What is PDKS?

A PDKS is any setup — a wall-mounted device or plain software — that logs the exact time each employee starts and ends the workday. Turkish workplaces most commonly use card readers and turnstiles. Biometric devices (fingerprint, facial recognition) exist but carry data-protection risk, and field teams increasingly clock in through mobile apps with location verification. Whatever the method, the output is the same: a dated clock-in/clock-out record per employee.

Hardware is optional. Traditional deployments mount a device at the entrance, while software-only setups either capture times through a mobile app or import the export file an existing device already produces into the HR system. For small or distributed teams, the software-only route is usually enough — a point worth knowing if you are hiring in Turkey without a physical office.

Turkish payroll runs on documented working time. Raw PDKS records are compiled into the monthly puantaj (timesheet), which fixes days worked, overtime, absences, and leave per employee — and payroll is calculated from that timesheet. Employers in Turkey are also expected to be able to document their employees' working hours, and clock records are standard evidence in wage and overtime disputes, so attendance data is a compliance asset, not just an operational one.

Fingerprint and facial-recognition data are special-category personal data under Turkey's data protection law, KVKK (Law No. 6698) — roughly the Turkish counterpart of the GDPR. The Turkish data protection authority has ruled against biometric entry and attendance tracking where a less intrusive method (card, PIN) would serve the same purpose, on proportionality grounds. Foreign employers evaluating attendance setups in Turkey generally choose card or mobile clock-in and avoid biometrics unless there is a specific, defensible need.