Turkey’s employment framework is not a single checklist. For many private-sector employees, the starting point is Labour Law No. 4857, but social security, occupational safety, foreign-worker, collective-rights and dispute rules sit alongside it. An employer should first identify the worker’s legal category, then align the contract, working-time records, payroll, SGK filings and any work permit with that category.
Last reviewed: 17 September 2026. The Ministry of Labour’s current FAQ continues to confirm the 45-hour weekly baseline, 50% overtime premium, 25% extra-hours premium, employee consent and 270-hour annual overtime ceiling. Monetary caps, administrative fines and secondary regulations can change during the year, so confirm the position in force on the relevant event date.
| Common employer question | General private-sector baseline | Control before acting |
|---|---|---|
| Normal weekly working time | Up to 45 hours | Check the contract, sector rules, equalisation arrangements and actual time records |
| Maximum daily scheduling | Generally no more than 11 hours | Night work, protected groups and hazardous work can have tighter limits |
| Overtime above 45 hours | Generally paid at 50% above the normal hourly rate or converted to statutory time off at the employee’s request | Confirm consent, eligibility and the 270-hour annual ceiling |
| Annual paid leave after one year | At least 14, 20 or 26 days depending on service | Age, collective agreements and special employment laws may improve the minimum |
| Notice for an indefinite-term contract | Two, four, six or eight weeks depending on service | Immediate termination for a legally justified reason follows a different route |
| Statutory probation | Up to two months; a collective agreement may extend it to four | Put the clause in the contract and do not treat probation as a compliance-free period |
These are general baselines, not universal answers. Press employees, maritime employees, certain transport and agricultural work, domestic services and other categories may fall under special statutes or exclusions. A title such as “consultant” also does not decide status: the real working relationship matters.
Build the employment file only after the Turkish entity, workplace and authorised signatories are clear.
Which Turkish employment laws should an employer map?
Use a framework map before using a template. The same hire may trigger several laws at once:
| Area | Primary framework | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Core employment relationship | Labour Law No. 4857 | Contracts, equal treatment, wages, working time, leave and termination for covered employees |
| Social insurance | Law No. 5510 | Workplace and insured-person registration, premium earnings, declarations and benefits |
| Occupational health and safety | Law No. 6331 | Risk assessment, prevention, training, health surveillance and incident duties |
| Foreign nationals | International Labour Force Law No. 6735 | Work permits, exemptions, employer notifications and unauthorised-work risk |
| Collective rights | Law No. 6356 | Trade unions and collective bargaining |
| Employment disputes | Labour Courts Law No. 7036 | Mandatory mediation for covered claims and labour-court procedure |
Labour Law No. 4857 is therefore the hub, not the whole system. Start each policy with a scope note stating which employees, workplace and agreement it covers.
What should happen before the employee starts?
- Classify the relationship. Record why the person is an employee, genuine independent contractor, director or another category. Labels cannot cure a relationship that functions as employment.
- Confirm the employing entity and workplace. Check the legal employer, registered workplace, authorised signatory and cost centre. Use the separate SGK employer-registration and first-hire guide for the workplace-file route.
- Check work authorisation. A foreign national may need a work permit or exemption before starting. Route that question to the Turkish work-permit guide; do not substitute a residence permit for work authorisation.
- Issue the correct contract and policies. Align role, location, working time, wage, benefits, probation, confidentiality, data handling and termination provisions. Provide required written information even where the parties did not sign a full-form contract.
- Complete pre-start registrations and safety controls. Submit the insured entry notification within the deadline applicable to the hire, provide required OHS training and retain evidence before access is granted.
For the recruitment-to-start-date sequence, use the separate hiring process in Turkey guide. Continue here for the underlying rules on employment contracts, working time, leave and termination.
Employment contracts: choose the term for a real reason
An indefinite-term contract is the ordinary route where the relationship has no objective end point. A fixed-term contract should rest on an objective condition such as a defined period, completion of a specific task or occurrence of a defined event. Chaining fixed terms without an essential reason can cause the relationship to be treated as indefinite.
