The primary rules of business life in Türkiye and the Turkish Labour Law are determined by the Turkish Labour COde No. 4857.
According to this law, public officials who are tasked with monitoring, supervising and inspecting business life to implement the provisions of the said law are called “labour inspectors.”
Labour inspectors have the legal authority to see, investigate and examine workplaces and their annexes, the way work is carried out and the relevant documents, tools and equipment, devices and machinery, raw and processed materials, materials required for work when necessary and the facilities and arrangements related to the life, health, safety, education, rest or sitting and sleeping of workers at all times and to prevent such situations in the manners explained in the regulation issued by the President in the event of encountering acts deemed contra to the Labour Code No. 4857.
The occupational health and safety inspection is also being carried out by labour inspectors in-line with the principles of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
During inspections, audits and examinations, employers, workers and other persons deemed relevant to this work are obliged to come when called by labour inspectors responsible for monitoring, auditing and inspection, to give statements and information, to bring and show the necessary documents and evidence; to provide all kinds of convenience for labour inspectors to perform their duties specified above and to fulfill their requests in this regard without delay.
The minutes kept by labour inspectors authorized to monitor, audit and inspect working life are legally valid evidence until proven otherwise.
The parties may object to the sections of the reports prepared and minutes kept by labour inspectors regarding workers’ receivables to the authorized labour court within thirty days.
The parties may apply to the labour court for legal remedies in accordance with the Article 8 of Act No. 5521 against the decision of the labour court. Applying to legal remedies does not prevent the collection of workers’ receivables ruled by the labour court.
On the other hand, the Code No. 4857 has also imposed certain principles and obligations on labour inspectors to be complied with while performing their duties. Accordingly, labour inspectors who have the authority to monitor, supervise and inspect business life are obliged to not disrupt, stop or complicate the normal course of work and the operation of the workplace as much as possible, depending on the nature of the issue they are examining, and to keep completely confidential the professional secrets and conditions, economic and commercial conditions and situations of the employer and the workplace, unless it is necessary to disclose them in order for official procedures to be carried out and concluded, and not to disclose the names and identities of workers and other persons whose information and statements were taken by them or who applied to them or made a complaint.
