Turkey Law No. 7578 (2026): Parental Leave, Child Protection and Digital Platform Compliance for Employers
A new law published in Türkiye's Official Gazette on 1 May 2026 introduces significant changes to parental leave, child protection and digital platform obligations — with immediate effect for most provisions.
Background
A new law published in Türkiye's Official Gazette on 1 May 2026 introduces significant changes to parental leave, child protection and digital platform obligations. Law No. 7578 amends several key pieces of legislation — including the Labour Law, the Civil Servants Law, the Social Insurance Law and the Internet Regulation Law — and takes effect immediately for most provisions.
Formally titled the Law Amending the Social Services Law and Certain Other Laws, Law No. 7578 is one of the most wide-ranging employment and social policy reforms in recent years. It simultaneously addresses the rights of working parents, the safety of children in commercial settings, the responsibilities of social media platforms, the regulation of online gaming platforms, and the tax treatment of charitable institutions — all within a single legislative package accepted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 22 April 2026.
The law amends eight separate pieces of primary legislation: the Civil Servants Law (No. 657), the Labour Law (No. 4857), the Social Insurance and Universal Health Insurance Law (No. 5510), the Internet Regulation Law (No. 5651), the Child Protection Law (No. 5395), the Social Services Law (No. 2828), the Income Tax Law (No. 193), and the Corporate Tax Law (No. 5520). Value-added tax rules are also updated.
All articles entered into force on the publication date of 1 May 2026, with two exceptions. Article 22 — which governs the obligations of social network providers, including the under-15 access ban, parental control tools and the one-hour enforcement requirement — and Article 23 — which establishes the regulatory framework for online gaming platforms, including age-rating obligations and the local representative requirement — will enter into force six months after publication, on or around 1 November 2026.
Parental Leave: New Entitlements at a Glance
The most immediate impact for employers is the expansion of statutory parental leave across all categories of workers.
Under the revised framework, female employees who are medically cleared may now work until two weeks before their due date (previously three weeks), transferring that extra week to their post-birth entitlement. The same maternity leave extensions apply uniformly to private-sector workers, civil servants, and military/gendarmerie/coast-guard personnel.
Transitional provision: Eight additional weeks of maternity leave are granted to employees whose statutory leave had already expired but who had not yet completed 24 weeks from the date of birth as of 1 April 2026 — provided they apply within 10 working days of this law's entry into force.
Foster-Care Entitlements
Workers and civil servants who become foster parents are now entitled to 10 days' leave from the date the child is placed with them. For private-sector workers this leave is unpaid; civil servants and relevant public employees receive paid leave under their own applicable regulations.
Additionally, where one spouse in a foster family is an optional (isteğe bağlı) social insurance contributor, the portion of their monthly premium calculated over the minimum daily wage base will be covered by the state — a benefit that continues even if the contributing spouse passes away during the arrangement.
Child Safety in the Workplace
New A new provision in the Child Protection Law (Art. Ek 1) bans individuals with final criminal convictions for specific offences from working in — or operating — premises where children are routinely present.
Prohibited offences include:
Covered premises include schools, school buses, school canteens, dormitories, day-care centres, children's clubs, internet cafés, e-gaming venues, children's sports schools and similar facilities — whether public, private or NGO-operated.
Employees at such workplaces must present an official clearance document (based on criminal record and archive data) to their employer every six months. Employers who breach this rule face a fine of 3× the gross minimum wage per non-compliant worker, rising to 7× if the violation continues beyond one month of notice.
Social Media: Under-15 Access Ban and Parental Controls
Amended Amendments to the Internet Regulation Law (No. 5651, Art. Ek 4) impose new obligations on social network providers:
- Social network providers may not offer services to children under 15, and must implement age-verification measures to enforce this.
- Providers must offer a differentiated service for users aged 15–17, with appropriate safeguards.
- All platforms must provide clear and accessible parental control tools covering account settings, parental approval for paid transactions, and usage-time monitoring and limits.
- Platforms with over 10 million daily users from Türkiye must act on urgency-classified removal/blocking orders within 1 hour, and must prevent re-publication of removed content on their own sites.
These provisions enter into force six months after publication (approx. 1 November 2026). Non-compliance can trigger advertising bans and ultimately bandwidth throttling of 50–90% by court order.
Gaming Platforms: Age-Rating and Representative Requirements
New A new article (Art. Ek 5) establishes a dedicated regulatory framework for online gaming platforms:
- Platforms may only offer games that have been properly age-rated. Unrated games may only be made available under the highest age category.
- Foreign-sourced platforms with over 100,000 daily users from Türkiye must appoint a local representative and notify BTK (the Information Technologies Authority).
- All platforms must provide parental control tools for account settings and purchase/subscription authorisation.
| Stage | Trigger | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 1 First penalty | Violation not resolved within 30 days of notice | TRY 1M – 10M |
| 2 Second penalty | Continued non-compliance after first fine | TRY 10M – 30M |
| 3 Bandwidth throttling | Still unresolved after second fine | 30% reduction (court order) |
| 4 Further throttling | Persistent non-compliance | Up to 50% reduction (court order) |
All throttling decisions require a sulh ceza hâkimliği (criminal court of peace) order.
Other Notable Changes
What Employers Need to Review
Update employment contracts, HR handbooks and payroll configurations to reflect 24-week total maternity leave and 10-day paternity leave.
Implement a criminal-record clearance document process (every 6 months) for all staff in child-facing roles — schools, day-care, sports schools, gaming venues and similar.
If operating social network or gaming platforms with Turkish users, engage legal counsel ahead of the 6-month grace period expiry (~1 November 2026).
Assess eligibility for the 5-year premium subsidy if hiring individuals who were raised in state care or foster care.
Update foster-care leave policies for employees who are or become foster parents — 10 days from date of child placement.
Leave A Comment