Decision affecting public employees: It is now included in overtime

An emergency medicine specialist working at a state hospital applied to the Ombudsman Institution (KDK) after not receiving payment or leave for attending an 8-hour in-service training session held after working hours. The KDK evaluated the training in question as "overtime work" and recommended that the employee be granted leave as a priority, or if that is not possible, that overtime pay be provided.

The applicant emergency medicine specialist stated that the training was planned entirely outside of duty hours and that no additional payment or leave was granted for it, requesting that their rights be upheld.

The decision text of the Ombudsman Institution noted that the in-service training in question was conducted outside the applicant's working hours and that this program is important for professional development. The decision pointed to the service intensity in the health sector and emphasized the importance of establishing a balance between employees' right to rest and work efficiency.

Furthermore, it was stated that leave earned as a result of overtime work must be used within the same year. While the institution referred to the discretion of administrations regarding the granting of leave, it pointed out that in cases where leave cannot be granted, payment for overtime work is mandatory.

The decision also included the following statement: "Any practice to the contrary would constitute a violation of the article of the Constitution regulating the prohibition of forced labor and the article stating that wages are the compensation for labor." With this decision, an important precedent has been established regarding how in-service training and duties outside of working hours will be evaluated in terms of employee rights in public institutions.

News Source: 12punto