DISMISSAL DESPITE LAYOFF BAN
Employers dismissed 176,662 people with ‘Code 29’ in 2020
* Photo: United Metal Workers Union
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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Hatay MP Mehmet Güzelmansur has announced that 12,985 workers were dismissed with Code 29* between January 1 and February 15, 2021, which means that an average of 289 workers were dismissed every day.
Sharing the data he has received from the Social Security Institution (SGK), Güzelmansur has also indicated that in 2020, 176,662 workers were dismissed with Code 29, a legal way used by employers to dismiss workers despite the layoff ban amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Underlining that the code is used to circumvent the layoff ban, CHP's Güzelmansur has noted that an average of 491 people were dismissed by their employers with this code every day last year.
Raising concerns about the misuse of the code, the MP has stressed that the necessary arrangement must be introduced to ensure that the Code 29 is used based on certain rules. He has briefly said:
"A person dismissed with Code 29 cannot get his or her severance or notice pay, he or she cannot benefit from unemployment benefits. Moreover, it becomes more difficult for this person to find a job."
Reminding the public that Code 29 shows that the employment contract is terminated on the grounds of "behaviours that do not comply with the rules of ethics and goodwill, CHP's Mehmet Güzelmansur has underlined that this rule must be used based on certain rules:
"An action must not be taken on the sole basis of the employer's statement, the proof obligation must be sought. The SGK must put the Code 29 into force after the employer substantiates its claim."
*What is 'Code 29'?In an article on daily Evrensel, Sevda Karaca explains the "Code 29" in following words: "'Code 29', the legal 'exception' of the ban on dismissing workers during the pandemic has become the nightmare for the workers in Turkey. "What is this Code 29? "Employers have to give notice to the Social Security Institution within 10 days of the dismissal of a worker. The dismissed worker is given a code for the reason for dismissal on this notice. Code 29 shows that the employment contract had been terminated on the grounds that the employee exhibited 'behaviours that do not comply with the rules of ethics and goodwill' as listed in the second paragraph of Article 25 of the Labour Law. "This article, which bosses used extensively during the ban to dismiss workers [during Covid] is also an obstacle to benefiting from unemployment benefits. İŞKUR (Turkish Employment Agency) looks at the code when an application for unemployment benefit is made; if code 29 is entered benefits are not paid. Those dismissed under the code 29 also cannot receive short-time work allowance. "Code 29 is a brutal type of dismissal where the worker is not entitled to severance pay, notice pay and unemployment benefits." |
(HA/SD)