Human Resource Management (ENG) — Ünite 8 Soru-Cevap

Labor relations have three major actors: workers and their organizations (trade unions), employers and their organizations (employers’ organizations) and the state. 

The relationship between workers and employers is generally dealt with by the individual labor law while the organized relations between collective groups (trade unions vis-à-vis employers or employers’ organizations) are regulated by the collective labor law. 

Establishment (Workplace): According to the LA, the establishment is a unit wherein the workers and material (building, machinery, equipment, etc.) and immaterial elements (patents, experience, inventions, relations with the customers, etc.) are organized with a view to ensure the production of goods and services by the employer (art. 2/1). Also, “all premises used by the reason of the nature and execution of the work and organized under the same management including all facilities annexed to the establishment such as rest rooms, day nurseries, dining rooms, dormitories, bathrooms, rooms for medical examination and nursing, places for physical and vocational training and courtyards as well as the vehicles are deemed to be part of the establishment” (art. 2/2). 

Temporary agency work is a triangle relationship where a worker is employed by the temporary work agency and hired temporarily out to work under the supervision and direction of the user company. Private employment agencies have been authorized to provide temporary workers in Turkey. 

An employment contract has three components: performance of work, wage, and dependency (subordination). 

The duration of a trial period is maximum 2 months which could be extended up to 4 months by collective agreement. 

There are different types of employment contracts according to the LA. These are as follows: 

• Transitory employment contract
• Continual employment contract
• Employment contract for a definite term
• Employment contract for an indefinite term
• Full-time employment contract
• Part-time employment contract
• On call work contract
• Telecommuting employment contract

“The telecommuting work is a written employment relationship in which the worker performs his/her service at home or out of office via telecommunication devices, within the work organization created by the employer” (art. 14/4). 

Overtime work is work which exceeds the maximum weekly working hours (45 hours). There are three types of overtime work; normal overtime work, compulsory overtime work and overtime work in emergency situations.

The Act obliges employers to decrease occupational risks by: 

• taking risk assessment and accident prevention measures, 

• employing occupational health and safety staff, 

• setting up occupational health and safety boards (in companies where more than 50 people are employed), 

• reporting and recording accidents and occupational sickness. 

An employment certificate is a letter given by the employer to the worker at the time of the termination of the employment contract. It states the nature and duration of the employment. 

According to the LA, the notice period is determined depending on the length of employment (Table 8.3). The party who intends to terminate the contract shall obey the notice period. 

Severance pay is a sum of money paid at the time when the employment contract is terminated under certain circumstances. 

There are three fundamental pillars building collective labor relations: right to organize, right to collective bargaining, and right to strike. These rights complement each other and constitute institutional labor relations. 

Confederation: Confederation refers to the umbrella organization having a legal personality established by the association of minimum five trade unions or employers’ organizations operating in different sectors (art. 1/1(f)). 

Lock-out is a mechanism used by employers in the labor struggle. According to the TUCLA, “lock-out means any action taken by an employer or his representative, either upon his own initiative or in accordance with a decision taken by an organization, to collectively suspend workers from work in a manner that completely stops the activities in the workplace” (art. 59/1). 

Positive union freedom means the freedom of workers and employers to form and join unions and confederations of their own choosing. 

Negative union freedom means the freedom of the worker and employers not to join a union or to refrain from resigning or to resign from the union. 

A collective interest dispute is a disagreement between a trade union and an employer or an employers’ organization which arises during the collective bargaining negotiations. 

A strike is a temporary stoppage of work by a group of workers in order to express a grievance or enforce a demand. 

There are permanent bans on strikes and lock-outs at some works and workplaces, e.g., life and property saving works; funeral works; water, power, natural gas, oil and certain petro-chemistry works; finance works; firefighting services; cemeteries; hospitals and military businesses. Following the failure of the mediation process at these works and workplaces, the dispute is settled by the Supreme Arbitration Board, which is the compulsory arbitration body.