Türkiye: The Labour Sector Regulation Has Been Amended

Authors: Ipek Unlu Tik and A. Kaan Baser

The Regulation on Making Amendments to the Labour Sectors Regulation (“Regulation”) has been published in the Official Gazette on 23 January 2024, and numbered 32438, and entered into force on the same day.

Article 4 of the Labour Sectors Regulation has been amended, and such changes may affect unions’ authorisation processes. Accordingly, employers, employer unions, and employees’ labour unions can apply to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (“Ministry”) in order to determine the labour sector (the line of business) of a workplace.

The Ministry’s decision concerning the labour sector shall be published in the Official Gazette, and relevant parties may file a lawsuit within 15 days of its publication in order to object to such a decision.

If the authorisation process for a new collective labour agreement has already started, the determination of the labour sector change will be valid starting from the next period and shall not affect the ongoing procedures. Requests for labour sector determination and related lawsuits will not be considered delaying factors in authorisation procedures and authorisation determination lawsuits.

Until a new labour sector is determined, sectors of workplaces that have been determined in accordance with the former Labour Sectors Regulation dated 10.11.1983 will be considered the same with the labour sector of the union, which last obtained authorisation.

Article 4/A, that included the previous procedures concerning the determination of labour sectors has now been removed.

Key Points:

• The Labour Sector Regulation has been amended.
• Changes may affect unions’ authorisation processes.