Radiation Leave (Şua İzni) Rights During Pregnancy, Maternity Leave, Nursing Leave and Temporary Assignment — Female Employees / Occupational Health and Safety

Published by: Güneş & Güneş Law Firm

Short answer: Pregnancy, maternity leave or nursing leave (süt izni) alone is not a ground that gives rise to radiation leave (şua izni). Health leave is the Annex 2 (EK-2) equivalent of the positive hours actually worked in a controlled area in the same calendar year. Staff who are suspected of being pregnant or who are pregnant cannot be employed in a radiation area for the remainder of the pregnancy; even so, hours earned before the pregnancy notification are not erased. Breastfeeding staff cannot be employed in a radiation area where there is a risk of radioactive contamination. What matters is not the name of the temporary assignment but the actual area and the documented period.

Five Decisive Rules

• Pregnancy requires removal from the radiation area; it does not automatically lead to radiation leave. Working conditions must be rearranged without delay once pregnancy is suspected or learned of.
• Hours earned before pregnancy are protected. Time spent in a radiation-free area after the notification does not generate new hours; nor does it eliminate the earlier controlled-area hours of the same year.
• Maternity leave, nursing leave and health leave are different institutions. That one of them is paid or counted as time worked does not convert hours not actually spent in a controlled area into hours counted toward health leave.
• The scope of the breastfeeding restriction is determined by the contamination risk. An area where open radioactive sources are used is not the same as a sealed-source/X-ray area where there is only an external irradiation risk.
• Pay and supplementary payments are examined separately. In the private sector, a move to lighter work does not give rise to a reduction in base wage; however, whether an additional item tied to actual risk, shift work or performance continues is determined under its own legal source.

What Is Radiation Leave and What Legislation Is It Based On?

Radiation leave (şua izni), called health leave in the current regulation, is a rest entitlement, separate from annual leave, granted to personnel who actually work in controlled areas where diagnosis, treatment or research is carried out using ionizing radiation. The main bases of the current regime are as follows:

• Law No. 3153,
• the Regulation on Health Services Provided Using Ionizing Radiation and Radionuclides, published in the Official Gazette No. 32162 dated April 13, 2023,
• the Regulation on the Conditions of Employment of Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women, Nursing Rooms and Child Care Centers dated August 16, 2013,
• depending on the employee’s status, Labor Law No. 4857, Civil Servants Law No. 657, Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 and Law No. 5510,
• depending on the service area, the Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology Services Regulations.

The 2023 Regulation repealed the earlier 2022 regulation. For that reason, older accounts such as “four weeks in every case” or “automatic 30 days according to seniority” cannot be applied directly to current events. If the event occurred before April 13, 2023, the provisions in force on that date must be examined separately.

The 35-Hour Work Week and Health Leave Are Different Rights

The weekly working time of personnel who work in places where diagnosis, treatment or research is carried out using ionizing radiation, and in the tasks or procedures performed there, is 35 hours. The service may be organized in shifts or on-call duty without exceeding this limit. This weekly limit does not replace the health leave calculated under Annex 2 (EK-2); the two protections apply together.

When personnel are moved to an entirely radiation-free duty because of pregnancy, whether the special 35-hour limit continues unchanged is examined according to the actual duty, the contract, the collective labor agreement and the status legislation. The employer cannot use a protective assignment to reduce base wage or to unilaterally worsen the working conditions in the contract. In the private sector, the limit of seven and a half hours a day and the protections concerning night work for pregnant or breastfeeding employees also apply separately.

How Is Health Leave Calculated?

The current system rests on three elements:

• The calendar year is the basis.
• Only the actual working time in the controlled area is totaled.
• Annex 2 provides, for each 50-hour step, one day of leave, up to a maximum of 30 days.

For positive actual working time, the practical calculation can be expressed as `ceiling(actual hours / 50)`; the result cannot exceed 30 days. The “0–50 hours” wording in the first row of Annex 2 must be read together with the Regulation’s requirement of actual work. In a zero-hour situation, with no controlled-area work at all, it should not be accepted that one day of leave arises merely because of the table row. The positive range of 1–50 hours is one day.

