Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

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

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. Coverage and determination of minimum wage levels. The Committee notes the comments made by the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TISK) and the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-IŞ) concerning the application of the Convention.

TISK continues to consider inadvisable to bring home-based trades within the scope of the minimum wage legislation. Not only is it impossible to determine the minimum wage for piecework, bearing in mind that home working trades are usually engaged in piecework, but it is also not always clear whether those working at home are self-employed or parties to an employment relationship. As regards the periodic readjustment of the minimum wage, TISK maintains that other economic factors apart from the inflation rate should be taken into consideration, such as for instance the economic crisis, market slowdown, decline in productivity, and increased unemployment. TISK suggests that lower minimum wages should apply to young persons as from the age of 20 rather than the age of 16 in an effort to prevent the growing youth unemployment. Finally, TISK considers that the fight against the informal economy would need lower taxation, simplifying bureaucracy and additional incentives for formal employment.

TÜRK-IŞ believes that the level of the minimum wage is far from adequate to provide a humane standard of living and that the country’s economic situation is used as an excuse for keeping the minimum wage exceptionally low. The workers’ organization also states that while the economy has grown by 35 per cent over the past four years, workers remunerated at the minimum pay rate have not been able to share any concrete benefits. According to statistics of the social security institution, two out of every five formal workers are paid at the minimum wage. Moreover, TÜRK-IŞ alleges that at present the minimum wage can hardly cover 64 per cent of the hunger level and 20 per cent of the poverty level, which means that a working family receiving the minimum wage can eat healthily for just 19 days and can enjoy a decent standard of living for only six days per month. Finally, TÜRK-IŞ draws attention to the homeworking trades which are not protected by minimum wage legislation and also to the important ongoing problem of informal employment. The Committee requests the Government to transmit any comments it may wish to make in reply to the observations of TISK and TÜRK-IŞ.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.