of December 2022 and to be enacted as of January or February 2023.
The prospective retirement reform regulation is expected to provide the opportunity for retirement without waiting an age condition for the employees who were insured for the first time before the date of 8th of September, 1999.This has the potential to create an experienced personnel shortage for companies due to retirement of the employees with high seniority, in addition to the burden of payments of severance pay to retiring personnel.
Is there a work ban for EYT members? Will EYT members be forced to leave the working life after the bill passed, will they be able to continue working?
Work is defined as a fundamental right in the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey. According to the Article 49 of the Turkish Constitution, working is everyone’s right and duty. It is an obligation of the State to take the necessary measures to raise the living standards of the employees, to protect the workers and the unemployed in order to improve the working life, to support the work, to create an economic environment conducive to the prevention of unemployment and to ensure labour peace.
Implementing a work ban for those who are within the scope of EYT (those who are waiting retirement age as started working before 08.09.1999) is neither in the current laws nor it is being planned with the reform law.
Likewise, in our country’s social security system, there is no practice of cutting off the pensions of those who continue to work after retirement, except for those who start working within the 4/1-(c) social insurance status.
If these insurance holders continue to work with an employer, Social Security Support Premium is applied to them. In other words, it is possible for EYT members to work after retirement on their own behalf or under an employer without their pensions to be cut off.
In sum, the EYT members could be able to keep on being within the working life after their retirement.
