Rights relating to parenthood in working life have been significantly expanded through a long-awaited legislative amendment. With Law No. 7578 published in the Official Gazette dated 01.05.2026, substantial changes particularly regarding maternity leave, paternity leave and leave rights granted to foster families have entered into force, directly affecting employers’ human resources and payroll processes.
Under the new regulation, the postnatal maternity leave period for female employees has been extended from 8 weeks to 16 weeks. Accordingly, in single pregnancies, the total maternity leave period will now be applied as 8 weeks before birth and 16 weeks after birth, amounting to a total of 24 weeks. In multiple pregnancies, the additional 2-week prenatal leave period remains preserved, increasing the total leave period to 26 weeks.
Another notable aspect of the regulation concerns the period during which employees may continue working before childbirth. Female employees whose health condition is confirmed to be suitable through a medical report may, upon their request, continue working until 2 weeks prior to childbirth. In such cases, the unused prenatal leave periods will be added to the postnatal leave period.
A significant amendment has also been introduced regarding paternity leave. The paid compassionate leave granted to male employees whose spouse gives birth has been increased from 5 days to 10 days. This amendment is particularly important in terms of establishing a structure more aligned with the rights granted to public sector employees within private sector practices.
The new regulation covers not only employees who give birth, but also foster families. Accordingly, employees who become foster parents will be entitled to take 10 days of unpaid leave upon request, starting from the date the child is placed under their care. In this respect, the regulation addresses parental responsibility not only from the perspective of biological childbirth, but also from the perspective of caregiving and family unity. Furthermore, although maternity leave may have ended as of 01.05.2026, employees who, as of 01.04.2026, had not yet completed the 24-week period following childbirth may, subject to certain conditions, request an additional 8 weeks of maternity leave. Therefore, employers are required to carefully review leave records, particularly with respect to employees who have recently given birth.
On the social security side, the periods serving as the basis for maternity temporary incapacity allowance have also been aligned with the new leave periods introduced under the Labour Law. Accordingly, the matter is not limited solely to human resources policies; it also creates a need for comprehensive compliance in terms of Social Security Institution notifications, payroll calculations, absenteeism codes, leave tracking systems and internal procedures.
Within this scope, employers would be well advised to focus, in the short term, particularly on the following issues: updating employee handbooks and leave procedures, ensuring payroll and social security processes are aligned with the new leave periods, monitoring requests falling within the scope of the transitional provisions for employees who have recently given birth, and informing managers regarding the newly introduced leave rights.
Law No. 7578 does not merely extend parental leave periods; it also ushers in a new era for employers in terms of leave management, workplace equality policies and employee engagement. Therefore, the regulation should be regarded not merely as a technical payroll amendment, but as an important step towards strengthening family-friendly practices in working life.
Best Regards,
DT Law