Regulations regarding health and safety measures in workplaces in Türkiye are regulated in the Occupational Health and Safety Code No. 6331. The law in question determines the measures that employers must take to ensure the health and safety of the people they employ, and also explains the rights and obligations of workers in terms of occupational health and safety (OHS).
The law in question regulates the “right to refrain working” in cases of serious and imminent life-threatening situations that workers have encountered or will face.
According to the Article 13 of the Code No. 6331, employees who face serious and imminent danger have the right to apply to the Occupational Health and Safety Board in the workplace, or to the employer in workplaces where there is no board, to request that the dangerous situation in question be identified and the necessary measures be taken. The board convenes urgently, and the employer makes its decision immediately and records the situation in a report. The decision must be notified to the employee and the employee representative in writing.
If the Occupational Health and Safety Board or the employer decides on the employee’s request, the employee has the right to refrain from working until the necessary measures are taken.
The wages of the employees during the period when they refrain from working and their other rights arising from the law and the employment contract are reserved.
In cases where serious and imminent danger cannot be prevented, employees leave the workplace or dangerous area and go to a designated safe place, without having to comply with the procedure for applying to the Board or the employer mentioned above. According to the law, the rights of employees cannot be restricted due to these actions.
Employees who work under an employment contract may terminate their employment contracts in accordance with the provisions of the Code No. 6331 to which they are subject, in cases where the necessary measures are not taken despite their request. Public personnel working under a collective agreement or collective bargaining agreement are deemed to have actually worked during the period when they are not working due to the imminent OHS dangers.
In cases where a serious and imminent danger regarding occupational health and safety in the workplace cannot be prevented, workers’ exercise of their right to refrain from working does not qualify as a strike, even if it is collectively.
According to the Article 25 of the Code No. 6331, in case work is stopped in the workplace, the provisions regarding the employee’s “right to refrain from working” do not apply.
