Koç University complies fully with the Labor Act Law No 4857 and Social Insurance Law No 5510 Article 16, in cases of pregnancy and maternity of female faculty.
Notice and Payment: A pregnant faculty member has to inform her Dean about the pregnancy and the expected timing of her leave at an appropriate time, to help the Dean in the planning of courses and other programs in the College during her absence. The Office of the Dean has to inform the offices of VPAA and HR of the backup plan during the maternity leave of the faculty member.
According to the laws stated above, when the faculty member is on maternity leave as determined by the Social Security Institution, she can receive an allowance of disability to work from the SGK. In case incapacity to work reports are received before and after birth, Koç University shall continue to pay wages to the academic personnel.
Period of Maternity Leave: A female employee is entitled to prenatal and postnatal leaves, according to the Labor Act Article 74, in total of 16 weeks, 8 weeks each. In case the employee gives birth to more than one child at one time, 2 weeks are added to the 8-week prenatal leave, bringing the total maternity leave to 18 weeks. The beginning and end dates of the maternity leave are determined by a State Hospital or private health institutions approved by SGK, with a written report.
In usual terms, a pregnancy lasts 40 weeks and therefore 8 weeks before the birth corresponds to the 32nd week of the pregnancy. The faculty may continue to work until 3 weeks prior to the birth if she can get a medical report that confirms her ability to work from a State Hospital or private health institution approved by SGK.
If the mother needs to extend her maternity leave, she has the right to take an unpaid leave for at most 6 months, which is not included in the calculation of the right for the annual paid vacation of the mother.
After using the maternity leave, female Faculty Member’s contract is automatically extended for one year. This duration is added to the expiration date of Faculty Member’s current contract.
Nursing Right: Followed by the maternity leave, the mother has the right to nurse and care for her child for 45 minutes each before and after lunch until the baby is one-year-old. If the faculty member wishes and her Dean approves, she can use this nursing right at the beginning or at the end of the working week. However, this right cannot be carried to other weeks or
combined with vacation times. The schedule for nursing agreed upon by the faculty and the Dean must be reported to the Office of HR by the Dean’s Office.