This formula alone does not resolve every dispute. First, it must be determined whether the place in question is a “controlled area,” with what duty and for how long the person was actually present there, as well as the mobile-device work and the reliability of the records.

Health leave:

• Cannot be divided.
• Cannot be combined with leave belonging to different years.
• Cannot be carried over again to another year once the year of use has passed.
• Cannot be made to coincide, on the same day, with annual leave, childbirth leave or other leave listed in the legislation at the time it is used.

The Calculation Year and the Year of Use Are Not the Same Thing

The Regulation determines the days of leave according to the actual controlled-area hours in a calendar year; it separately regulates the immediate use of leave in the case of a dose limit being exceeded. In the normal calculation, the explanation of practice by the Ministry of Health, as reflected in the Council of State (Danıştay) file, is that the leave is to be used within the following consecutive year after the calculation year ends. For example, leave arising from 2026 actual hours is used within 2027; it is not carried over again to 2028 and is not stacked in 2027 on top of another health leave.

This “use in the following year” explanation is not a separate sentence established in the same words in Article 8 of the Regulation; it is an interpretation of administrative practice. By contrast, the prohibitions in Article 8 on dividing the leave, on stacking it on top of one another at a year transition, and on carrying it over to another year are express norms. If the institution applies a different calendar, a written accrual statement showing the calculation year and the year of use should be requested.

The Meaning of the Council of State’s 2025 Decision

In its decision dated May 27, 2025 (E.2023/3008, K.2025/2739) of the Twelfth Chamber of the Council of State, the majority found lawful the Annex 2 calculation based on actual controlled-area hours, the non-counting of certain leave periods without exposure, and the non-transferability of the leave. The decision was unanimous on the prohibition of carry-over; on actual hours, Annex 2 and the periods outside the calculation, it was by majority vote. The dissenting opinion argued that the one-month leave in Article 103 of Law No. 657 cannot be narrowed by regulation.

The decision indicates an appeal route to the Plenary Session of the Administrative Chambers of the Council of State (İDDK) within 30 days from notification. Because no official result from that body could be verified as of August 30, 2026, the decision should be assessed not as settled, final case law but as a strong and current Chamber decision supporting the regulation in force.

Example of Hours Earned Before Pregnancy

Suppose a radiology technician actually worked 620 hours in a controlled area between January 1 and August 31, 2026, and notified her pregnancy on September 1. After the notification she cannot be employed in a radiation area; however, the 620 hours of the first eight months are not erased. In Annex 2, the 601–650 hour range corresponds to 13 days. If the Ministry’s explanation of practice is taken as the basis, this leave should be planned within 2027, without coinciding with maternity leave and without being carried over to 2028.

By contrast, if the person worked throughout the year only in MRI or an administrative unit and did no actual work in a controlled area at all, no health leave arises. That MRI does not produce ionizing radiation does not mean that the workplace is free of all occupational health and safety risks; the magnetic field, ergonomics, shift work and other risks specific to pregnancy are assessed separately.

What Should Be Done When Pregnancy Is Suspected or Notified?

The 2023 Regulation requires that the working conditions of personnel who are suspected of being pregnant and of pregnant personnel be rearranged in a way that protects the embryo and fetus and complies with the dose limits set for the public. It then expressly provides that these personnel should not work in radiation areas for the remainder of the pregnancy.

Accordingly:

• The employee should notify the suspicion of pregnancy, or the pregnancy, in writing and with a medical report, as soon as possible.
• The employer or public administration must stop the duty in the radiation area and carry out a new risk assessment with the contribution of the workplace physician, the occupational safety specialist and the radiation protection officer.
• A suitable radiation-free duty must be determined, and the unit, duration, working hours and pay effect of the assignment must be put in writing.
• Personal dosimeter and controlled-area entry records must be closed as of the notification date; the earlier actual hours must be calculated and communicated to the employee.

A lead apron, a personal dosimeter or the employee’s consent does not remove the rule of not working in a radiation area during pregnancy. A staff shortage does not constitute a valid exception either.

What Does 1 mSv Mean?

