With the new regulation regarding maternity leave periods in Turkey, maternity leave is being increased from 16 weeks to 24 weeks. According to the implementation details published by the Social Security Institution (SGK) and relevant institutions, mothers will be provided with both leave and additional payment opportunities for an additional 8 weeks within the scope of the regulation. In the new system, the standard duration of maternity leave will be 24 weeks in total, including 8 weeks before birth and 16 weeks after birth.
While the regulation covers both public and private sector employees, it was stated that contracted personnel will also benefit from the rights. Additional Maternity Benefit Will Start from 41 Thousand TL. Within the scope of the new application, the amount of maternity benefit to be paid for the 8-week additional leave period is calculated based on the gross minimum wage. According to current calculations, the minimum payment for the additional 8-week period is calculated as 41,104 TL, in line with the temporary disability allowance determined based on two-thirds of daily earnings.
It is stated that as the total maternity leave period is completed to 24 weeks, the payments increase depending on the salary level and the total amount calculated on the minimum wage reaches approximately 123,312 TL. Application Dates Have Been Clarified The implementation schedule of the regulation has also been clarified. Accordingly: Deadline for private sector employees: May 15, 2026. Deadline for civil servants: May 15, 2026, end of working day.
Deadline for contracted personnel: May 22, 2026. It has been reported that there will be no need to apply separately for employees who have not yet completed 16 weeks of maternity leave, and the process will automatically be completed in 24 weeks. Leave Process Can Be Automatically Extended According to the new regulation, as of April 1, 2026, the leave period of employees who continue to have 16 weeks of leave will be automatically completed to 24 weeks through the system.
In this context, it was stated that the report payments for the relevant period will be calculated and paid over an additional 56 days. Employees whose leave period has expired will be able to benefit from temporary disability allowance for the days they do not work, provided that it does not exceed a maximum of 8 weeks. Calculation System Has Not Changed Maternity payments will continue to be calculated based on the average gross earnings of the 12 months before birth.
The calculation is based on two-thirds of daily earnings and multiplies it by the number of days off to determine the total payment amount. In the calculation made based on the current minimum wage, the daily payment is determined as approximately 734 TL.
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