Job placement services is being provided to the disabled unemployed in Turkey by the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR).
Turkish citizens, who document that they lack at least 40 percent of all body function losses according to their disability status, with a disability health board report obtained from authorized health institutions, can register as “disabled” status with İŞKUR.
Job loss rates for specific organs are not taken into account and the rate of loss of whole body functions is taken into consideration.
If the disabled health report states that the person cannot work, the person is not registered as unemployed disabled with İŞKUR.
Relevant Legislation Regarding Employment of the Disabled
In Turkey, the employment of disabled people as workers is attempted to be ensured through the quota system stipulated in the Article 30 of the Labour Code No. 4857.
Within the scope of the quota system stipulated in the Article 30 of the Labour Code No. 4857; employers who employ 50 or more workers (51 or more in agricultural and forest enterprises) are required to employ at least 3% in their private sector workplaces.
Theublic workplaces are obliged to employ 4% disabled workers, 2% ex-convicts or workers injured in the fight against terrorism in jobs that are suitable for their professional, physical and mental state.
Monitoring and Control of Disabled Employee Quotas
In accordance with the Article 30 of the Labour Code No. 4857, the quotas for disabled people who are required to be employed are monitored regularly on a monthly basis by the Provincial Directorates of Labor and Employment Agency. Requests for disabled workforce received by contacting employers with vacant quotas for disabled people are published on İŞKUR’s website and efforts are made to close the remaining open quotas.
In accordance with the provision of the law, employers are obliged to employ disabled workers in jobs suitable for their profession, physical and mental state, and if the employer does not find the disabled people who apply to the employer’s request and come to the interview in accordance with the conditions and does not employ them by deeming them unsuitable, or if the employer does not fulfill its obligation by not submitting a request for a disabled quota vacancy, the Pursuant to THE Article 101 of the Labour Code, an administrative fine is imposed by the Provincial Directorate of the Turkish Employment Agency for each disabled person who is not employed and for each month he/she is not employed. Public organizations are not exempt from this fine in any way.
Incentives Given for Disabled Employees
The entire social security premium employer share at the minimum wage level for each disabled person employed by private sector employers is covered by the Treasury.
Penalties collected from employers for not employing disabled workers is used in projects such as enabling disabled people to start their own business, supporting technologies that will enable disabled people to find a job, placing disabled people in jobs, ensuring their adaptation to work and the workplace, and similar projects.
Disabled people who are registered with İŞKUR and are looking for a job are provided with job and vocational consultancy services and are either directed to courses or on-the-job training programs to increase their professional qualifications or are placed in jobs suitable for their situation. Additionally, disabled people are encouraged to start their own businesses.