In the Nuclear Regulatory Authority’s (Nükleer Düzenleme Kurumu) explanations of dose limits, the annual effective dose limit for members of the public is stated as 1 mSv. The health services legislation likewise says that the protection of the fetus and the dose limits set for the public must be observed. However, this value does not give a pregnant employee a quota such as “may work in a controlled area up to 1 mSv.” The special prohibition on working applies in addition.

Choosing a Radiation-Free Duty

An administrative office, patient admission, training, quality, record-keeping work outside the devices, a suitable ultrasound duty or, under suitable conditions, an MRI unit may be options. Even so, an automatic safety conclusion cannot be drawn from the name of the duty. The employer must answer the following questions:

• Is the work area inside, or adjacent to, a radiation area?
• What are the source type and the possible scattered radiation?
• Is there a risk in MRI in terms of the strong magnetic field, noise, emergency evacuation and sedation processes?
• Are night work, daily hours, prolonged standing, and biological and chemical risks suitable for pregnancy?
• Is there a special restriction in the physician’s report?

For a private-sector employee, if adaptation is not possible, transfer to other work may come into question; if that is also not possible and the employee wishes, unpaid leave under the conditions in the Regulation may come into question. This option does not remove, from the outset, the employer’s obligation to look for suitable work and to reduce risks.

What Happens to Health Leave During Maternity Leave?

Maternity leave is a separate protection period in which the employee is not made to work before and after childbirth. For a private-sector employee, as a rule, it is eight weeks before and eight weeks after childbirth, sixteen weeks in total; in a multiple pregnancy, two weeks are added to the period before childbirth. An employee in suitable health may, with the physician’s approval, work up to three weeks before childbirth and have the period worked added to the period after childbirth. For public personnel, Article 104 of Law No. 657 is the basis.

Because there is no actual controlled-area work during maternity leave, this period does not generate new health leave hours. However, hours accumulated in the same year before maternity leave began are protected.

The Risk of the Year of Use Overlapping with Maternity Leave

Because health leave cannot be divided and cannot be stacked onto the same days as maternity leave, the following scenario is important: the employee may have worked in a controlled area in the calculation year enough to give rise to a right to leave, and may have spent a significant part of the following year of use on maternity leave. Under the Ministry’s explanation of practice, leave arising from the calculation year’s hours is used within the following consecutive year; the Regulation, for its part, does not provide for it to be carried over again to a later year.

In this situation, the employee should request in writing the hour statement for the calculation year and planning at a suitable date, before or after maternity leave, within the year of use. If the whole of the year of use coincides with another statutory leave, no assurance of automatic carry-over or an automatic pay claim should be given; the refusal or accrual decision should be obtained in writing and the application route suited to the status should be assessed.

For a private-sector employee, income during maternity leave is determined by the Social Security Institution (SGK) temporary incapacity allowance, where its conditions are met, and by workplace practice. It cannot be assumed that every private employer will separately and fully pay the wage for sixteen weeks. The monthly salary regime of public personnel is subject to their own status legislation.

Nursing Leave and Work During the Breastfeeding Period

Nursing leave (süt izni) and the breastfeeding period are not the same concept. Nursing leave is a certain daily block of time; the breastfeeding period is a broader health and occupational health and safety protection period.

A private-sector employee uses a total of one and a half hours of nursing leave a day until the child reaches one year of age and determines the timing herself. This period counts as working time under Law No. 4857. For a public official, there is nursing leave of three hours a day for the first six months after the end of maternity leave and one and a half hours a day for the second six months; the choice of hours belongs to the civil servant.

That nursing leave is paid or counted as working time does not mean that this time is hours actually worked in a controlled area in the health leave calculation. If the employee is not at the device or in a controlled area during nursing leave, this time is not added to the Annex 2 total of actual hours. The time actually worked in a controlled area during the rest of the day is entered in the record.

Area Distinction for Breastfeeding Personnel

A pregnant or breastfeeding private-sector employee cannot be made to work more than seven and a half hours a day. As to night work, the protections for pregnancy and the postpartum period in the 2013 Regulation also apply. For public officials, Law No. 657 and special status provisions must be checked separately.

