Law on Amendment of Certain Laws numbered 7346 was published at the Official Gazette dated 25.12.2021.

Within the scope of the Law, essential changes have been made to the Vocational Education Law numbered 3308 (“Law”) as detailed below. 

  • In the second sentence of Article 25/1, which regulates the salary and social security provisions, of the Law, the phrase “fifty percent of the minimum wage for the 12th grade students of vocational training centers who have earned the qualification of journeyman” was added after the phrase “thirty percent of the minimum wage appropriate for the age of candidate apprentices and apprentices”. Accordingly, the new version of Article 25/1 of the Law is regulated as follows:

The salaries to be paid to the candidate apprentices and apprentices and to the students who receive vocational training in enterprises, who continue their internship or supplementary education, by the enterprises and the increases in these salaries are determined by the contract to be executed. However, the net amount of the minimum wage to be paid to students, who receive vocational training in enterprises, and students, who receive internship or supplementary education in vocational and technical secondary schools and institutions, cannot be less than thirty percent of the minimum wage in workplaces employing twenty or more personnel, fifteen percent of the minimum wage in workplaces employing less than twenty personnel, thirty percent of the minimum wage appropriate for the age of candidate apprentices and apprentices, and fifty percent of the minimum wage for 12th grade students of vocational training centers who have earned the qualification of journeyman. For this purpose, public institutions and organizations take the necessary measures. Internships of secondary education students, who conduct their internship at school, and higher education students, who conduct their internship in higher education institutions and units, due to the lack of businesses to conduct internships are outside the scope of this article.

  • Amounts to be covered by the State: The first paragraph of the temporary article 2, which regulates the provisions of the Law regarding the issuance of journeyman and mastership certificates in provinces and professions that are not within the scope of the Law, was amended and additional paragraphs were added. Accordingly, the new version of the temporary article 2 of the Law is regulated as follows:

To be implemented until the end of the 2016-2017 academic year, the payments to be made within the scope of the first paragraph of article 25 to candidate apprentices and apprentices and to students who receive vocational training in enterprises in accordance with the provisions of Article 18, who continue their internship or supplementary education, cannot be less than thirty percent of the net amount of the minimum wage and payments to be made to 12th grade students of vocational education centers who have achieved their qualifications to be journeymen cannot be less than fifty percent of the minimum wage. Two-thirds of the minimum wage for businesses employing less than twenty personnel, one-third of the minimum wage for enterprises with twenty or more employees and the full amount of the minimum wage for the students who continue vocational education center program, that can be paid to students studying at schools and institutions other than the vocational education center program, is paid as State contribution from the amount allocated for the sub-clause (h) of clause (B) of the third paragraph of article 53 of the Unemployment Insurance Law dated 25/8/1999 and numbered 4447. The President is authorized to extend the payments to be made within this scope up to ten academic years. Internships of secondary education students, who conduct their internship at school, and higher education students, who conduct their internship in higher education institutions and units, due to the lack of businesses to conduct internships are outside the scope of this article. State contribution is not paid to public institutions and organizations.

State contribution paid in accordance with this article is transferred from the budget of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to the Unemployment Insurance Fund within two months following the date of payment.

No retroactive salary or State contribution payment is made for the period before the 2021-2022 academic year due to the amendments made in the first paragraph of the Law regulating this paragraph.

Batuhan Şahmay
Partner | [email protected]
Özlem Özdemir Yılmaz
Senior Associate | [email protected]