According to the Turkish Labour Code No. 4857, which is the primer legislation of the Turkish Labour Law, working mothers are entitled to several rights in the nature of positive discrimination.
As to start, working mothers are entitled to breastfeeding breaks. In accordance, working mothers are to be given breastfeeding breaks of one-and-a-half hour each day, for up to 1 year after the birth of a child. These breaks are paid, and the employer is responsible for providing a suitable space for breastfeeding or expressing milk.
The breastfeeding breaks is a mandatory application, and the employer has to give this permission. The working mother herself determines between which hours and with how many divisions this time will be used. Employers are also required to allow mothers to adjust their working hours to accommodate their breastfeeding schedule.
Breastfeeding periods are counted as the daily working time, thus no deduction can be made from the wage for these breaks. If the worker wishes, she can leave work early by bringing this one-and-a-half hour leave to the end of the working time.
In addition to this right of female employees, regardless of their age and marital status, in workplaces with 100 to 150 female employees, it is obligatory for the employer to establish a breastfeeding room that meets the minimum standards determined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The breastfeeding room must be separate from the working place of the employee and at a maximum distance of 250 meters from the workplace, for breastfeeding employees easily breastfeed their children.
Furthermore, regardless of their age and marital status, in workplaces with more than 150 female employees, it is obligatory for the employer to establish a nursing home, separate from the working place of the employee and close to the workplace, and meeting the minimum standards, in order to leave and care for children aged 0 ro 6, and for breastfeeding employees to breastfeed their children. If the nursing home is more than 250 meters from the workplace, the employer is obliged to provide a vehicle for transportation.
Employers can jointly establish breastfeeding rooms and nursing homes, or they can fulfil their obligation to open rooms and nursing homes through agreements with dormitories authorized by public institutions. In determining the obligation to open rooms and nursing homes, the total number of female employees in all workplaces within the boundaries of the municipality and adjacent areas is taken into account.
In calculation of the number of female employees sought for determining the liability of establishment of a nursing room and/or nursing home, the number of male employees whose child’s mother has died or whose custody has been given to the father are also taken into consideration.
Additionally, mothers are entitled to a total of 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, 8 weeks prior the birth and 8 weeks after the birth. An additional 2 weeks of leave is being added in the case of multiple pregnancy. Forcing the pregnant employee to keep on working in these periods without a medical consent or not giving these leave rights to the employees are to be resulted with administrative fines. Employing a female worker before and after giving birth without a relevant medical consent from a physician or not giving unpaid leave requires an administrative fine of 9 thousand 302 Turkish Liras per employee for the calendar year of 2023.