Health Leave Calculation in Temporary Assignment

A temporary assignment neither automatically cuts off nor creates health leave. The outcome depends on what was actually done during the assignment.

Radiation-Free Assignment

If personnel have been sent to an administrative unit, to an area where only MRI/ultrasound is performed, or to another duty outside a controlled area, this period does not generate new health leave hours. Hours earned in the same calendar year before the assignment are protected.

Assignment to a Radiation Area

If there is actual work in an X-ray, CT, angiography, radiotherapy or nuclear medicine controlled area at another hospital or unit, the hours must be combined in the annual total. At least the following records should be shared between the sending institution and the receiving institution:

• Assignment approval and date range,
• Unit, device and source type,
• Daily shifts and actual controlled-area entries and exits,
• Personal dosimeter allocation and result records,
• HBYS/RIS/PACS procedure records,
• Device usage logs and responsible supervisor approval,
• Information on health leave accrual and use earlier in the year.

Mobile X-Ray and C-Arm Fluoroscopy

That there is no fixed radiology room when a device is operated in an operating room, intensive care unit, ward or mobile health vehicle does not by itself take the activity outside the scope. The exposure time, the preparation and how the controlled area is set up, the personnel’s relationship to the source and the relevant records are assessed together. A surgery list alone may not show that every hour is a controlled-area hour; the device log, the case record and the duty roster should be preserved together.

Personnel who are suspected of being pregnant or who are pregnant cannot be assigned to these areas on grounds such as “just a few exposures,” “temporary duty” or “lead apron.”

If a private-sector employee’s place of work, working time or job departs materially from the terms in the contract, the written amendment process under Article 22 of the Labor Law may come into play; as a rule, a material change not accepted in writing by the employee within six working days is not binding. Assignment with another employer may, depending on its conditions, also give rise to the provisions on temporary employment relationships. For public personnel, assignment is an administrative act; it is reviewed in terms of authority, reason, duration and service requirements. That it has the purpose of protecting pregnancy does not take the act out of review in terms of pay, status and proportionality.

Pay, Bonuses and Personnel Rights

When a private-sector employee is moved to lighter work suited to her pregnancy on the basis of a medical report, her wage cannot be reduced under Article 74 of the Labor Law. Reducing base wage solely because of pregnancy or a protective assignment may give rise to discrimination and wage-claim discussions.

However, not every item on the payroll is the same:

For public personnel, monthly salary, grade/step and status rights are protected under their own personnel legislation. For supplementary payments tied to actual work, on-call duty, risk or a special unit, a special regulation is sought. The sentence “radiation leave did not arise” alone does not give authority to cut the base salary.

Radiation Leave Is Not the Same as FHSZ

Health leave is a right to rest. The actual service period supplement under Article 40 of Law No. 5510, by contrast, is a social security institution that adds time to retirement service under certain conditions. According to the SGK’s explanation, for other insured persons the condition of actually working in the work listed in the Law and being exposed to its risk is required.

For that reason, that maternity leave, a radiation-free assignment or nursing leave is counted as paid does not by itself make those periods FHSZ days of exposure to radiation risk. On the other hand, a payroll day, an actual duty day and an exposure record are not the same thing. The employer’s SGK notification should be compared with the timesheet, the unit roster, and the dosimeter and device records. The hour formula in the health leave calculation should not be carried over unchanged into the FHSZ calculation.

Application and Judicial Route According to the Employee’s Status

The court with jurisdiction cannot be derived from the SGK status code alone. The legal source of the employment, the appointment/contract act and the nature of the claim are examined together.

Foreign-national personnel working at a workplace in Türkiye, as a rule, also benefit from occupational health and safety and from the protections for pregnancy and breastfeeding. By contrast, a temporary assignment in a foreign country must be examined separately in terms of the applicable law, the social security agreement and insurance coverage. The foreign element does not remove, at the employer’s will, the safety rule for radiation areas in Türkiye; nor does it automatically determine the outcome of FHSZ and premium notification.

What Can Be Done If the Employer Does Not Remove the Employee from the Radiation Area?

