12/05/2017 Press Releases

Incentives must be functional to increase women employment

Young Executives and Business People Association (GYİAD) shared their recommendations on the improvement of women employment prepared by the Women Working Group with the representatives of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health. Among the recommendations, there are topics such as the flexible working models, kindergarten check, and the presentation of functional incentives to the employers who employ women.

Young Executives and Business People Association (GYİAD) Women Working Group visited four separate ministries and communicated their recommendations on improving the women employment. Providing information on the issue, GYİAD Chairman Yiğit Savcı said, “Our Women Working Group continues its activities in order to bring women into the business life and strengthen the women in the working life. Within this scope, we visited the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health, and shared the recommendations we have prepared in line with the Labor Law, Tax Legislation and Turkish Commercial Code. In preparing the study, we took care to ensure that the incentives to be provided to employers are functional. We were very pleased with the interest and positive approach of our ministries. We believe that our recommendations will find place in practice as soon as possible. “ 

 

GYİAD Women Working Group collected the obstacles that women face in business life into three categories as non-adaptation of work and family life, lack of gender equality and inadequate female entrepreneurship, and grouped their recommendations accordingly.

Accordingly, flexible working models such as the performance of the business lines suitable to for home as full-time, but out of the company, and the ability to leave work early on certain days, the introduction of a kindergarten check application similar to a meal check application and the harmonization of work and family life were among the recommendations offered. In order to ensure social gender equality, recommendations were made to inform women employees about the legal rights granted to them and to encourage women employment. In order to increase the number of female entrepreneurs, it was proposed to provide low-interest financing opportunities, to reassess the RUSF rates collected from loans and to provide “earnings exemption for women entrepreneurs” similar to the repeated article 20 of the Income Tax Law.

The recommendations shared by GYİAD Women Working Group with the representatives of the ministries are as follows:

  • Women should be able to work from home on certain days of the week or have the right to leave work early on certain days.
  • A more functional incentive should be provided to female employees and employers with the help of a kindergarten check or cash kindergarten (nursery) aid.
  • Companies and related public institutions should carry out informative activities in which women's legal rights are clearly explained.
  • Certain quota criteria should be set for appointments to be made in public services and public companies.
  • The income tax withholding of new female employees and a certain percentage of SSI premiums should be met by the government for a period of time.
  • The corporate tax incentive should be introduced for companies employing a certain number of women in regions 4, 5 and 6, or arrangements should be made by targeting specific sectors in the first phase.
  • With the information activities to be held in the form of a public spot, the tax advantages of employment of women should be clearly communicated to the business world.
  • For women entrepreneurs, earnings exemption should be provided similar to the exception in Article 20 of the Income Tax Law.
  • Low-interest financing opportunities should be supported by reassessment of the RUSF rates collected from bank loans.

Yiğit Savcı

Young Executives and Business People Association (GYİAD) Chairman