The President approved major legislative updates by decree in January 2026, focusing on the modernization of the Labor Code. The amendments affect a wide range of provisions regulating employment relationships, employee protections, leave entitlements, wage calculations, and termination of employment:
1. Worker with Family Responsibilities
In line with ILO Convention No. 156, the concept of a “worker with family responsibilities-an employee whose opportunities for entering into employment, performing labor functions, or career advancement are limited due to providing care (assistance) to a family member (spouse, parents, adopters, children, including adopted children) or other persons under their guardianship (custody) who, based on a medical report, require care or assistance, as well as to a child placed with them as a foster parent.” has been introduced into Article 3 of the Labor Code. The change will grant legal guarantees for employees who have family-related obligations and ensures equal treatment and equal opportunities in employment.
2. Minimum Wage
The definition of “minimum wage-a social standard that determines the minimum monthly wage for unskilled labor and services.” has been revised to fully comply with ILO Convention No. 131, particularly Article 3 thereof, emphasizing on the social and economic factors that must be taken into account when determining the minimum wage.
3. Business Trip
The concept of “business trip” has been formally introduced into the Labor Code, as “the employee’s temporary assignment to a location other than their workplace by order (instruction, decision) of the employer in order to carry out the employer’s lawful task.”
This amendment clarifies:
- the employer’s right to send an employee on a business trip in connection with official duties; and
- the employee’s right to reimbursement of business trip expenses.
Previously, these rights and obligations were regulated fragmentarily and not clearly defined.
4. Remote (Distance) Work
A new concept of “remote (distance) work” has been added to Article 3 of the Labor Code, which amounts to “the performance of work functions remotely using tools that enable such work (electronic, software-technical, telecommunications tools, etc.) outside the premises of an enterprise or a workplace established by an individual employer (at another location suitable for performing the work or providing the services).” This establishes the legal basis for employees to perform their labor functions under employment contact outside the employer’s premises using information and communication means.
5.Amendments Related to Employment Contracts
5.1. Probation Period and Extension of Employment
To clarify the practical application of Article 10-1 of the Labor Code:
- any extension of the working period must be formalized by an employer’s official order;
- concluding a new fixed-term employment contract for the extended period is prohibited.
5.2. Fixed-Term Contracts for Training and Internships
Article 47 of the Labor Code allows the conclusion of fixed-term employment contracts with individuals undergoing:
- industrial training; or
- practical internships related to education.
6. Termination of Employment Contracts. Unification of Legal Terminology
In accordance with the Constitutional Law “On Normative Legal Acts”, the terminology used throughout the Labor Code has been unified by standardizing the expressions “termination of an employment contract” and “cancellation of an employment contract”.
7. Leave and Social Guarantees
7.1 Paid Leave for Fathers
To promote gender equality, fathers are granted 14 calendar days of paid leave before and after childbirth, provided that a medical certificate is submitted.
7.2 Payment During Leave
Article 117 now provides that wages paid during an employee’s leave period must not be lower than the employee’s most recent wage.
7.3 Calculation of Average Wages
Articles 140 and 177 have been supplemented to regulate the calculation of average wages where the employee was on partially paid social leave; the employee was on unpaid leave not initiated by the employee; or work was not performed due to downtime not attributable to the employee. And in such cases, non-worked months are replaced by the nearest fully worked calendar months. It is ensured that in the above situations, the calculated one-day wage may not be lower than the employee’s most recent one-day wage.
