19.10.2026 11:31
İsa Karakaş, Chief Specialist at the Social Security Institution (SGK), stated that the rigid understanding of working hours has been abandoned worldwide and that Brazil has most recently reduced its weekly working time from 44 hours to 40 hours, granting a right to 2 days off; he emphasized that reducing the inflexible 45-hour working time still applied under Turkey's Labor Law is not a luxury but an unavoidable necessity for employee health and productivity.
SGK Chief Specialist İsa Karakaş emphasized that rigid working hours are being abandoned one by one, and that many countries, not only European and developed countries, have taken and are taking steps toward shortening working hours. Karakaş noted that in recent days, Brazil, most recently, also made a constitutional amendment reducing weekly working hours from 44 to 40 hours and granting employees the right to 2 days off per week without wage deduction.
In his article in Türkiye Gazetesi, Karakaş said, "The developed world has stepped into a new era that prioritizes not the quantity of labor but its quality and productivity. It is our turn. Our employees fully deserve it as well."
REGULATIONS MADE IN PREVIOUS PERIODS
Karakaş stated that the steps taken throughout history proved that the search for a humane life flows like an unstoppable river, and emphasizing that the major legal regulations in the world reveal this, he listed the following:
- 1919 (International Labour Organization-ILO): The first international standard was drawn by introducing a limit of 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week.
- 1935 (ILO): The 40-hour working target was adopted as a global recommendation decision.
- 1936 (France): With the Popular Front reforms, the 40-hour working week gained legal protection.
- 1938 (USA): The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was adopted, and the weekly limit was registered as 40 hours.
- 1998-2000 (France): With the Aubry Laws, weekly working time was reduced to 35 hours.
- 2015-2019 (Iceland): A 35-36 hour weekly practice was tried; it was proven that productivity did not decrease, on the contrary, employee health improved.
- 2021-2026 (Colombia): With the law passed, the weekly 48-hour working time was gradually reduced to 42 hours.
- 2023 (Chile): It was enacted that the 45-hour period would be gradually reduced to 40 hours.
- 2026 (Mexico): Through constitutional regulations, the process of gradually reducing 48 hours to 40 hours was initiated.
- 2026 (Brazil): The Brazilian Congress changed the constitution with a historic decision. Working time was reduced from 44 hours to 40 hours, and the right to 2 days of rest per week without salary deduction was registered.
THE PICTURE IN TURKEY
Karakaş also reported the situation in Turkey and said, "While the world raises humane standards, the picture in our country is static. The provision of Article 63 of Labor Law No. 4857 is clear: 'Weekly working time is at most 45 hours.'"
Karakaş noted that in workplaces where people work 6 days, daily shifts of 7.5 hours are applied, and in workplaces where people work 5 days, shifts reaching 9 hours are applied, and he recorded that this limit has not changed for a long time.
COMPARISON OF WORKING HOURS
Then Karakaş made the following comparison:
- European Union: (35-40 hours)
- Iceland: (35-36 hours)
- Australia: (38 hours)
- Japan - S. Korea - Chile - Brazil: (40 hours)
- Turkey: Still (45 hours)
EMPHASIS ON THE NEW REGULATION
Karakaş stated that reducing the weekly 45-hour working time is not a luxury or a demand for laziness, and said, "This step is an unavoidable necessity from social, economic, and humanitarian perspectives."
Emphasizing that long working hours lead to chronic fatigue, burnout, and severe stress, Karakaş used the following statements: "A tired body and mind are an open invitation to work accidents. They say 'Health comes before life'; it is impossible for a society whose body is exhausted to turn the wheels of production. Moreover, working a lot does not mean producing a lot. The productivity of an employee who has been tired for hours at a desk or workbench hits bottom. The examples of Iceland and France have shown that: A rested mind produces efficient work. Reducing the duration does not increase costs; on the contrary, it reduces sick leave, work errors, and losses."