Newsletter-21

329 LABOR LAW of age, shall use maternity leave for a period of eight weeks, com- mencing as soon as the child is physically entrusted to the family.” “Following the expiry of the maternity leave, which is used in accordance with the first paragraph, in order to ensure nursing and the raising of the child, provided that the child is still living, the female employee and male or female employees, adopting a child who is younger than three years of age, shall be granted, upon their requests, unpaid leave for one-half of their working hours for a period of sixty days for the first birth, one hundred and twenty days for the second birth, and one hundred and eighty days for any subsequent births. In case of multiple births, thirty days per each birth shall be added to these periods. If the child is born being disabled, such periods shall be extended as three hundred sixty days. The parent shall not benefit from the provisions on maternity leave, while enjoying the rights envisaged under this paragraph.” “In the event of adoption, this leave shall either be granted to one of the spouses or to the adoptive parent.” “The provisions in this article shall apply to all employees working with a labor agreement, either within or outside of the scope of this Law.” Law No. 6663 introduces a part-time employment option for parents, after the expiry of the maternity leave, and employment for one-half of the working hours, until their child reaches school age. Within this context, the following paragraph has been added to Article 13 of the Labor Law entitled “Agreement of Part and Full Time Em- ployment.” “As of the expiry of the periods envisaged under Article 74 of this Law, one of the parents may request part-time employment, until the first day of the month following the month in which the child starts compulsory elementary education. This request shall be fulfilled by the employer and shall not be deemed as a valid reason for termination. The employee working part-time as per this paragraph may return to full-time employment, given that he/she shall not benefit from this right again for the same child. The employment agreement of the employee, who has been