Gender Equality in Employment in Turkish Legislation with Comparisons to EU and International Law

As a candidate for membership of the European Union (EU), Turkey has to harmonize its existing legislation with the EU requirements for gender equality in employment. Also the amended Turkish Constitution states that where a conflict between ratified international treaties and domestic law exists, international treaties shall prevail. These treaties are binding upon the legislative, executive, and judicial organs, the administrative authorities, and other institutions and individuals. Turkey has therefore been undergoing a period of rapid legislative change and development, in order to comply with the EU's acquis communautaire and with Council of Europe (COE), International Labour Organisation (ILO), and United Nations (UN) conventions, which have been ratified by Turkey. In this respect, the new Employment Act (EA), the Criminal Act (CA), and the amended Constitution represent a major step forward toward gender equality in employment. However, there are problems of harmonization with EU and international standards in the wording of the EA and CA, and in some provisions of the Constitution. In the present article, the EA's legal framework for women employees is analyzed from a critical point of view. The provisions of the EA, the CA, and the Constitution are compared with EU and international standards and possible changes are proposed.