Business head backs workers over severance

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Ümit Boyner

A possible change in Turkey’s severance benefits system should guarantee the protection of vested rights, according to the head of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD).

If any change to the current system were to be planned, it could achieve a healthy result only if all parties contributed to the process, TÜSİAD chair Ümit Boyner said yesterday on her official Twitter account. “If the related draft reaches us we might comment in more detail,” she said. “In this process the most sensitive issue is protecting those rights already acquired.”

The aim of all parties in changing the law should be to create jobs and cut unemployment, Boyner said.

Workers will not be eligible to demand severance benefits until they have worked for 15 years, whether they are laid off or leave voluntarily, according to the new draft, some media reports said earlier this week. However, such a draft has not been officially disclosed yet. The only way to obtain severance pay prior to completing 15 years of employment will be to purchase a house, reports said.