Dünya ekonomilerindeki yıllık izin uygulamaları: Türk Hava Yolları örneği incelemesi
Annual leave in the world's economies: The case of Turkish Airlines
Yazar: FATMA BENAN YİĞİT
Danışman: PROF. DR. TUNCAY ZORLU ; DR. ÖĞR. ÜYESİ MEHMET ALİ DOĞAN
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Bilim, Teknoloji ve Toplum Ana Bilim Dalı / Bilim, Teknoloji ve Toplum Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2024
Konu: Bilim ve Teknoloji = Science and Technology

Özet:
Yıllık izin, çalışma saatlerinin düzenlenmesini sağlayan araçlardan biridir. Ülke ve kurumlardaki yıllık izin politikaları yerel iş kanunları, Uluslararası Çalışma Örgütü (ILO), bölgesel sendikaların standartları ve toplu iş sözleşmeleri tarafından belirlenmektedir. Yıllık izin, çalışma süresinin iş gücü ekonomisindeki potansiyelini gösterebilir ve aynı zamanda işverenler için bir çalışan maliyetine yol açar. Diğer bir açıdan yıllık izin, çalışanlara iş-yaşam dengesi, motivasyon ve aile için boş zaman ya da yenilenme imkânı sağlamaya katkıda bulunabilir.
Bu çalışma, dünyada çalışanların asgari kanuni yıllık izin sürelerini hem bölgesel hem de ulusal düzeyde incelemeyi ve Türk Hava Yolları'nın faaliyet gösterdiği ülkelerdeki mahalli çalışanlarına yönelik yıllık izin politikalarını sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın ikinci amacı, Türk Hava Yolları mahalli çalışanların yıllık izin kullanma oranlarını yaş, cinsiyet ve medeni durum göz önünde bulundurularak incelemektir. Bu çalışmanın nihai amacı, sonuçları tartışarak literatüre katkıda bulunmak ve yıllık izin politikalarının geleceğini sosyal bağlamda değerlendirmektir.
Bu çalışmada, Türk Hava Yolları'nın aktif operasyon yürüttüğü ülkelerin iş kanunlarından ve ILO'nun ülkelerin yıllık izin uygulamalarına ilişkin veri tabanından yararlanılmıştır. Türk Hava Yolları'ndaki yıllık izin uygulamalarına ilişkin veriler mahalli ofislerden detaylı bir şekilde toplanmıştır. Veriler, Türk Hava Yolları çalışan sistemi kayıtları, ILO veri tabanı ve yerel avukatların görüşleri ile kontrol edilmiştir. Buna ek olarak Türk Hava Yolları'nın operasyon yürüttüğü ülkelerde görev yapan mahalli çalışanlarının 2023 yılındaki izin kullanım oranları incelenmiş olup yıllık izin kullanım davranışının arkasındaki faktörler anlaşılmaya çalışılmıştır.
Çalışma, yıllık izin politikalarının dünyadaki uygulamaları hakkında detaylı bilgi sunmaktadır. Çalışma saatleri, rekabet, çalışma kültürü ve koşulları, cinsiyet, yaş ve iş deneyimi, yıllık izin politikalarının farklı olmasına sebep olan değişkenlerdir. Türk Hava Yolları örnekleminin incelenmesi, yıllık izin politikalarının sosyal bağlamda nasıl değiştiğinin derinlemesine anlaşılmasına katkıda bulunacaktır. Bu çalışma bilim, teknoloji ve toplum bakış açısıyla oluşturulmuştur. Kültürel-Tarihsel Faaliyet Teorisi (CHAT) kullanılarak dünyadaki kanuni minimum yıllık izin uygulamaları, önce kültürel ve tarihsel bakış açışıyla değerlendirilecek olup daha sonrasında yıllık izin kullanım oranlarında cinsiyet faktörü ve medeni durum etkisi tartışılacaktır. Bölgelere ve çalışanların cinsiyet, yaş ve medeni durumuna göre yıllık izin oranlarının değişmesi CHAT teorisi ile çalışma kültürüne vurgu yapılarak açıklanacaktır. Böylelikle çalışma, sadece küresel bölgedeki yıllık izin politikalarına detaylı bir genel bakış sağlamakla kalmayıp, aynı zamanda sosyal bağlam perspektifinde yıllık izin uygulamasının geleceğine ilişkin tartışmaları da teşvik etmektedir.

Abstract:
Annual leave is one of the instruments which enables regulation of working hours. The annual leave policies also are established by local labor acts, International Labor Organization, the standards of regional unions and collective agreements. Annual leave can demonstrate the potential of the working time in the labor economy and it also leads to an employee cost for the employers. In other aspects, annual leave can contribute to provide employees with work-life balance, motivation and leisure time for family or refreshing.
