07.12.2025 09:40
The long-awaited draft legislation regarding maternity and paternity leave by the government has reached its final stages. With the new implementation expected to come into effect in 2026, maternity leave is projected to increase from 16 weeks to 24 weeks, while paternity leave in the private sector is expected to rise to 10 days. With this regulation, mothers will be able to return to work after their babies are 6 months old.
The AK Party Parliamentary Group will make the final touches to the draft work regarding the maternity leave regulation, which has been on the agenda for a long time, next week. The work carried out by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies aims to both increase the declining birth rate and strengthen the family structure.
MATERNITY LEAVE WILL BE EXTENDED TO 24 WEEKS
The draft regulation prepared by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies foresees increasing the current 16-week maternity leave (8 weeks before birth, 8 weeks after birth) granted to mothers to 24 weeks. The new implementation is expected to come into effect in 2026. Thus, mothers will be able to return to work when their babies are about 6 months old.
PATERNITY LEAVE WILL ALSO INCREASE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR
According to CNN Türk's report, another important regulation in the draft concerns paternity leave. Currently, public sector fathers can take 10 days of paternity leave, while in the private sector, this period is only 5 days. With the new regulation, the paternity leave for private sector employees will also be extended to 10 days, just like for public personnel.
According to the draft, the paid maternity leave period will be increased to 24 weeks in 2026. This step aims to allow working mothers to spend more time with their babies and contribute to strengthening the family structure.
The regulation covering maternity and paternity leaves is expected to be brought to the agenda of the Parliament in the coming weeks.