Late summer time causes trouble for Turkish companies

ISTANBUL – Turkish companies will add overtime and incur extra costs because the Turkish government decided on short notice that summer time will start one day later,. In Turkey time will go forward by one hour not on Sunday night the 27th of March, but on Monday night. The reason is the university entrance exam, on Sunday. How much damage Turkish companies face is unknown, but there are a lot of complaints.

The decision was announced suddenly last week in Turkey’s state paper. Companies have been working hard since Monday to figure out what problems could occur and how to solve them. Several data systems that are set to automatically switch to summer time will have to be adjusted to the new situation manually. Especially banks and telecom companies are complaining in the Turkish media and in press releases about the extra costs.

Airlines too are unhappy, for example Turkey’s large flag carrier Turkish Airlines: they have to inform passengers who bought tickets for the 27th before March 14 that the time on their ticket is incorrect and has to be adjusted forward by one hour.

The national university entrance exam is seen as the most important exams in a Turk’s life. Young people prepare for it for years with extra lessons, and on Sunday the 27th all this studying has to lead to good results. The pressure on future students is so great that teachers feared a time adjustmenton the night before the exam would give too much stress. They asked the government to adjust the date of the exam or postpone the start of summertime. The government chose the latter. Companies state that such decisions must be announced at least six months in advance.