The priority is to document the danger and secure a safe working condition. With a pregnancy report and a written request, the employee may apply to the OHS board, or, if there is no board, to the employer, and ask for the danger to be identified and measures to be taken. If a serious and imminent danger cannot be averted, leaving the hazardous area and refraining from work may come into play under the conditions in Article 13 of Law No. 6331. During the period of a right properly exercised, wages and other rights are protected.

This right is not an authority to leave the workplace without notice in every dispute. Outside unavoidable danger, the application to the committee/employer and the process of identification and decision are important. The report, the assignment letter, and the shift and device records should be kept.

For a private-sector employee, the work becoming hazardous to health, or working conditions not being applied, may in concrete circumstances constitute termination for cause under Article 24 of the Labor Law. However, termination for cause must be assessed file by file in terms of the health risk, the employer’s knowledge, the continuation of the violation, the application and the evidence. A petition of “I resign” without reasons creates risk in terms of severance pay (kıdem tazminatı) and proof.

Different treatment or termination because of pregnancy may give rise to discrimination compensation and the rights lost, within the scope of Article 5 of the Labor Law. By law, the compensation is up to four months’ wages; it is not automatically four months’ wages. If the conditions of job security are met, the reinstatement route is also assessed separately.

For public personnel, a written application, an annulment action and, where the conditions are met, a stay of execution may be requested against an unlawful assignment or leave refusal act. For a stay of execution, the conditions that the act is clearly unlawful and that its implementation would cause damage that is difficult or impossible to remedy are required together.

Evidence and Records Checklist

It is important that the following documents be preserved by lawful means before a dispute arises:

• The medical report showing pregnancy or breastfeeding,
• The petition given to the employer/institution, the document registry number, and the KEP (Registered Electronic Mail) or institutional email delivery record,
• Temporary assignment and unit change letters,
• Shift, on-call, timesheet and controlled-area entry–exit records,
• Personal dosimeter allocation and result documents,
• Printouts, obtained by the competent authority and relating to the person concerned, of HBYS, RIS, PACS, device and case logs,
• Health leave accrual/use forms,
• Payroll statements, bank records, the supplementary payment regulation and the collective labor agreement,
• Risk assessment, the workplace physician’s opinion and the OHS board decision,
• SGK service statement and FHSZ notifications,
• The refusal letter, the notification envelope or the time of electronic notification.

The employee should not copy to a personal device the patient data accessed in the course of duty or the whole hospital database. While evidence is being preserved, patient privacy, trade secrets and the principles of the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK) should be observed; if necessary, the records should be requested from the court or the institution.

Defenses the Employer or Administration May Raise

In a dispute, the other side may generally raise the following claims:

• That the employee did not actually work in a controlled area, or that the alleged hours were confused with shift time,
• That the use of a device in a given hour does not show that the employee was in the exposure area,
• That the pregnancy report or notification reached the institution late,
• That the payment cut was not base wage but a payment conditional on actual risk/performance,
• That the temporary assignment did not constitute a material change and had a health-protection purpose,
• That the employer was not given the opportunity to correct before termination for cause, or that the health danger was not proven by a report,
• That the public-sector action was not filed within the time limit or was directed against the wrong respondent,
• That the health leave was planned within the following year of use but could not be used because the employee was on other leave.

These defenses are not automatically justified; however, they should be assessed in advance when preparing the application text and the evidence plan.

Notes on Time Limits, Costs and Interim Protection

Mediation before litigation is mandatory in employee claims and compensation claims. The mediation application is free of fees; if an action is filed, the fee, expense advance, expert and notification tariffs in force on the application date apply. The one-month application period for reinstatement is a time limit for bringing an action (hak düşürücü süre). For other monetary claims, a five-year statute of limitations most often comes into play; the starting date and the transitional provisions must be calculated separately according to the type of claim.

In administrative courts, the general time limit for filing an action is 60 days unless there is a special provision. The case fee, postage and any expert/on-site examination advance vary according to the tariff on the application date. Persons without the means to pay may request legal aid if the conditions are met. If the health risk continues, the request for a stay of execution should be supported by a medical report and concrete assignment records.

