What are the basics of Turkish employment law for a foreign employer?

The core answer up front: Turkish employment law — Labor Law No. 4857 — fixes a 45-hour week, a 50% overtime premium, 14–26 days of paid annual leave, 2–8 weeks of notice, severance of one gross month per year of service, and, above 30 employees, a valid-reason requirement for dismissal. Everything below is detail on those floors, and contracts cannot undercut them.

The default contract type is indefinite-term. A fixed-term contract is valid only with an objective reason — work of a defined duration, a specific project, or a specific event — and it must be in writing (Art. 11). Renewing fixed-term contracts back to back without an essential reason converts the relationship into an indefinite one from the start. Separately, any contract lasting a year or more must be written (Art. 8). In practice, give every hire a written Turkish-law contract before day one.

Probation is capped at two months, extendable to four only by collective bargaining agreement (Art. 15). During probation either side can end the contract without notice or severance, but wages for days worked are still owed.

The standard work week is 45 hours. Anything beyond it is overtime, paid at a 50% premium and capped at 270 hours per year. With the employee's agreement, weekly hours can be spread unevenly across the week, up to a hard limit of 11 hours per day (Art. 63).

Overtime requires the employee's consent (Art. 41). Keep written consents and clean time records — unpaid or undocumented overtime is one of the most common claims in Turkish labor courts.

Ending an indefinite contract requires notice tied to seniority: 2 weeks under 6 months of service, 4 weeks from 6 months to 1.5 years, 6 weeks from 1.5 to 3 years, and 8 weeks beyond 3 years (Art. 17). These are minimums that contracts can extend, and the employer can end the contract immediately by paying the notice period in cash instead.

Severance (kıdem tazminatı) is owed after one year of service: one month's gross pay per year of service, calculated on the "dressed" wage that includes regular benefits, pro-rated for partial years, and capped at 73,729.87 TL per year of service in the second half of 2026. It is due on employer termination without just cause and on several employee-side exits, including retirement, military service, and — for women — resignation within a year of marriage.

Paid annual leave is earned after one full year of service, probation included: 14 working days for 1–5 years of service (5 inclusive), 20 days for more than 5 and less than 15, and 26 days for 15 years or more. Employees aged 18 or under and 50 or over get at least 20 days regardless of tier.

Weekly rest days and public holidays that fall inside a leave period do not consume the entitlement, and leave can be split as long as one part is at least 10 days. Unused leave is paid out at termination — any termination type, resignation included — at the final bare gross wage.

Turkey has no at-will employment. In workplaces with 30 or more employees, an employee with at least six months' seniority on an indefinite contract can only be dismissed for a valid reason tied to their capacity, their conduct, or the requirements of the business (Art. 18).

Process matters as much as substance: the termination notice must be written with the reason stated clearly and precisely, and for conduct- or performance-based dismissals the employee's defense must be heard first (Art. 19). If a court finds the dismissal invalid and the employer refuses to reinstate, it owes compensation of 4–8 months' wages plus up to 4 months' wages for the litigation period (Art. 21).

Below the 30-employee and 6-month thresholds, dismissal is freer but never free: notice and severance still apply, and terminations must not be abusive or discriminatory.

Every employee must be registered with SGK, Turkey's social security institution, before starting work — the general rule is that the employment declaration is filed no later than the day before day one (Law No. 5510, Art. 8). Construction, fishing, and agriculture workplaces may file on the first day of work. Unregistered employment triggers administrative fines (Law No. 5510, Art. 102) plus retroactive premiums.

Employee data falls under the KVKK, Turkey's GDPR-equivalent (Law No. 6698): employees must be informed about how their personal data is processed (Art. 10), and special categories such as health data can only be processed under the narrow conditions of Art. 6. Payroll files are full of both — handle them lawfully.

Unions and collective bargaining are protected by Law No. 6356. Many private-sector workplaces never encounter a collective agreement, but where one applies, it can raise every statutory floor above in the employee's favor.