Employer and Employee Rights in Remote Work

This article is an English translation of the Turkish original published by the office.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented lockdown worldwide, the business world overcame it by developing the remote work model. Initially seen as an interim solution to protect occupational health and keep economic activity going during periods of high infection risk, remote work is still widely used even though the pandemic is over — mainly because employers seek to reduce rising costs. In this article we examine the rights of employers and employees in the remote work model.

The legal basis of remote work

Remote work is regulated in Article 14 of Labour Law No. 4857:

• (4) Remote work is an employment relationship established in writing, based on the employee performing work at home or outside the workplace using technological means of communication, within the work organisation created by the employer.
• (5) The employment contract must contain the definition of the work, how it is performed, its duration and place, wages and their payment, the equipment provided by the employer and obligations to protect it, how the employer communicates with the employee, and general and special working conditions.
• (6) Remote employees may not be treated differently from comparable employees merely because of the nature of their contract, unless there is a substantial reason. Taking into account the nature of the work, the employer must inform the employee about occupational health and safety measures, provide the necessary training, ensure health surveillance and take the necessary safety precautions regarding the equipment provided.
• (7) The procedures and principles of remote work, the jobs in which it cannot be used, the application of rules on data protection and sharing and other matters are determined by regulation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The Remote Work Regulation referred to in this article was issued in 2021 and sets out these matters in detail.

What the remote work contract should contain

The legal basis of a remote work relationship is the written employment contract between the parties. It should set out in detail the working and rest periods, the equipment provided by the employer, how the employee’s work-related expenses will be covered, and the employee’s duty to protect the employer’s information.

Rights of remote employees

Remote employees have the same rights as those working at the workplace. Their main rights under the Labour Law and the Regulation are:

Wages and equal treatment

• Remote employees are entitled to the same wages and social benefits as other employees.
• The employer cannot pay less than the minimum wage and cannot discriminate in the rights granted to other employees.

Working hours and overtime

• Daily and weekly working hours are the same as for workplace employees (Labour Law, Art. 63).
• For overtime, the employee’s written consent must be obtained and overtime pay must be paid.

Rest

• Annual leave and weekly rest are protected and are the same as for workplace employees.

Occupational health and safety

• The employer must inform the employee and carry out the necessary checks so that the remote employee has a safe working environment.

Access to information and consultation

• The employee has the right to access information related to the work and to consult the employer to improve working conditions.

In short, under the duty of equal treatment arising from the employment contract, the employer must provide the remote employee with all the rights and obligations applied to traditionally employed staff; no distinction may be made between remote and office employees. Accordingly, the employee must use the equipment provided with care, work in line with the employer’s instructions, protect confidential information accessed during work and not share it with third parties, and comply with working discipline and contractual hours; the employer continues to owe wages, supervision, health and safety measures, the necessary equipment and reimbursement of the employee’s expenses.

Although remote work is more challenging in terms of productivity and coordination, it saves employees from traffic, especially in large cities, which increases motivation, and it reduces employers’ costs. That is why it has become permanent since the pandemic.

Employment cases require care in many respects; advice from an experienced lawyer helps avoid any loss of rights.

Türker Law Office provides legal representation and advice on drafting and reviewing remote work contracts and on related employment disputes concerning working hours, overtime, wages and benefits, occupational health and safety, equipment, employee expenses and data protection.