Step-by-Step Roadmap for Implementation

1. Obtain the medical report; ensure that the necessary work restrictions are stated clearly in the report.
2. Notify the report through document registry, KEP or another institutional channel whose delivery can be proven.
3. Request in writing a suitable duty outside the radiation area, pay/status protection and a workplace physician review.
4. Request in writing a statement of the controlled-area hours accumulated up to the notification date and of the health leave accrual.
5. If there is a temporary assignment, compare the sending and receiving institutions’ records at the end of each month.
6. In case of a change in the payroll, ask in writing which item was cut and on what legal basis; assess whether a reservation of rights (ihtirazi kayıt) is needed.
7. If the danger continues, put the Law No. 6331 procedure into operation; before a decision to terminate directly or stop work, assess the status, evidence and time limits in the specific file.
8. In the case of a refusal act, determine the judicial branch with jurisdiction and the notification date; before the time limit expires, use the mediation or administrative application/action route.

Sample Pregnancy Notification and Safe Assignment Request

Note: This sample is a general framework; it should be adapted according to the employee’s status, report, the institution’s structure and the request.

[ON BEHALF OF THE INSTITUTION / HOSPITAL / EMPLOYER]

Subject: Pregnancy notification, request for adaptation of working conditions and for communication of my actual work records

I work at your institution as [job title]. In accordance with the attached medical report [date and number], I notify that I am pregnant / that there is a suspicion that I am pregnant.

Under the ionizing radiation and occupational health and safety legislation, I request that I not be employed in a radiation area for the remainder of my pregnancy, and that, after the assessment of the workplace physician and the occupational safety unit is obtained, a duty suitable for my health, outside the radiation area, be determined.

I further request that the change of duty be communicated in writing with my base wage and status rights preserved, and that I be provided, as of this notification date, with the hours I actually worked in the controlled area in the current calendar year, my dosimeter records and my accrued health leave day.

I request that my personal health data be processed only for the purpose of fulfilling occupational health and safety obligations, with access kept limited.

Enclosure: Medical report
Date
Full name
Signature

Scenario-Based Outcome Matrix

Common Mistakes

• Making the pregnancy notification only orally and not obtaining a delivery record.
• Thinking that the pregnancy notification erases all the health leave hours earned earlier that year.
• Treating 1 mSv as an exposure quota that a pregnant employee can use.
• Generalizing the contamination prohibition for breastfeeding employees to all imaging areas, or, conversely, automatically treating every area that uses sealed sources as safe.
• Counting the entire shift time as actual controlled-area hours.
• Leaving mobile device and operating room work undocumented.
• Asserting a definite conclusion without separating base wage from a supplementary payment conditional on actual work.
• Submitting a resignation petition without reasons, or not going to work without observing the procedure in Law No. 6331.
• Missing the notification date and the 60-day time limit in an administrative act.
• Copying patient data without authorization for the purpose of evidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I go on radiation leave the day I submit my pregnancy report?

No. Pregnancy is not an automatic ground for health leave. Work in the radiation area is stopped and a suitable radiation-free duty is determined. The actual hours that accrued in the calculation year before the notification are recorded separately; the leave equivalent of these is planned, under the Ministry’s explanation of practice, within the following year.

Are the hours I worked before pregnancy erased?

No. Documented controlled-area hours in the same calendar year are protected. Only the subsequent period spent radiation-free because of pregnancy does not generate new hours.

Does zero hours of work yield one day of leave from Annex 2?

The view that it does not is stronger. The Regulation requires actual work; the first row of the table should be applied as one day for the positive 1–50 hours. Generating health leave from zero hours is incompatible with the purpose of the regulation and with the Council of State’s reasoning on actual work.

Can I use the health leave that arose before I went on maternity leave?

Under the Ministry’s explanation of practice, leave arising from the calculation year’s hours is planned within the following consecutive year and without overlapping other leave. If maternity leave covers a significant part of the year of use, a written application should be made without delay; carry-over again to the next year or automatic payment should not be assumed.

Can I work in nuclear medicine while breastfeeding?

