Pre-Natal and Post-Natal Leave Periods
The standard 112-day maternity leave, applied for decades in the old legislative system and structured with strict symmetry as 8 weeks before and 8 weeks after birth, had long been deemed highly inadequate by modern medical authorities for female workers’ physiological recovery processes after heavy birth operations, lactation (breastfeeding) period requirements, and the newborn baby’s psychomotor development and secure attachment phases. With the new legislative amendment, while the 8 week (56 days) pre-natal rest period is preserved exactly, the post-natal maternity leave period has been increased from 8 weeks to 16 weeks with a radical decision. As a result of this asymmetrical extension entirely targeting the post-natal period, the total maternity leave duration has reached 168 days (24 weeks), exceeding European Union averages. In cases of multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets, and similar multiple carrying), foreseeing that both the physiological wear and tear of the worker and civil servant will be much higher and the risk of premature birth will statistically increase, the rule of adding 2 more weeks to the basic 8-week pre-natal leave period has been kept exactly in the new law. However, with the new 16 week period added to the post-natal phase, the total maternity leave duration for female employees experiencing a multiple pregnancy has climbed from 18 weeks in the old system to 26 weeks (exactly 182 days). This extension is one of the most concrete manifestations with the highest material burden of the “principle of interpretation in favor of the worker” in the broad literature of labor and social security law and the “social state of law” understanding embodied in the Constitution. The spreading of the uninterrupted time the mother spends with the baby to a net 24 weeks has also achieved full legal and practical compliance with the universal medical recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF in their child health manifestos, which state that “only breast milk should be given absolutely for the first six months”. Now, mothers have gained the legal assurance to respond to their children’s physical and psychological needs directly in their homes during the most critical developmental phase of their babies’ first six months, without being condemned to breast pump rooms.
Changes in Pre-Natal Working Periods
Providing legal flexibility in maternity leave legal implementations according to the pregnant personnel’s changing physical capacity, medical pregnancy history, and office/field conditions is an indisputable necessity of the modern occupational health and safety regime. In the old legislative regulation, a female worker or civil servant whose health condition was suitable in the final months and who wanted to work could, with the official approval of a specialist physician, continue to actually work at the workplace until 3 weeks before the birth if she wished, and could directly transfer this 5 week period she did not use before birth to the post-natal period, thereby extending her puerperium period.
The new Law No. 7578 has further stretched this strict limit, taking into account women’s intense demands to spend more time with their babies after birth, and has pulled the final legal working period from 3 weeks before birth to 2 weeks before birth. With this legislative amendment; when reaching 8 weeks before the expected date of birth, female personnel who document with a specialist physician’s report that their health condition is suitable for active working life and submit this report to their institution or human resources department, have gained the right to continue their shifts in their institution until 2 weeks before birth, entirely upon their own free will and request. In such a situation, this 6 week intensive working period that the personnel actually worked before birth is directly added to the post-natal maternity leave, which has already been increased to 16 weeks by law, allowing the uninterrupted post-natal rest period to be extended up to a total of 22 weeks. This flexibility is a tremendous right that maximizes the precious time the mother will spend with her baby after birth.
However, the legislator has placed premature birth scenarios into a strict legal framework, taking into account the unpredictability of nature. Due to the female worker or civil servant giving birth earlier than expected, medically termed as a premature (early) birth, all parts of the planned but unused pre-natal maternity leave are completely and automatically added to the post-natal maternity leave period without giving rise to any administrative deduction, initiative, or loss of rights. Even in extreme premature births that occur before the 32nd week, when the pre-natal maternity leave must officially begin, that gap period between the birth date and the date the maternity leave should normally begin is calculated entirely and added to the post-natal maternity leave, thereby preventing the grievances that the mother and premature baby would experience. This compensatory mandatory provision is guaranteed both in the new version of Article 74 of the Labor Law No. 4857 binding the private sector and in Article 104 of the Civil Servants Law No. 657 binding public personnel.
