Terms of employment

Terms of employment in Türkiye are governed principally by Labour Law No. 4857 and the Trade Union Law.

Contract types

• Employment contracts for temporary and permanent work
• Contracts for a definite or an indefinite period
• Part-time and full-time contracts
• Work-upon-call contracts
• Contracts with a trial (probation) period
• Team contracts

Employment contracts are exempt from stamp tax and from duties and fees.

The indefinite-term contract is the default. A fixed-term contract requires an objective reason — work of a defined duration, completion of a specific project, or the occurrence of a specific event. Renewing fixed-term contracts without an essential reason causes them to be deemed indefinite from the outset, which matters because it brings the employee inside the severance and job security regime. Fixed-term employees may not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees without objective justification.

Probation is a maximum of two months, extendable to four only by collective bargaining agreement. During probation either party may terminate without notice or severance.

Non-discrimination

Discrimination among employees on grounds of language, race, gender, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion or similar criteria is prohibited. Discrimination on the basis of gender is specifically prohibited in setting remuneration for the same or equivalent work.

Working hours and overtime

The maximum regular working time is 45 hours per week, in principle distributed equally across working days, with a daily maximum of 11 hours. Hours may be arranged by the employer within the legal limits, and averaged over a balancing period by agreement.

Hours worked beyond 45 per week are overtime, paid at 150% of the normal hourly rate. Instead of payment, the employee may elect 1.5 hours of free time for each overtime hour worked. Work on weekly rest days and public holidays is paid at a higher rate.

Overtime may not exceed 270 hours per year, and the employee's written consent is required. These are statutory minimums and may be improved by collective or individual agreement.

Annual paid leave and public holidays

There are seven paid public holidays — 1 January, 23 April, 1 May, 19 May, 15 July, 30 August and 29 October — plus two paid religious holiday periods amounting to nine days in total.

Employees who have completed at least one year of service, including the probation period, are entitled to paid annual leave as follows:

Employees under 18 and over 50 are entitled to not less than 20 days regardless of seniority. These are minimums and may be increased by collective or individual agreement.

Payment of wages through banks

Where an employer employs at least five workers at the same workplace or across the country, wages and any other payments to workers must be made through a bank. Paying in cash instead attracts an administrative penalty.

Wages may be denominated in a foreign currency, but must be paid in Turkish lira converted at the exchange rate prevailing on the payment date. Foreign-owned companies that agree salaries in euro or dollars need to be clear internally about who bears the exchange movement between agreement and payment — it is a common source of dispute.

Remote working

The regulation requires a written agreement covering the job description, the place and hours of work, pay, provision of equipment, the communication protocol and occupational health and safety.

The key points for an employer:

• The employer supplies the equipment and materials and bears production and communication costs, unless otherwise agreed
• The employer must give occupational health and safety information and training appropriate to remote work
• The employer must implement data protection measures for work-related data and inform the employee of the rules
• Converting an existing on-site role to remote requires mutual agreement. The employer may impose remote work unilaterally only where a force majeure ground applies
• Remote work is prohibited in work involving hazardous chemicals, radioactive material or biological exposure risk

For international groups running a hybrid policy globally, the "employer provides the equipment and bears the costs" default is the provision most often overlooked.

Where a foreign employer most often goes wrong

Treating a fixed-term contract as a probation substitute. Chained fixed-term contracts without an objective reason convert to indefinite, and the employee acquires severance rights and job security protection.

Assuming the group's standard contract works here. Non-compete, notice, bonus discretion and termination clauses drafted for another jurisdiction are frequently unenforceable in Türkiye, and the Turkish minimum applies regardless of what the contract says.

Under-documenting overtime. The 270-hour cap and the written-consent requirement are enforced, and the burden of proving hours worked does not sit where foreign employers expect.