Part-time and remote arrangements remain employment relationships. They require clear scheduling, availability, equipment, expense, information-security and OHS controls; part-time status is not a reason for unjustified unequal treatment. A probation clause must be agreed and does not remove wage, SGK, discrimination or safety duties.
Keep the signed contract, role description, policy acknowledgements and later amendments in one controlled file. If an employer proposes a material change to working conditions, Labour Law Article 22 generally requires written notice; a change not accepted by the employee in writing within six working days does not bind the employee. Do not implement a salary, location or hours change merely through payroll or an email announcement.
Working time, overtime and rest: record reality
The common baseline is 45 hours per week, usually distributed across working days, subject to contractual and statutory controls. Equalisation can change weekly distribution without turning every high week into overtime, but it requires a valid arrangement and cannot override daily limits. Employers should record start and finish times, breaks, remote work and travel that legally counts as work.
- Overtime work: time above 45 hours in a week is generally paid with a 50% premium.
- Extra hours: where the agreed normal week is below 45 hours, work up to 45 is generally paid with a 25% premium.
- Time off instead of premium pay: the employee may request the statutory equivalent; it is not simply an employer-imposed substitute.
- Annual limit: overtime is generally capped at 270 hours per employee per year, with additional restrictions for certain employees and work.
- Rest breaks: the statutory minimum generally rises from 15 minutes to 30 minutes and then one hour as daily working time increases.
- Weekly rest: covered employees generally receive at least 24 uninterrupted hours within a seven-day period, subject to the governing schedule and special rules.
A contract clause saying “overtime is included” is not an unlimited waiver. The salary level, clearly defined included hours, statutory ceiling, consent and proof of actual work all matter.
Wages, minimum pay and payroll evidence
Pay must never fall below the applicable statutory floor. For the current gross, net and official employer-cost scenarios, use the dedicated Turkey minimum wage guide. Foreign-worker permit criteria may require a role-based wage above that national floor.
Payroll should reconcile the employment contract, attendance, overtime, leave, benefits, taxable items, SGK earnings and net payment. Give the employee an intelligible wage statement and retain proof of payment. Do not use a net-salary promise without documenting who bears changes in tax, social-security or exemption treatment. The monthly operating workflow belongs in the separate payroll setup in Turkey guide.
Annual leave and protected absence
For employees covered by Labour Law No. 4857, statutory annual paid leave normally begins after one year, including probation. The minimum is:
| Service with the employer | Minimum annual paid leave |
|---|---|
| One to five years, including five | 14 days |
| More than five but less than fifteen years | 20 days |
| Fifteen years or more | 26 days |
Employees aged 18 or younger and those aged 50 or older generally receive at least 20 days. Collective agreements and contracts may improve these rights. Public holidays, weekly rest, maternity-related absence, sick leave and other statutory absence follow their own rules; do not deduct every absence from annual leave.
Maintain a leave ledger showing accrual, request, approval and use. Untaken statutory annual leave is generally converted to a payment only when employment ends, based on the wage at termination; employers should not routinely “buy out” leave during continuing employment.
Performance, discipline and equal treatment
Good documentation is not a collection of warnings created just before dismissal. Define the role and measurable expectations, give timely feedback, investigate consistently, allow a response where required and retain comparable treatment evidence. Labour Law Article 5 prohibits specified forms of discrimination and supports equal-treatment controls; other anti-discrimination and privacy rules may also apply.
Use a documented decision gate before changing duties, pay, location or schedule. Ask whether the step is a managerial instruction within the existing contract, a material Article 22 change requiring acceptance, a temporary lawful assignment or a proposed termination. This prevents payroll and access changes from getting ahead of the legal decision.