Transfer of Legal Rights to the Father in the Event of the Mother’s Death
Despite all modern developments in women’s health, albeit rarely, complications can occur at the time of birth. In the highly painful event of the mother losing her life during birth or while the use of maternity leave is actually continuing after birth, the legislation mandates that all maternity leave periods foreseen for the mother but unable to be used due to death shall be granted uninterruptedly to the father in civil servant status upon his request, or to the father working in worker status. This right of transfer, granted to the father as an extraordinary circumstance in the event of the mother’s sudden death, is the most noble reflection in labor law of the “best interests of the child” principle, which is a fundamental tenet in civil law and family law disciplines. In this way, it is a highly vital and inviolable social law norm established so that the newborn baby who loses their mother is not deprived of at least a father’s affection and direct family care in the first and most vulnerable months of their life, and so that care can be maintained uninterruptedly directly by the father without being transferred to institutional structures or distant relatives.
Elimination of Paternity Leave Inequality in the Public and Private Sectors
In modern sociology, the rapid transformation of gender roles, the transition from the traditional patriarchal family model to the egalitarian parenting model, and the father stepping out of merely the “breadwinner” role in the newborn child’s care to assume an active “caregiver” role is one of the main areas that contemporary labor law has focused on and tried to reform the most in the last decade. However, before the revolutionary Law No. 7578, the legislation in Turkey had created a deep caste system based on status among fathers. While public personnel fathers working subject to the Civil Servants Law No. 657 were granted exactly 10 days of paid paternity leave when their children were born, fathers in worker status working in heavy industry, the service sector, or plazas within the scope of Additional Article 2 of the Labor Law No. 4857 were allowed to use only 5 days of excuse leave. This unfair picture created a class difference between public and private sector employees that was obvious, inexplicable, and damaging to the constitutional principle of equality, even though they were citizens of the same country. With the new legal regulation published in the Official Gazette and entering into force as of May 1, 2026, finally against this injustice; the paternity leave duration granted to workers has been increased by one hundred percent from 5 days to 10 days, bringing it to full equality with civil servants. This radical revision not only eliminated the injustices arising solely from status differences within the framework of the principle of equality before the law of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, but also legally bound to an unshakable guarantee that worker fathers working under the challenging shift conditions of the private sector take part as a supporting pillar at home for a longer time during the family integration process, the mother’s recovery phase after returning from the hospital, and the baby’s first days. The private sector employer or public unit supervisor does not have the slightest discretion or right of postponement in granting the relevant 10-day period, and this leave is a mandatory legal right that arises strictly bound to the objective condition of the spouse giving birth and must be used immediately. It has been reconfirmed by paragraph (B) of Article 104 of Law No. 657 that civil servants shall also be granted ten days of paternity leave upon request in the event of their spouse giving birth.
Adoption and Foster Family Leaves
To encourage adoption in society, employees in worker status or civil servants who jointly with their spouse or alone (individually) adopt a child who has not reached the age of three are granted the right to maternity leave (adoption leave) for exactly 8 weeks starting from the date the child is actually handed over to them institutionally, not from the date of the court decision. At this point, the legislator took a highly visionary step: If both adoptive spouses are in active working life and the mother prefers not to use this 8 week leave for any reason, the male worker or civil servant (father) can take this 8 week leave entirely upon himself and use it personally starting from the date he actually receives the child from the authorized institutions. Furthermore, even if a non civil servant spouse adopts alone, it is guaranteed that their civil servant spouse will be granted an eight week leave starting from the date the child is handed over.
Pursuant to the Turkish Civil Code, adoption decisions coming from courts can take months or even years. For this reason, this regulation in labor law steps in immediately in the initial processes where the child is “actually handed over” to the family by the institution purely for the purpose of family adaptation and bonding, long before the bureaucratic adoption decision becomes final, providing parents with an extraordinary legal protection shield and time to establish a strong psychological bond with the child.
Undoubtedly one of the most innovative, revolutionary, and applaudable steps brought by the regulation numbered 7578 in the social services ecosystem is the clear establishment of a specific and defined leave right for foster families for the first time in the Turkish legal system. Until today, employees who were foster families had to use their annual leaves or invent excuses during the institutional adaptation processes. With the new law, with noble goals such as encouraging employees with a conscience in society to become foster families, radically increasing the number of foster families in giant orphanages, and ensuring children’s compassionate care with a warm family by taking them out of those cold institutional structures; a legal leave right of 10 days starting from the delivery of the child has been introduced for workers, civil servants, and even members of the Armed Forces who actually become foster families to one or more children.
