The coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire world and has caused prolonged economic difficulties. As part of the measures taken, dismissals are officially prohibited so employees do not appear to be left unprotected. At the same time, workplaces have been allowed to place staff on unpaid leave, and many employers are using that option, effectively preventing employees from working. In this situation, employees on unpaid leave receive only 39 Turkish lira per day, and official figures published in August show about 672,000 people are currently on unpaid leave.
Unpaid Leave Creates Hardship
Although the unpaid leave policy was introduced as a temporary measure during the coronavirus crisis, it has begun to create serious hardship for many workers. What was initially regarded as a short-term solution has become more serious as the public health and economic situation failed to improve. Workers placed on unpaid leave have grown worse off over time. Some survived by using their savings or by taking low-interest loans from banks, but many now face very difficult circumstances.
Official data for August indicate roughly 672,000 people are on unpaid leave and receiving cash support. These workers receive 39 lira per day, which is far from enough given rising prices across nearly every sector. Another related figure shows that a total of 3,968,000 people have been covered by the short-time work allowance so far, with 19 billion lira paid out in total. Although the aggregate number seems large, individual payments often provide limited relief. Short-time work allowance is calculated at 60% of the 12-month gross wage, but the monthly allowance cannot exceed 150% of the minimum wage. In practice this corresponds to roughly 4,380 lira. Workers with a net salary below 5,000 lira receive at most about 75% of their net pay, including the minimum living allowance, which often falls short of covering basic needs.
Number of Employees on Unpaid Leave Is Rising
The unpaid leave measure was initially introduced for three months, but subsequent decisions extended the period and it is currently set to run until October 31. It is expected that the deadline may be further extended until December 31.
Employees placed on unpaid leave receive 39 TL per day from the unemployment fund. After stamp tax is deducted, the amount falls to 38 TL per day. If an employee on unpaid leave has no other income, that amounts to only 1,168 TL per month. Simple budget estimates illustrate how insufficient this is: with a monthly rent of 800 TL and utilities (electricity, gas, water) around 250 TL, the worker is left with only about 150 TL per month for all other needs, most importantly food.
How Will the Situation Change?
Under normal conditions, being placed on unpaid leave would allow the employee to lawfully terminate the employment contract. During the pandemic, however, such terminations are not treated the same way. As a result, if a worker leaves their job while still considered on unpaid leave, they risk losing both employment and severance rights. Since the duration of the current measures remains uncertain, many people who have been on unpaid leave for around six months are anxious about how the situation will evolve.
Ending the hardship ultimately requires an improvement in public health conditions, but some shorter-term solutions could help. One option would be to permit employees to exercise termination rights so they can seek new jobs and claim severance and other entitlements upon leaving. Another possible, though less likely, alternative is to increase the monthly payments to those on unpaid leave. Of these possibilities, the most realistic path to a lasting improvement remains the end of the extraordinary pandemic conditions.