Amendments Made Within the Scope of Short-Time Working Allowance due to Covid-19

“The Presidential Decree on the Extension of the Period for the Short-Time Working Allowance Applications Submitted on the Ground of Compelling Reason within the Scope of Periodic Situations arising from External Effects due to the New Coronavirus (Covid-19)” (“the Decree”) is published in the Official Gazette dated 1 December 2020 and numbered 31321. With the Decree, significant amendments are made in respect of short-time working allowance.  

This newsletter has been prepared in order to furnish information about the short-time working allowance and the application periods for the allowance.  

The conditions for entitlement to short-time working allowance are facilitated by 31 December 2020.

In the Decree, it is adopted that the date “30 June 2020”, contained in the temporary article 23/1 of the Unemployment Insurance Law numbered 4447, shall apply as “31 December 2020” for the workplaces that request for short-time working in respect of the period after 1 December 2020 on the ground of compelling reason included in the scope of periodic situations arising from external effects due to Covid-19, within the framework of the principles specified in the additional article 2 and the temporary article 23 of the said Law. To be effective until 31 December 2020 within this scope, for the short-time working applications submitted on the ground of compelling reason arising from Covid-19, the provision regarding the fulfillment of the conditions for entitlement to the unemployment insurance, with the exception of termination of employment contract, prescribed in order for an employee to become entitled to the short-time working allowance shall apply as having been paid unemployment insurance premium and been employed as an insured for 450 days within the last three years, among those subject to employment contract for the last 60 days before the date the short-time working has started.  The workplaces that have applied for short-time working until 30 June 2020 are provided with the opportunity to receive short-time working allowance for both their employees in this period and their additional employees after this period. Within this scope, newly recruited employees will also be able to receive short-time working allowance. The workplaces that previously applied for short-time working do not need to make an application again in order to benefit from short-time working; those workplaces automatically become the beneficiaries of short-time working as much as the number of employees in their previous application.

The workplaces that have never applied for short-time working before are provided with the opportunity to receive short-time working allowance, in case they submit their applications to the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR) as of 1 December 2020. The applications for short-time working may be submitted until 31 December 2020 through the e-State Gateway only.

Short-time working allowance shall not be deducted from the periods for unemployment allowance.

According to the Decree, the payments made within the scope of short-time working shall not be deducted from the period for unemployment allowance determined initially. Therefore, it becomes possible for the employees who are entitled to short-time working allowance to fully benefit from the unemployment allowance.

Amendments have been made about when short-time working allowances will be paid.

With regard to the short-time working allowance payments for the workplaces that have requested for short-time working until 30 August 2020 on the ground of compelling reason included in the scope of periodic situations arising from external effects due to Covid-19; in case of short-time working for compelling reason, the short-time working allowance payments shall start after this one-week period if a compelling reason emerges, which reason will require interruption of the work for more than a week in the workplace where the employee is working. Furthermore, the employee who cannot work or cannot be employed shall be paid a half wage for each day, up to one week, within the idle period; and the short-time working allowance payments shall start at the end of this one-week period.

Conclusion

With the Decree that entered into force on 01.12.2020, the periods for the short-time working allowance applications are extended, the conditions to benefit from short-time working allowance are facilitated and thus, it is aimed to enhance the possibility of benefiting from the said allowance.

The full text of the Decree is accessible at:  

https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2020/12/20201201-8.pdf