WHAT ARE THE MEASURES THAT TO BE TAKEN BY EMPLOYERS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE NEW TYPE OF CORONA VIRUS OUTBREAK PREVENTION? 13 April 2020

WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EMPLOYER IN THE PREVENTION OF THE OUTBREAK?

The employer, in accordance with the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, is obliged to comply with the following general principles and prevent risks by taking measures related to the protection of health and safety.

The employer's obligation is valid for every situation and also finds application for prevention of Covid-19 epidemic, which affects the whole world. Within the scope of the disease that has also become an epidemic in our country; the following measures can be taken by the employer.

• WORKING FROM HOME/REMOTE WORKING

Although there is no direct "working from home" regulation in our law, there is a "remote working" regulation in article 14 of the Labor Law. Accordingly, the remote working is the employment relationship established on the basis of the fact that the employee fulfills his/her work at home or outside the workplace with technological communication tools within the scope of the organization created by the employer.

Since the practice of working from home can be considered as a substantial change within the scope of the employment contract, it will be in the interest of the parties to sign a protocol between the employee and the employer and obtain the written approval of the worker.

• MOVING TO FLEXIBLE WORKING SYSTEM;

It should be evaluated that the flexible working system, which started operating in the public sector, can also find application in the private sector.

In the Circular, which contains regulations regarding the public sector; “In order to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in our country, provided that there is a minimum number of personnel to meet the need and not to disrupt public services, flexible working methods can be applied." statements were regulated.

In this context, in the private sector; measures such as shift work, working from home under certain conditions, changing in the working hours can be taken.

• ANNUAL LEAVE

Although in practice, annual leave days are determined based on the request of the employees, there is no clear regulation regarding this issue in the legislation.

However, upon the examination of the Annual Paid Leave Regulation, it is concluded that the determination of annual leave periods is under the management authority of the employer.

Accordingly, within the scope of the measures to be taken against the Covid-19 outbreak, the employer will be able to request employees to use annual leave.

• UNPAID LEAVE

It is seen that the Labor Law and other regulations do not include detailed regulations on unpaid leave. In this case, the decisions made by the Supreme Court will be decisive in the disputes regarding the use of unpaid leave. When these decisions are examined, it becomes evident that the unpaid leave can only be used provided that such offer is accepted by the employer.

On the other hand, it should be noted that the employers have been given the right to unpaid leave their workers for a temporary period with the Law on Reducing the Effects of the New Corona Virus Epidemic (Covid-19)  on Economic and Social Life published in the Official Gazette dated 17.04.2020 and numbered 31102. In this context, employers will be able to make partial or complete unpaid leave to their workers for 3 months from 17.04.2020. In this context, it is not possible for the worker to make a claim for rightful termination.