Termination: separate notice, valid reason and just cause
These routes are not interchangeable:
| Route | Core question | Employer control |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary notice termination | What notice period or payment in lieu applies? | Service-based notice is generally two, four, six or eight weeks |
| Valid-reason dismissal under job-security rules | Is there a defensible reason related to capability, conduct or business/workplace requirements? | Check coverage, written reason, defence and proportionality before notice |
| Immediate termination for just cause | Does a narrowly defined statutory ground permit termination without notice? | Investigate facts, legal category and short procedural deadlines; do not relabel ordinary poor performance as serious misconduct |
| Mutual termination | Is consent informed and supported by a genuine employee benefit? | A signed release alone does not eliminate validity and payment risks |
Job-security protection generally concerns an indefinite-term employee with at least six months’ service in a workplace meeting the 30-employee threshold, subject to statutory exclusions and aggregation rules. Where it applies, the employer needs a valid reason and must follow the required written and defence procedure.
Severance pay is not due after every exit. Under the continuing Article 14 of former Labour Law No. 1475, the employee generally needs at least one year with the employer and a qualifying termination event. When due, the baseline is 30 days’ gross wage for each full year, proportionately for additional periods, using qualifying regular benefits and subject to the ceiling effective on the termination date.
Deadlines are short. The Ministry states that an employee challenging dismissal under the reinstatement route must apply to a mediator within one month of the termination notice. Obtain case-specific Turkish labour-law advice before disabling access, communicating a reason or calculating final pay.
Foreign employees: labour rights and work permission are separate controls
A foreign employee with valid authorisation is not outside Turkish employment law. The employer must coordinate the permit or exemption, lawful start date, job and workplace details, role-based wage criteria, SGK position, payroll and any required change or termination notifications. A residence permit alone generally does not authorise work.
Do not describe permits as simply “short-term” or “long-term” residence products. The first employer-sponsored work permit is commonly granted for a defined employer, workplace and role for up to one year, while extensions and independent or permanent work permission follow separate statutory conditions. For application routes and permit-specific conditions, continue with the work-permit guide.
Occupational health and safety is a management system
Law No. 6331 requires a prevention-based approach. Depending on the workplace and risk class, the employer file may include:
- documented risk assessment and preventive action;
- employee training, information and consultation;
- emergency, evacuation and first-aid arrangements;
- health surveillance appropriate to the work;
- appointment or procurement of legally required OHS services;
- work-accident and occupational-disease records and notifications; and
- contractor, visitor, remote-work and equipment controls.
Outsourcing an OHS service does not transfer the employer’s overall responsibility. Confirm the current rule for the workplace’s hazard class, headcount and activity rather than copying a generic small-business checklist.
A practical 30-day employer compliance audit
- Map the workforce: legal employer, workplace, employee category, contract type, work location and permit status.
- Reconcile starts and exits: compare HR dates with SGK entry/exit notifications, work-permit events, payroll and access logs.
- Test working-time evidence: sample attendance, overtime consent, approvals, rest, remote work and leave ledgers.
- Reperform payroll: test gross-to-net calculations, minimum pay, overtime, benefits, SGK earnings and bank evidence.
- Review OHS controls: close overdue risk, training, health-surveillance and incident actions.
- Gate proposed terminations: identify route, protected status, reason, evidence, procedure, notice, severance and mediation deadlines before communication.
The audit output should name an owner, due date and evidence for each gap. A generic statement that the company “complies with Turkish labour law” is not an auditable control.
Official sources and update checks
- Labour Law No. 4857 — official consolidated text
- Ministry of Labour and Social Security — employment FAQ
- Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 — official text
- SGK — current employer obligations
- International Labour Force Law No. 6735 — official text
- Labour Courts Law No. 7036 — official text
For an upcoming hire, convert this framework into a role-specific pre-start pack. Workon’s recruitment support in Turkey can coordinate the hiring workflow, while legal opinions, regulated filings and payroll treatment should be confirmed with the appropriately authorised Turkish professionals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Disclaimer: This article provides general information, not legal, tax or payroll advice. Coverage, collective agreements, court decisions, sector rules and the facts of a particular employment relationship may change the result.
