Law No. 7578 on Amendments to Certain Laws, Primarily Maternity Leave Has Been Published

With the Law on Amendments to the Social Services Law and Certain Other Laws ("Law"), published in the Official Gazette dated May 1, 2026 and numbered 33240, various amendments have been made to certain laws.

In summary, the Law introduces amendments in many areas, primarily working life.

1) Maternity Leave Has Been Increased to 24 Weeks

With the Law, amendments have been made regarding maternity leave under Civil Servants Law No. 657, Labor Law No. 4857, and Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510.

Accordingly, the postnatal leave period for female civil servants and employees has been increased from 8 weeks to 16 weeks. Therefore, maternity leave will now be applied as a total of 24 weeks, consisting of 8 weeks before childbirth and 16 weeks after childbirth.

In addition, previously, if her health condition was suitable and subject to the doctor's approval, a female employee could continue working, upon her request, until three weeks before childbirth. With the Law, this period has been revised, and it has been changed to allow working until two weeks before childbirth.

Pursuant to Provisional Article 1 of the Law, employees whose maternity leave period prescribed under the relevant legislation had ended as of May 1, 2026, "but who had not yet completed the 24 week period from the date of childbirth as of April 1, 2026, must be granted an additional eight weeks of maternity leave, provided that they request it within 10 business days from the effective date of this article".

2) Paternity Leave for Employees Has Been Increased to 10 Days

With the Law, Article 2 of the Labor Law No. 4857 has been amended, and the paid excuse leave granted to an employee in the event that the employee's spouse gives birth has been increased from 5 days to 10 days.

Accordingly, with the relevant regulation, paternity leave for private sector employees has also been increased to 10 days, in line with the leave period applicable to public employees.

3) A 10-Day Leave Right Has Been Granted to Foster Families

In accordance with the Law, amendments made under Civil Servants Law No. 657 and Labor Law No. 4857 provide that civil servants and employees who become foster families shall be granted 10 days of leave upon their request, starting from the date on which the child is delivered to them.

Indeed, the following provision has been added to the Labor Law: "An employee who becomes a foster family, either together with his/her spouse or individually, for one or more children shall be granted ten days of unpaid leave upon request after the child is delivered."

Similarly, the following statement has been added to the Civil Servants Law: "A civil servant who becomes a foster family, either together with his/her spouse or individually, for one or more children shall be granted ten days of leave upon request after the child is delivered to the foster family."

It should be noted that, for employees subject to Labor Law No. 4857, the relevant leave is regulated as unpaid leave.

4) Employment Right of Young People Raised Under State Protection

With the Law, Additional Article 1 of Social Services Law No. 2828 has been revised.

Certain conditions have been determined for young people raised under state protection to benefit from the right to employment in public institutions. These include having a protection decision or care measure decision, having benefited from institutional care or foster family services for a certain period, being a Turkish citizen, being at least a secondary education graduate, and applying within the prescribed period.

In addition, with the amendment introduced by the relevant Law, if persons who meet the specified conditions, regardless of their educational status, are employed in the private sector, the following premiums will be covered by the Treasury for five years starting from the insured person's employment start date: the disability, old-age and survivors' insurance premium, short-term insurance branches premium, and general health insurance premium calculated over the lower limit of earnings subject to premium determined pursuant to Article 82 of Law No. 5510 and required to be paid under Article 81 of the same Law, including both the employee and employer shares in full; and the unemployment insurance premium required to be paid under the first paragraph of Article 49 of Unemployment Insurance Law No. 4447, including both the employee and employer shares in full.

Employers will benefit from the premium incentive provided under this paragraph. In order to benefit from the incentive under this article, monthly premium and service documents required to be submitted to the Social Security Institution must be submitted within the statutory period, and the premiums not covered by the Treasury must be paid within the statutory period.

5) Tax Regulation Regarding Donations Made to Darülaceze

With the Law, significant amendments have been made to the Income Tax Law, Corporate Tax Law, and Value Added Tax Law regarding donations and aid made to Darülaceze. Accordingly, an exemption has been introduced for such donations in terms of income tax, corporate tax, and value added tax.

In addition, it has been made possible for donations and aid to be made to Darülaceze to be deducted for income tax and corporate tax purposes, provided that the necessary conditions are met within the framework of the procedures and principles stipulated under the relevant legislation.

The above-mentioned provisions of the Law shall enter into force on the date of publication.

You can access the relevant law text here. (In Turkish)

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