Hoteliers defended the 'weekly leave' regulation: It was misunderstood!

With the " Law on Amendments to Certain Laws and Legislative Decree No. 375 ," changes were also made to the use of leave by tourism workers. Article 9 of the regulation was amended to read, " However, the weekly holiday to which workers working in accommodation facilities issued tourism operation certificates by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are entitled under this paragraph may be used within four days following the date of entitlement upon the worker's written request or approval. In this case, the portion of the work performed by the worker during the weekly holiday to which they are entitled, equivalent to the normal daily working hours, will not be taken into account in calculating overtime. The worker may withdraw their consent by giving written notice to the employer thirty days in advance. "

Although the regulation clearly states, " The weekly holiday to which workers working in accommodation facilities are entitled under this paragraph may be used within four days following the day the worker is entitled upon written request or approval. " Hotel owners and managers are of the opinion that the regulation is in favor of the workers.

Mehmet İşler: Seasonal and periodic densities of the sector...

Mehmet İşler, President of the Aegean Touristic Enterprises and Accommodations Association (ETİK), stated, "According to current legal provisions, workers are legally entitled to a one-day weekly break if they work 45 hours a week. Under normal circumstances, this break must be used within the seven-day workweek. In other words, a worker who works six days will inevitably take a seventh-day break. The new regulation was designed to take into account the seasonal and seasonal occupancy of the tourism sector. Especially during periods of full occupancy, such as the summer season, flexibility in personnel planning is sometimes necessary for accommodation facilities to maintain their service quality." He added that the regulation is actually tailored to the needs of the businesses .

Hakan Saatçioğlu: A more efficient leave planning...

A similar statement was made by Hakan Satçioğlu, President of the Professional Hoteliers Association (POYD) . Despite the absence of such a statement in the regulation , Saatçioğlu stated, "The new regulation allows weekly leave to be used on the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, or 10th day instead of the 7th day, based on the employee's written request and the hotel's operational workload. "

Saatçioğlu, who argued that employees, particularly those traveling from out of town, would like to combine their leave days and use them consecutively, stated, "This policy will only be implemented with the employee's written consent. There is absolutely no way to force anyone to take leave or postpone their entitlement. This change aims to maintain a balance between employers and employees by taking into account the operational needs of hotels during peak seasons and to facilitate more efficient leave planning." He emphasized that the primary goal of the regulation is to meet the needs of businesses.

1. What will happen if businesses mob tourism personnel to use their leave as 10+1?

2. There is no statement in the regulation regarding how tourism personnel will use their accumulated leave.

3. Will there not be a situation where the weekly leave right, which is left to the employer-employee agreement, cannot be used in practice?

4. What will happen if businesses, especially those that operate seasonally, turn the 10+1 method into a practice like 'working with minimum leave throughout the season, then kicking people out' ?

5. Doesn't the regulation, which opens the door to making employees in a sector like tourism, where labor is intensive and work hours are already long, work longer hours without giving them the opportunity to rest, pose both human and sectoral risks (burnout, exhaustion, fatigue)?