Employer and Employee Can Now Make Remote Working Agreements! – Remote Working Regulation

The last few years of our lives under pandemic conditions have seriously affected many areas of our lives and our living habits. The most important of these is undoubtedly the regulation of business life and working conditions. During the pandemic, many businesses; Instead of being forced to close, they had moved forward with their employees by working from home or turning to a hybrid working model. As a matter of fact, this situation has also taken its place in the legislation with the remote working regulation.

The remote working legislation, which regulates the responsibility and rights relationship between the employee and the employer according to the new working conditions; has touched on many issues and has also introduced a new concept such as the remote working contract into our lives. Let’s try to look at all these innovations in detail below.

What Does the Remote Working Regulation Change? Here Are the Headlines!

The pandemic conditions, to which both employers and employees had to adapt quickly, continued to have an impact even as the impact of the pandemic diminished. However, making an official regulation has now become a necessity. The remote working regulation entered our lives with the notification numbered 31419 and dated 19 March 2021, published in the Official Gazette. Here are the basic points included in the remote working regulation:

• The employee and employer will determine the definition of the work, the way it will be done, its duration, place and wage with the remote working contract and declare that they have reached an agreement on these topics.
• The contract will clearly state how the work and the communication that is required for the job will be carried out.
• The employer will be responsible for preparing the employee’s work area and repairing it when necessary.
• The costs and other liabilities required for preparing the work area will be determined by mutual agreement.
• Overtime and entitlements will be arranged according to the working hours specified in the contract.
• The employer will also be responsible for occupational safety. The employee will need to be informed about the equipment to be used, receive training, and have their health monitored.
• The employee will need to apply to the employer in writing for a request to work remotely. If the employer approves within 30 days, the contract will be signed and the new working model will be adopted.

Transition from Classic Contracts is Possible! – Remote Working Regulation

The remote working regulation states that employees can start this working model directly with a remote working contract, and also adds that the existing contract can be converted into a remote working contract. What is important here, as we mentioned above, is that the employer responds positively to the employee’s written request within 30 days.

It should also be remembered that although the employer has the right to reject the remote working request, this right can be used in accordance with other issues specified in the Labor Law and the Civil Code. For example, it is not possible to accept the request of one of two employees who have the same conditions and do the same job while rejecting the request of the other. In this case, the employee whose request is rejected will be subject to justified termination.