This thesis aims to review length of minimum legal annual leaves of employees in the world, both at a regional and national level and to present the annual leave policies of Turkish Airlines for the local staff in the countries where it operates. The second purpose of this paper is to examine the proportion of annual leaves used by Turkish Airlines local staff in consideration of age, gender, marital status. The ultimate aim of this paper is to contribute literature with discussing the results and consider the future of annual leave policies in the social context.
In order to achieve these objectives, the following research questions were asked:
What are the legal minimum annual leave practices in economies around the world?
What are the annual leave practices in the countries where Turkish Airlines operates in the world?
How does Turkish Airlines perform when compared to the legal minimum annual leave practices in countries and Turkish Airlines' annual leave practices?
What are the leave utilization rates of local employees working at Turkish Airlines in 2023?
Within the framework of these research questions, the following hypotheses were put forward:
•	THY follows the laws of the countries in which it operates in determining its annual leave policy or provides its employees with more than the minimum number of annual leave days set by the laws of the country.
•	Annual leave utilization increases with increasing age.
•	Married employees take more annual leave.
•	Women take more annual leave.
The hypotheses put forward in the study were determined in line with previous research. An unfair trade advantage would be gained if the companies cannot take basic measures to protect the fundamental rights of workers. As an international airlines company, THY carries out its commercial activities in the line with the legal laws in the countries which it operates because one of the important missions is achieving the international aviation standards.  For this reason, it is hypothesized that Turkish Airlines provides annual leave entitlements to its employees in the countries where it operates, as stipulated by the legislation or more.
According to a study conducted in Norway, between 2001 and 2010, employees between the ages of 61 or 62 requested more leave to continue working after retirement for reasons such as rest and more time for themselves. The second hypothesis suggests that the use of annual leave will increase as age increases. 
The presence of women in the workplace has led to major changes in workplaces and society. Especially, the role of women and men in families has been changed and the diversity in workplace has increased. The role of care giving has shared by women and men in certain cultures. Although women have taken their place in the work life, there are some cultures where the duty of care in the home continues.
In studies on work-life balance, the fact that women spend more time with their families than men due to their family responsibilities but work for the same amount of time as men has increased the importance of investigating the gender factor. Considering the social roles in establishing work-life balance, both marriage and gender factors are expected to affect the use of annual leave 
In this paper, the labor acts of countries and ILO's (International Labor Organizations) database about annual leaves applications of countries were utilized. Data of annual leave applications in Turkish Airlines were gathered from local offices with details. The data checked by Turkish Airlines Employee Recordings, ILO database and the opinion of local lawyers. In this thesis the length of minimum legal annual leave and the length of annual leaves which applied in Turkish Airlines were compared. It is seen that THY follows the laws of the countries in which it operates in determining its annual leave policy or provides its employees with more than the minimum number of annual leave days set by the laws of the country.
On the other hand, in this research the data about the used annual leaves of Turkish Airlines' local staff in 2023 is gathered and analyzed with Python Program. To understand what affects the use of annual leave, gender and marital status has been evaluated by determining hypothesis tests and p values. According to these statistical tests, it is seen that gender variable affects the annual leave utilization rate, while no significant difference was found between marital status and annual leave utilization rate. This thesis will be examined from the perspective of Science, Technology and Society. Using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) legal minimum annual leave practices around the world will first be evaluated from a cultural and historical perspective and then the impact of gender factor on annual leave utilization rates will be discussed. The variation of annual leave rates by region will be explained by emphasizing the work culture with the CHAT. This theory enables us to examine politics and applications of the world-wide annual leave deeply and holistically. 
The paper presents the details information about the application of annual leave policies in the world. Working hours, competition, working culture and conditions, gender, and age could spark off several applications of annual leave policies. The examination of THY sample would contribute deep understanding of annual leave policies in the social context and how they change. The paper provides not only a detail overview of annual leave policy in the global region but also promoting debate about the future of annual leave application in the perspective of social context. This study may encourage studies on some of the following topics in the literature. Studies can be conducted to understand the reasons behind permit use behavior in a city or country in the world where permit use rates are low. It may enable the evaluation of annual leave entitlement in research on the changing expectations of employees as they age. Studies can be conducted to evaluate gender differences in leave use in terms of childcare responsibilities and gender norms. The impact of organizational culture on the implementation of leave policies and employee satisfaction with leave policies can de researched. Investigating the impact of leave use on work-life balance will also emphasize employee satisfaction. By focusing on these areas, future research can contribute to more effective and fair annual leave policies for both employees and organizations.