Equality between men and women, which has become a topic of discussion all over the world, especially in our country, also takes an important place in business life. Attorney Ezgi Esnik Günay, who deals with the equality of wages and opportunities between women and men, explained all the curious details for you with her column titled “Legal regulations on the equality of women and men in business life”.
The number of working women lags behind men both in Turkey and in the world average. The most important reason for this is the responsibilities that women undertake as housekeepers and mothers, aside from the fact that women start working life later than men. Although the reasons such as housework and childcare and the social point of view that the economic management of the house is in the hands of women have caused working life to come in second place for women in general, it has become a social necessity for women to participate more in working life in the era of developing technology and consumption. Attorney Ezgi Esnik Günay prepared an article about ‘Legal regulations on the equality of men and women in business life’ that answers all the questions that readers wonder.
Women’s experiences especially during pregnancy and postpartum The process complicates life. In this difficult process, working life is interrupted, and the problems experienced in this process and the care of the child after birth cause many women to quit their business life and move away from business life.
Legislators/state bodies, knowing these difficult processes that women have/will go through, both physically and with traditional perspectives, have made some legal arrangements to protect women. The first of these regulations can be counted as the “equality principle” , which tries to ensure the equality of women and men in business life .
The regulation that men and women have equal rights is guaranteed by the Constitution. Article 10 of the Constitution contains exactly the following regulation “Everyone is equal before the law without any discrimination based on language, race, color, gender, political thought, philosophical belief, religion, sect and similar reasons. Women and men have equal rights. The state is responsible for ensuring that this equality is realized. Measures to be taken for this purpose cannot be interpreted as contrary to the principle of equality.” With this article of the Constitution, it is emphasized that women and men are equal, and regulations have been made in the Labor Law to ensure this equality in business life.
One of these regulations is the “equal treatment principle” in article 5 of the labor law , which was arranged to prevent discrimination between men and women in business life by the employer. ”
The following regulations are included in Article 5 of the Labor Law “Language, race, color, gender, disability, political thought, philosophical belief, religion and sect and similar in employment relationship No distinction can be made on the basis of reasons. Unless there are fundamental reasons, the employer cannot treat a part-time worker against a full-time worker, or a fixed-term worker against an indefinite-term worker. Unless biological or work-related reasons necessitate, the employer cannot directly or indirectly treat a worker differently in the conclusion of the employment contract, in the creation, implementation and termination of the employment contract, due to gender or pregnancy. For work of the same or equal value, a lower wage cannot be agreed on the basis of gender. The application of special protective provisions due to the gender of the worker does not justify the application of a lower wage.”
With Article 5 of the Labor Law, employers are obliged to treat male and female employees equally and it is stipulated that women and men cannot be discriminated against, including wages.
In case the employer does not treat women and men equally, the rights of the worker seeking rights are determined in the continuation of the same article. Pursuant to article 5 of the labor law, if the female worker is discriminated against in the face of male jobs and equal conditions are not applied between the female worker and the male worker, the female worker can demand from the employer an appropriate compensation in the amount of “up to four months’ wages, but also the rights that she has been deprived of. ” A female worker who claims that she has been discriminated against and not treated equally with male workers will be under the burden of proof when she brings this matter to the court.
The female worker has the opportunity to prove her claim with all kinds of legal evidence in the lawsuit she filed with the allegation of inequality. In addition, a female worker who claims to have suffered mobbing due to gender inequality or because she is pregnant has the opportunity to prove this claim with a witness statement.
Lawyer Ezgi Esnik Günay
