Employment in Turkey is mainly governed by Turkish Labor Law and Trade Union Law.
Under the new Turkish Labor Law, there are four different types of job contracts:
a) Job contracts for “temporary” and “permanent” work
b) Job contracts for a “definite period” or an “indefinite period”
c) Job contracts for “part-time” work
d) Job contracts for “work-upon-call”
Job contracts do not have to be concluded in a specific format. However, if a job contract is signed for a definite period, it must be concluded in writing. Job contracts are exempt from stamp tax and other duties.
Any kind of discrimination among employees with respect to language, race, gender, political opinion, philosophical approach, religion or similar criteria is prohibited by law. Discrimination based on the gender of an employee is prohibited when determining the amount of remuneration for employees working in the same or equivalent jobs. Should the principle of equality be violated, the employee who is subject to discrimination can request monetary compensation.
Turkish Social Security System
The social security system in Turkey went through a major transformation in 2007, resulting in a more efficient and fast functioning system, based on centralizing the control of different social security funds in a single institution.
Within the scope of the program:
The three insurance funds, namely SSK, Emekli Sandigi and Bag-Kur, were merged under a sole body called the Social Security Institution (SSI) in 2007. The three insurance funds together cover around 81% of the population as of 2008. The system started to be fully operational at the beginning of 2008.