Turkey: Terms Of Termination Prohibition, Unilateral Unpaid Leave And Short-Time Working Allowance Have Been Extended

With two very recent Presidential Decrees¹ published in the Official Gazette dated 30 June 2020 and numbered 31171, the terms of termination prohibition and unilateral unpaid leave, which were to expire by 17 July 2020, have been extended until 17 August 2020, and the term set out for the short-time working allowance granted in scope of COVID-19 has been extended for one month.

Extension of the term of termination prohibition and unilateral unpaid leave

With the Presidential Decree on Termination Prohibition, on the other hand, the termination prohibition has been extended for further one month from 17 July 2020 to 17 August 2020. The same extension applies also to the unilateral unpaid leaves.

In accordance with the above, termination of employment contracts by employers will be prohibited, and the employers will be able to impose unpaid leave without the employee's consent until 17 August 2020.

Extension of the term of short-time working allowance

The Presidential Decree on Short-Time Working provides that the period of granting short-time working allowance for workplaces that applied for short-time working on grounds of compelling reasons arising out of COVID-19 until 30 June 2020 (inclusive of this date) has been extended for one month, with no need for eligibility check or filing a new application.

In regard to the workplaces that exhausted the term of three months for benefitting from short-time working allowance before 30 June 2020, the extended one month will start running as of 1 July 2020.

If the workplace is still benefitting from the short-time working allowance by 30 June 2020, the term will be extended for one further month as of the date on which the first three-months' short-time working period ends.

The Presidential Decree on Short-Time Working further stipulates that the payments made in this context will not be deducted from the unemployment allowance period determined at the beginning.

Footnote

1. The Presidential Decree numbered 2706 on Extension of Short-Time Working Allowance Periods for Workplaces on Short-Time Working on Grounds of Compelling Causes In Scope of Periodic Circumstances Emerging from External Impacts due to New Coronavirus (COVID-19) ("the Presidential Decree on Short-Time Working"); and The Presidential Decree numbered 2707 on Extension of Periods Specified under First and Second Paragraphs of Temporary Article 10 of the Turkish Labour Act dated 22.5.2003 and numbered 4857 for One Month ("the Presidential Decree on Termination Prohibition").

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