Civil servants are employees who work in public institutions, government offices, and state agencies on a monthly salary basis. They benefit from the advantages associated with public service. A civil servant retiree is someone who worked in public institutions or state offices until they earned the required contributions for retirement and then left service. Retirees can be classified differently, such as civil servant retirees or self-employed (Bağ-Kur) retirees, depending on their employment history.
Professions such as teacher, engineer, doctor, academic, custodian, colonel, nurse, driver, imam, lawyer, and undersecretary fall under the civil servant category. Salaries for these roles differ throughout their careers, and the salary increases they receive also vary by position. Accordingly, the pensions of civil servant retirees differ significantly from one another, and the raises they receive upon retirement vary widely as well. Efforts are underway to adjust the recent pension amounts of civil servant retirees. The increases granted to retired civil servants also appear to be aimed at improvement.
When are bonuses given to retired civil servants? Bonuses for retired civil servants are typically paid on special occasions such as religious holidays.
There are approximately 408,000 retired civil servants in Turkey. Issues regarding bonus calculations for civil servant retirees with more than 30 years of service have been resolved. As part of this resolution, a payment of 100 TL will be made.
Civil servant retirees have also benefited positively from the work and regulations promoted by Memur-Sen.
In 2016, the pensions of civil servant retirees increased by 19.1 percent. The collective bargaining agreement also introduced a number of additional social rights for civil servants.
For 2017, civil servant retirees received a 4 percent collective agreement increase and an additional 2.92 percent to cover inflation differences. Retirees received their last pre-increase pensions before the Ramadan holiday and began receiving their first increased pensions in July 2017. Prior to these increases, the lowest civil servant pension was around 1,750 TL. With the new adjustment, the minimum civil servant retirement pension rose to 1,871 TL, representing an increase of 6.92 percent. Retired civil servants continued to receive these increased amounts until January 2018, after which new adjusted pensions took effect.
Civil servants who have completed 10 uninterrupted years of service can, under the new regulations, fill the remaining required contribution period by opting for voluntary insurance without working, and if they also meet the age requirement, they may qualify for retirement.