Lowest-paid civil servant to receive 22,000 Turkish Liras

ANKARA

The lowest salary of Türkiye’s civil servants will be increased to 22,000 Turkish Liras, Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan has said.

The government is currently working on civil servants’ pay and improvements in pensions, Işıkhan told reporters.

“These were among President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s election pledges. We are planning to present the respective regulations to parliament under an omnibus bill,” Işıkhan said, noting that his ministry is working in coordination with the Treasury and Finance Ministry.

Işıkhan noted that parliament may pass the regulations regarding civil servants’ salaries and pension before it enters the summer recess.

The government this week announced a mid-year 34 percent hike in the minimum wage to a net of 11,402 liras from 8,506 liras for more than 7 million workers.

Private companies are likely to give pay raises to their employees after the minimum wage hike, according to experts.

The minimum wage hike will lead to adjustments in pays for almost all employees at private companies, said Muray Günay from Eleman.net.

“Those whose salary is above the minimum wage will probably get around a 25 percent pay hike. This adjustment will be done to motivate staff and to keep employees at the company,” he added.

Murat Ergene from Boyden Türkiye agrees that pay hikes for those who receive salary above the minimum wage will be inevitable. “We provide salary management consultancy services to companies. The most important thing here is to create a perception of fair pay,” he said.

“Employees may get demotivated if they think that their salary, which was twice the minimum wage before, is now almost equal to the minimum wage,” Boyden added.