You cannot be employed in the hot room, open source and similar areas where there is a risk of radioactive contamination. Not every room in a nuclear medicine center may carry the same risk; the area classification and the duty content should be determined by a written risk assessment.

Is working in X-ray or CT while breastfeeding completely prohibited?

The legislation ties the absolute prohibition for breastfeeding personnel to areas where there is a risk of radioactive contamination. Work in an X-ray/CT area with no contamination risk is not automatically regarded as free or safe; a risk assessment, dose monitoring, daily hours, nursing leave and the physician’s opinion are sought together.

Is nursing leave added to health leave hours?

Even though nursing leave counts as working time for labor law purposes, if it was not actually spent in a controlled area it is not added to the Annex 2 hours. The real controlled-area time during the rest of the day is recorded.

Can my salary be reduced if I move to radiation-free duty?

Moving a private-sector employee to lighter work does not give rise to a base wage reduction. However, the continuation of each item conditional on on-call duty, overtime, performance or actual risk is examined separately. For public personnel, the special supplementary payment legislation is checked.

Which institution calculates my hours in a temporary assignment?

The final annual calculation should be unified. The sending institution keeps the personnel file while the receiving institution produces the actual-area and device records. Obtaining a signed statement from both institutions and comparing the total is the safest method.

If my dosimeter result was low, can I not get health leave?

A low dosimeter result alone does not remove the right. The current criterion is actual work in the controlled area. Even so, the dosimeter is important evidence in proving the area classification and actual work.

Can the employer call me in for “a few exposures” while I am pregnant?

No. That it is temporary, short-term or with protective equipment does not remove the rule of not working in a radiation area for the remainder of the pregnancy. A written objection and an occupational health and safety application should be made.

If radiation leave is not granted, does it immediately turn into a monetary claim?

Converting health leave into money while the employment relationship continues is not consistent with the protective purpose of the current regulation. Older Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) decisions accepted that unused leave turns into a claim at the end of the contract; however, the post-2023 period, the date of the event and the current regulation must be assessed separately.

I am a public employee; how long do I have against the refusal letter?

Unless there is a special provision, the general time limit for filing an action is 60 days from the day following written notification of the administrative act. A petition under Article 11 of the Administrative Procedure Law may affect the period. The last day should not be calculated without seeing the status, the authority and the form of notification.

What routes are available if I am dismissed because of pregnancy?

In employee status, discrimination, employee claims and, if the conditions are met, reinstatement come into play. For reinstatement, an application to the mediator is required within one month from notification of the termination. For public personnel, annulment of the act and, if necessary, the stay of execution route are assessed.

Personal Health Data and Privacy

A pregnancy report and health information are special categories of personal data under the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK). The institution should process only the data necessary to fulfill its occupational health and safety obligation, with an appropriate legal basis and security measures, and should limit access to the workplace physician, authorized personnel and mandatory processes. The employee, for her part, should not add unnecessary tests, patient data or intimate details to her application.

Conclusion

In pregnancy, maternity and breastfeeding periods, the right question is not “will the employee’s radiation leave be cut?” but which controlled-area hours actually accrued in the same calendar year, after what date did the prohibition on working begin, and when should the leave that has arisen be used? In temporary assignments too, what is decisive is the actual area and the record, not the staff position or the title on the letter.

Güneş & Güneş Law Firm has operated since 1999 and is based in Antalya. This text is general legal information on legislation applicable across Türkiye; without seeing the status, date, contract, collective labor agreement, report and institutional records of the specific case, it cannot be regarded as a legal opinion or a guarantee of outcome.

Official sources and further reading

• Regulation on Health Services Provided Using Ionizing Radiation and Radionuclides, dated April 13, 2023
• Regulation on the Conditions of Employment of Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women, dated August 16, 2013
• Amendment of December 16, 2025 to the Radiology Services Regulation
• Law No. 3153
• Labor Law No. 4857
• Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331
• Civil Servants Law No. 657
• Law No. 5510 on Social Insurance and General Health Insurance
• Nuclear Regulatory Authority — Frequently Asked Questions
• SGK — Actual Service Period Supplement