Alignment of Turkish labour law with the acquis and implementation of the relevant legislation needs to be improved. The rate of unregistered employment, not covered by the labour law, further fell to 33.6 %, albeit with strong differences based on sector, employment status and gender. Subcontracted workers are particularly at risk of informal employment, poor working conditions, unjustified dismissals and difficulties in joining trade unions. Turkey needs to regulate sub-contracted and other forms of employment, such as temporary work, in line with the EU acquis. The persistent problem of child labour is addressed in the December 2013 children’s rights national strategy.
Turkey ratified International Labour Organisation Convention no 187 on the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health. Turkey adopted all implementing regulations
relating to its new framework law on health and safety at work, but the law is not yet fully applicable; progress is needed to achieve complete entry into force and to address the serious gaps in effective prevention and inspection in partnership with the social partners and professional organisations. The mining and quarrying sector remains the most risky as illustrated by the Soma mine disaster, as well as the construction sector. In September 2014, new legal provisions have been adopted, aimed at improving the working conditions for miners. The monitoring of fatal workplace accidents needs to be more transparent, as non- governmental figures are much higher than official statistics.
In the area of social dialogue, implementing regulations of the law on trade unions in the private sector were adopted. The use of the e-state portal for registration/withdrawal of union membership led to a 15.2 % increase in the number of union members since July 2013; but confidentiality of the portal’s data needs to be improved to avoid data misuse. The coverage of collective agreements remained low. Restrictive double thresholds for collective bargaining, uncertain protection for union members against dismissals, and gaps in the right to organise, bargain and strike remain the most relevant issues in this area. In a law adopted in September the threshold allowing trade unions to negotiate collective agreements (representing the ratio of their members to the workforce of the company’s branch of activity) was set permanently at 1 %. This continues to represent a significant obstacle for trade unions to enter into collective bargaining.
In employment policy the first national employment strategy was adopted, signalling long term policy planning and setting ambitious employment targets. Turkey is also preparing its first employment and social reform programme. Labour market performance remained rather stable. Male (15-64 year-olds) participation (75.6 %) and employment rates (69.5 %) are at levels comparable to the EU, while female participation (33.2 %) and employment (29.6 %) rates remain well below EU levels. At 25.5 % the percentage of young people not in employment, education or training continued to decrease but remains high. The unemployment rate slightly increased to 8.9 %, (16.9 % for young people). The public employment service (ISKUR) increased its capacity, and the outreach of its services.
As regards preparations for the European Social Fund (ESF), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security continued to manage the IPA Human Resources Development Operational Programme. With an increase in staffing, the work on programming, tendering, monitoring and evaluation has been stepped up; however, the absorption of available funds continues to be a challenge. (See also Chapter 22 — regional policy and coordination of structural
instruments)
In the field of social inclusion, an integrated and comprehensive policy framework still needs to be developed. Despite increase in the social spending budget, the relative poverty rate (22.6 %), the poverty gap (29.4 %) and income inequality (GINI 0.402) remain highcompared to EU averages. The action plan to encourage social assistance recipients to enter the formal labour market has delivered some positive results and indicates the need to step up active labour market policies. Employment opportunities in the public sector for people with disabilities continued to increase, together with new financial incentives for creating sheltered workshops in the private sector. A national Roma integration strategy is being prepared. In the area of social protection the sustainability of the social security system, which reported increasing deficits due to high pension and health expenditure, could be strengthened by higher employment rates of women and youth, and by reducing undeclared work. The health insurance system provides sustainable, largely accessible and almost universal health care coverage, despite some regional inequalities in terms of quality of service provision. Turkey lacks a comprehensive long term care system. It needs a genuine de-institutionalisation of long term care services for children and people with disabilities accompanied by the
development of community-based alternatives. Implementation of the national ageing action plan is expected to improve active ageing policies.
In the field of anti-discrimination, the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of disability was introduced into the national education law and the labour law. Furthermore, a revision of Article 122 of the Turkish Penal Code introduced penalties for discriminatory, hate based practices in economic activities and in employment. There is still no protective legislation regarding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or age. (See also
Chapter 23— Judiciary and fundamental rights)
In the field of equal opportunities for women and men, the equality body required by the
acquis has not been created. The lack of childcare facilities impedes women’s labour market
integration, against a background of gender-based segregation of domestic duties including caring for older people. There have been many shortcomings in the implementation and proper monitoring of the government circular on increasing women’s employment and equal opportunities, as this is not considered as high priority by many stakeholders. Bullying and sexual harassment at work needs to be looked into for both genders as a possible factor hindering employment and decent working conditions. (See also Chapter 23— Judiciary and
fundamental rights) Conclusion
There was some progress in the area of social policy and employment, where the rate of unregistered employment has been decreasing, but important gaps remain. Social dialogue mechanisms do not function effectively as a result of obstacles in legislation which need to be removed. Labour law needs to be amended and enforced for the benefit of the entire workforce. Working conditions, including health and safety at work have yet to be addressed. Anti-discrimination, social inclusion and social protection policies and practices need to be improved. Overall, legal alignment in this area is moderately advanced.