However, in the application of this right, unfortunately, a legal distinction, a status discrepancy between worker and civil servant statuses, has been reflected in the text of the law. While this 10 day foster family leave is granted to public personnel subject to the Civil Servants Law No. 657 in the status of a paid excuse leave without a single penny deducted from the civil servant’s salary; according to the amendment made in Article 74 of the Labor Law No. 4857 for private sector workers, this 10 day foster family leave to be granted to workers is explicitly defined as “unpaid leave”. Although this leave in the private sector is unpaid by law and will cause a 10 day deduction from the worker’s salary for that month, the employer absolutely does not have the right to reject, postpone, or deny this leave using intensity as an excuse. With the formation of the conditions that the worker makes a request by presenting the foster family certificate and the child is actually handed over to the family by the institution, granting this 10 day unpaid leave immediately is a mandatory legal obligation for the employer.
Maternity Allowance (Temporary Incapacity)
The transition of the maternity leave periods’ increase from 16 weeks to 24 weeks from being a legal text on paper to a concrete reality touching citizens’ lives is undoubtedly possible with the financial increase in the Temporary Incapacity Allowance amounts funded from the Social Security Institution (SGK) budget and paid to working mothers. The extension of maternity leave days means that the compensation the state pays the mother during this rest period, when the employer does not pay a salary, also extends for months. In this context, with the harmonization amendments made in the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, the basic rest period subject to the SGK allowance was revised and integrated into the system as “8 weeks before birth and 16 weeks after birth”.
Retroactive Additional Allowance (8 Weeks) Process for Those Giving Birth After October 16, 2025
Provisional Article 1 of the Law has retroactively expanded not only the leave duration but also the temporary incapacity allowance to be paid by SGK. Mothers who gave birth on or after October 16, 2025, but whose old 16 week maternity report ended before May 1, 2026 (the effective date of the law), will be able to benefit from this 8 week (56 day) additional allowance. The basic administrative and mathematical condition to benefit from this right is that as of April 1, 2026, a period of 24 weeks (168 days) must not have passed since the birth.
There is no need for mothers in this situation to obtain a new doctor’s report (additional report) or to go personally to SGK and health service providers to receive their additional allowances from SGK. Pursuant to administrative procedure, it is mandatory and sufficient for mothers to apply to their employers with a written petition between May 1 and May 15, 2026 (within 10 working days). The employer is obligated to report the insured person’s request to the institution using the “Law No. 7578 8 Week Extension Application” menu on SGK’s e-vizite screen and by entering the insured’s TR identity number and application date. Following this electronic notification and SGK checks, the institution will deposit the 56-day additional temporary incapacity allowance to the mother. For a mother working on minimum wage, the SGK payment for this 56 day additional period, when calculated over the current base amount of 734 TL, means an additional financial support of exactly 41,104 TL. On the other hand, for mothers whose maternity report is actually continuing as of May 1, 2026, this 56-day additional allowance period is automatically extended via SGK systems without any application required.
Legal and Administrative Conditions for Benefiting from Maternity Allowance
For an insured woman in active working life to benefit from this massive maternity allowance budget of SGK, she must fully possess specific legal, administrative, and premium conditions determined by the laws.
The most basic and hard to overcome rule is that within one year (the last 12-month calendar) backwards from the date the birth occurred, at least 90 days of short-term insurance premium (occupational accident, occupational disease, and maternity insurance premium) must have been reported and paid to the SGK system on behalf of the working woman.
Additionally, it is among the mandatory and auditable conditions that the woman’s insured status has not been lost before the legal maternity leave officially begins (i.e., not having been unfairly dismissed from work or resigning voluntarily) and that she has not actually worked in any workplace in a way that would be recorded in SGK records during this long rest report period. The allowance of a mother found to be actually working is immediately cut off, and the amounts paid are recovered with interest.
