Pregnancy, maternity, and leave related to work-life balance for workers (Directive 92/85, relevant provisions of Directives 2006/54, 2010/18 and 2019/1158)

• Author: Kadriye Bakirci
• Pages: 45-71

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5 Pregnancy, maternity, and leave related to work-life balance for workers

(Directive 92/85, relevant provi sions of D irectives 2006/54, 2010/18 and

2019/1158)150

5.1 General (legal) context

5.1.1 Surveys and reports on the practical difficulties l inked to work-life balance

The gender-based division of labour in Tu rkey mostly forces women to carry out the

housework, child and elder care. The t otal workload of women is always higher than me n

no matter in which category th e women stands. Among the OECD and 30 non-OECD

countries, the female population aged 15-64 in Turkey spend the highest p roportion of

time on household maintenance.151

The ILO’s Quantum Leap report sh ows that a ‘number of fact ors are blocking equality in

employment, and the o ne playing the largest role is caregiving’,152 and the ILO Office for

Turkey’s infographic poster shows that women’s unpaid care work, including child and

elderly care prevent them getting into paid labour.153

The Women's Empowerment Strategy and Action Plan (2018-2023),154 adopted by the

Directorate of Women’s Status in the Ministry of Family, Employment and Social Services

states that marriage and child care b oth increase women’s housework and weaken t heir

participation in labour markets, while the opposite is true for men. The major impediment

to women’s participation in the workforce stems from a lack of sufficient preschool

education and care services.155

As stated above, studies identify a ‘motherhood penalty’ as a source of gend er pay gaps.

This pay gap indicator between mothers and non-mothers reveals striking results when

compared to the ‘fatherhood premium’ indicating the pay gap between fathers and non-

fathers.156

5.1.2 Other issues

Although Turkey is not a party to the ILO Convention concerning Workers with Family

Responsibilities (No. 156), according to Article 12/2(c) of the UN Convention on the

150 See Masselot, A. (2018), Family leave: enforcement of the protection against dismissal and unfavourable

treatment European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination.

https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/4808-family-leave-enforcement-of-the-protection-against-

dismissal-and-unfavourable-treatment-pdf-962-kb; McColgan, A. (2015), Measures to address the

challenges of work-life balance in the EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, European

network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination.

https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/3631-reconciliation.

151 See Memis, E., Ones, U. and Kizilirmak, B. (2012), ‘Housewifization of Women: Contextualising Gendered

Patterns of Paid and Unpaid Work’, in S. Dedeoglu and A. Elveren (eds.) Gender and Society in Turkey: The

Impact of Neo-liberal Policies, EU Accession and Political İslam, I.B.Tairus; See also ILO-CEACR,

Observation (CEACR) – adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016), Discrimination (Employment

and Occupation) Convention 1958 (No. 111).

152 ILO (2019) Quantum leap report.

153

http://esitizberaberiz.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ILO-Report-A-Quantum-leap-for-gender-

equality.pdf.

154 Republic of Turkey Ministry of Family, Employment and Social Services General Directorate on the Status of

Women (Kadının Statüsü Genel Müdürlüğü), Strategy Paper and Action Plan on Empowerment of Women

(Kadının Güçlenmesi Strateji Belgesi ve Eylem Planı) (2018 - 2023)

http://www.sp.gov.tr/upload/xSPTemelBelge/files/RySPo+KADININ_GUCLENMESI_STRATEJI_BELGESI_VE_

EYLEM_PLANI_2018-2023_.pdf.

155 Committee on Equality of Opportunity Between Men and Women for the Grand National Assembly of Turkey

(Kadin Erkek Firsat Eşitliği Komisyonu) (2013), Report on Promoting Women’s Employment in Turkey (Her

Alandaki Kadin İstihdaminin Artirilmasi ve Cözüm Önerileri Komisyon Raporu)

https://www.tbmm.gov.tr/komisyon/kefe/docs/komisyon_raporu_2014_1.pdf.

156 ILO (2019) Quantum leap report. http://esitizberaberiz.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ILO-Report-A-

Quantum-leap-for-gender-equality.pdf.

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Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Turkey is under an obligation to encourage

the provision of supportive social care services to enable parents to combine family

obligations with work responsibilities and partici pation in public life. Specifically this is to

be carried out through the promotion of the establishment and development of a network

of childcare facilities. Pursuan t to the revised European Social Charter and with a view to

achieving equality of opportunit y and treatment for m en and women workers with family

responsibilities and between such workers and other workers, Turkey must undertake to

develop or promote services, public or private, and in particular child daycare services and

other childcare arrangements (Article 27).

5.1.3 Overview of national acts on work-life balance is sues

In order to provide work-life balance, employment legislation covers provisions related to

issues such as:

- maternity leave;

- paternity leave for biological fathers;

- paid and unpaid care leave for adopting parents;

- care leave for parents of disabled or ill children;

- unpaid care leave for biological employee mothers;

- unpaid care leave for civil servant parents;

- right to part time work for employee parents;

- right to part time work for civil servant mothers;

- right to switch from full-time work to part-time work and vice versa for empl oyee

parents;

- right to switch from full-time work to part-time work for civil servant mothers;

- right to return to work;

- protection against discrimination due to pregnancy, maternity, or family

responsibilities;

- protection of employ ees against unjustified, invalid, abusive or discriminatory

dismissal;

- obligation of certain employers to establish nursing rooms and childcare centres;

- right to benefit from unpaid birth/maternity leave related to retroactive social

security p remium pa yment for women employees who stopped working not

exceeding two years after giving birth;

- right to change the night shifts for employee couples.

However, there are several gaps in or problems with the legislation:

- unpaid care leave is only recognised for biological employee mothers and there is no

unpaid care leave for biological employee fathers;

- a leave of absence for employees in the event of the illness of a dependent family

member is not recognised;

- there is no bottle-feeding leave for fathers of newly born children;

- there is no explicit provision recognising the right to return to work for employees

after taking leave; and

- the right to part-time work and the right to switch f rom full-time work to part-time

work is only recognised for women civil servants but not for male civil servants.

5.1.4 Political and societal debate and pending legislative p roposals

This subject is mostly discussed in the feminist academic literature,157 as well as at

conferences and in panels, seminars and training programmes organised by womens NGOs

to ensure that Turkish law is compatible with EU law.

157 See Bakirci, K., Karadeniz, O., Yilmaz, H., Lewis, E.N. and Durmaz, N. (2014), Women in the World of Work

(İş Dünyasında Kadın), Volume 2, Turkonfed Yayini, Istanbul; Bakirci, K. (2012), Searching for Gender

Equality and the Non-Discrimination Principle Based on Gender in Employment in International, European