Gov't backtracks on decision to deny short-term employment funds to sacked civil servant

The government has reversed its decision to deny a sacked civil servant of his right to benefit from a salary support program set up to help employers pay their staff wages amid the coronavirus outbreak. The government's move came after HDP deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu brought the issue to the agenda of the parliament.

Hacı Bişkin / Duvar

The government has backtracked on its decision to deny a sacked civil servant of his right to benefit from a salary support program established as part of an economic aid package amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Pleased about the government's move, Ö.F. said: "I hope that the same thing does not happen again. We do not want to go through such a unjust treatment. We are going through an extraordinary period anyway. I hope that they do not repeat their mistake."

Ö.F. was previously a public employee who was dismissed by a statutory decree (KHK) issued under the state of emergency rule.

His company applied on his behalf to Turkey’s Employment Agency (İŞKUR) -- an affiliated institution of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services -- to receive short-term employment funds, following the government's announcement that it will cover 60 percent of wages of workers employed in enterprises that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

İŞKUR initially denied the company's application on behalf of Ö.F. on the grounds that the employee in question was previously a civil servant dismissed with a KHK.

Ö.F. had at the time decried the government's denial to let him benefit from the salary support program, saying: “This cannot happen. This is not how a state should be. These funds [unemployment insurance premiums] are already deduced monthly from my salary. It is also my right to receive this money. Should I starve?”

Afterwards, Ö.F. contacted Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu regarding this issue, prompting the deputy to submit a parliamentary question to Family, Labor and Social Services Minister Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk

Gergerlioğlu asked which law and regulations the ministry cited while denying Ö.F. his right to benefit from the salary support program.

Following Gergerolioğlu's move, the ministry backtracked on its previous decision, approving of Ö.F.'s application to benefit from short-term employment funds.

Gergerlioğlu shared the latest development on his Twitter account, saying: "Short-term employment funds were not provided for someone on the grounds that he was sacked with a KHK; we then made this public and condemned the Ministry. The oppression has been called off :)"