The working week in Turkey could be cut to 40 hours, the close-to-government Türkiye newspaper reported. The issue, which directly affects the interests of over 30 million workers, was discussed at a meeting chaired by Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz. It discussed changes in legislation related to new forms of work, such as remote, part-time, temporary or through online platforms. In general, the length of the work week on a five-day schedule can be reduced from 45 to 40 hours. It may also be reduced to 40 hours for some occupations that currently work 48 hours a week.
Turkey's Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Yishan has previously spoken about the possibility of changing labor laws in line with changing labor market conditions and the flexible work styles of the new generation. Türkiye recalls that in 2023 the opposition submitted a bill to the Turkish parliament to reduce the working week to 37.5 hours.
Turkey's Labor Law of 1936 establishes the norm of labor activity in the republic at 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week. In 2003 it was edited. The length of the working week was set at 45 hours. However, due to the existence of separate regulations by sector, these norms are not applied everywhere. Thus, in the media sector and in maritime labor law, the 48-hour working week remains the norm; in other sectors the 45-hour workweek rule applies.