Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Türkiye (Ratification: 1975)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report as well as the comments made by the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-IS), the Confederation of Turkish Employers’ Associations (TISK), and the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DISK). Because of the problem of translation, the Committee intends to analyse the comments made by the TISK and the DISK, together with the Government’s response, in its next report.

1. The Committee has been commenting for many years on the need to amend the national legislation to specifically extend the coverage of the Labour Act to include homeworkers and domestic workers. The Committee regrets to note that the Government is still unable to report any progress in this respect other than stating that according to the Government Plan of Action of 2000 such atypical forms of employment should be regulated, and that a homeworker experiencing problems related to minimum wages might seek protection through the labour inspection or labour courts. The Committee urges the Government to take all necessary action in order to bring the national legislation into full conformity with the Convention with respect to homeworkers, and to provide information on any further developments in this regard.

2. The Committee notes that the comments of TÜRK-IS reiterate in substance those attached to the Government’s previous report. The TÜRK-IS considers that the home-working system, including domestic workers and workers engaged in "contract labour", is the most common form of evasion of the protective labour legislation, and that the national legislation on minimum wages should be extended to encompass these two categories of home-working trades. The TÜRK-IS is also of the opinion that supervision and sanctions in matters of minimum wages are totally insufficient, especially in the light of the spread of clandestine employment and the increasing number of establishments in the informal economy.

In this connection, the Government states in its report that the difficulty in the supervision of home work is a reality because of the nature of the work, and mainly because of the inviolability of the home asylum. The Government indicates that the intervention of labour inspectors is only possible in the case of a complaint or specific demand, but that no such complaint or demand has been submitted to the authorities from the workers concerned. It also states that the direct intervention of labour inspectors will only be possible after appropriate regulations to this effect come into force and that the regulation of flexible or non-standardized types of work is among its medium-term priorities.

The Committee further notes that according to the Government’s report, ad hoc working committees have been established in the Labour Inspection Board in order to improve the efficiency of labour inspection, for instance, by changing the methods of intervention and inspection and targeting the most vulnerable groups of workers. The Government also indicates that the recruitment of 100 new assistant labour inspectors is on the agenda of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Further to its previous comments, the Committee again requests the Government to supply detailed information in its next report on the measures taken or envisaged regarding the reinforcement of the supervisory and inspection machinery, especially in relation to homeworkers and workers employed in the informal sector.

3. Regarding the ongoing process of revising the minimum wage-fixing machinery, in relation to which meetings with the social partners have been held since 1997, the Committee notes that such revision should be completed under the Government Plan of Action of 2001. The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to reach a consensus on the proposed amendment of the minimum wage-fixing machinery and that it will soon be in a position to report concrete progress to this end.

The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government in its report concerning the minimum wage rates fixed for 2000-01 and requests it to continue providing, in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention and Part V of the report form, general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including for example changes in the minimum wage rates in force, available statistical data on the number and categories of workers covered by the minimum wage regulations and inspection results, e.g. violations reported and penalties imposed.