Breastfeeding Allowance (Milk Money) and Birth Assistance
- Breastfeeding Allowance: It is a conditional one time financial assistance provided directly from SGK maternity insurance branches in the event of giving birth. The official net amount updated and determined for 2026 in light of high inflation data is a one time 1,550 TL.
- Ministry of Family and Social Services Birth Assistance: This direct assistance item, which changes progressively according to which number of the family the child is (birth order) and aims to encourage population growth, has also been radically updated for 2026. Accordingly; while a one time 5,000 TL cash support is paid to the family for the first child born; a highly ambitious financial package has been put into effect, such as providing a regular 1,500 TL (monthly) for the second child, and a regular 5,000 TL (monthly – until the child’s 60th month, i.e., 5 years old) support for the third and each subsequent child.
In light of all these financial and mathematical data, the cumulative cash social support total that a young mother who works in the minimum wage band and gives birth to her first child (with a singleton pregnancy) after May 2026 will obtain from various state institutions is as follows: 123,312 TL (SGK Birth Report Money) + 1,550 TL (SGK Milk Money) + 5,000 TL (Ministry of Family One Time Birth Assistance), reaching a minimum total level of 129,862 TL. In the case of multiple pregnancy (twins), due to extra report days, when only basic allowances are taken as a basis, this total amount directly jumps to the level of 140,138 TL.
To accelerate bureaucratic processes, these accrued payments are instantly transferred electronically to the right holders’ Ziraat Bank IBANs predefined in the system or directly to their TR identity number accounts at PTT branches, thanks to e-Government integration, without the need for any physical application.
Breastfeeding Leave
Pursuant to paragraph (D) of Article 104 of the Civil Servants Law No. 657 and Article 74 of the Labor Law No. 4857 binding the private sector, granting breastfeeding leave to female civil servants and workers to biologically breastfeed their children, to be deducted from daily working hours, is a constitutional guarantee. While in the old system this leave began when the baby was 4 months old; in the new system, it begins from the end date of the 24 week (approximately 6 month) long maternity leave period. Female civil servants are legally mandated to be granted 3 hours of breastfeeding leave per day in the first six months following the end of the report, and 1.5 hours per day in the second six months following that.
One of the places where the principle of interpretation in favor of the worker in labor law is seen most sharply is the use of this right. Regarding between which hours in the morning, noon, or evening the breastfeeding leave will be used and into how many parts per day (how many times) it will be divided, only and entirely the personal preference of the female personnel is essential. Neither a factory manager, a company CEO, nor a public institution supervisor can change these hours to the mother’s detriment by using operations as an excuse; the institution and employer must strictly comply with this unilateral preference. Moreover, the hours spent on these leaves outside the institution or at home breastfeeding the baby are counted as actual working shifts at the workplace, and not a single penny can be deducted from the mother’s salary or premiums under any circumstances.
Part-Time Work and İŞKUR Allowance
Another strategic right offered by the legislation in harmonizing the care and breastfeeding of a newborn baby with the ruthless and competitive business life is the “half-time work” (part-time work) model. Immediately following the post-natal maternity leave (from the end of the 24th week according to the new Law No. 7578 regulation, meaning the baby completes its 6th month), for the purpose of the child’s care and raising with motherly affection, upon personal written request to the active worker or civil servant; it is a right to be granted unpaid leave for exactly half of the mandatory weekly working time (45 hours, or 40 hours in the public sector) for a period of exactly 60 days for the first childbirth, 120 days for the second childbirth, and 180 days for the third and each subsequent multiple/singleton births.
Employees who choose this part-time model work at the company or office for half the week and receive half a salary from the employer or the state for the periods they work part-time; while they can sustain their livelihood by receiving a minimum wage indexed “Half-Time Work Allowance” via the İŞKUR Unemployment Fund in order to partially compensate for the income losses during the phase they do not work and spend time at home with their babies. The increase of the basic maternity leave from 112 days to 168 days with the revolutionary Law No. 7578 has moved the starting date for using this half-time working right much further along the calendar (after the baby’s 6th month), thus offering the mother the opportunity to stay at home or work flexibly almost until the baby turns 1 year old.