What is paid leave (ücretli izin) in Turkey?
Ücretli izin is the Turkish umbrella term for paid leave: time an employee does not work but must be paid in full. Under Labor Law No. 4857 it covers annual paid leave (14–26 working days by seniority), statutory excuse leaves such as marriage and paternity, the weekly rest day, and national and public holidays.
How paid leave works in Turkey
Under Turkish law, paid leave covers every statutory absence in which the employee stops working while the employer keeps paying the full wage. The core entitlement is annual paid leave under Labor Law No. 4857, Article 53: after one full year of service (probation included), employees earn at least 14 working days for 1–5 years of seniority (5 included), 20 working days for more than 5 and less than 15 years, and 26 working days for 15 years and over. Employees aged 18 or under and 50 or over always receive at least 20 days.
On top of annual leave, statute grants paid excuse leaves: 3 days for marriage, 10 days of paternity leave (doubled from 5 by Law No. 7578 in May 2026), 3 days of bereavement for a parent, spouse, sibling, or child, 3 days for adoption, and up to 10 days a year to care for a severely disabled or chronically ill child (Additional Article 2). A weekly rest day of at least 24 uninterrupted hours (Article 46) and national and public holidays (Article 47) are also paid.
What employers must budget and administer
Leave pay must be handed over in advance, before the leave starts, and is calculated on base salary only — overtime pay, premiums, and fringe benefits are excluded (Article 57). Annual leave cannot be waived or cashed out while employment continues. When the contract ends for any reason, all unused days are paid out at the employee's final salary rate (Article 59), with a five-year limitation period running from termination.
Annual leave counts working days only — weekly rest days and public holidays falling inside the leave do not consume the balance — and it may be split, provided one block is at least 10 days. Employers must also keep a leave record for each employee (Article 56). For companies hiring in Turkey through a local entity or an employer of record, unused leave is a genuine payroll liability that grows with each employee's seniority.
Every leave type and its duration, side by side
Reading Turkish paid leave at a glance means putting the types side by side. Annual leave runs at least 14, 20 or 26 working days by seniority (art. 53). The excuse leaves — marriage, paternity, adoption, bereavement — range from 3 to 10 days (Additional art. 2). Maternity leave is 24 weeks since May 2026 (Law No. 7578), eight before and sixteen after the birth, with two extra prenatal weeks for a multiple pregnancy (art. 74) — and during it the employer owes no salary: SGK pays the mother a temporary-incapacity allowance. Back at work, nursing breaks of 1.5 paid hours per day apply until the child turns one, counted as working time (art. 74).
One item completing the table is unpaid: an employee spending annual leave away from the workplace's location can request up to 4 days of unpaid travel leave in total for the round trip, against documentation (art. 56). Unlike the paid types it is time without work or pay — but it belongs in any leave plan. This page keeps all the leave types in one view. Vesting, splitting and leave-pay rules for annual leave are covered in the dedicated annual leave guide.
| Annual leave — 1–5 years of service (5 incl.) | Min. 14 working days |
| Annual leave — over 5, under 15 years | Min. 20 working days |
| Annual leave — 15+ years | Min. 26 working days |
| Employees aged 18 or under / 50 or over | Min. 20 days |
| Marriage / paternity / bereavement leave | 3 / 5 / 3 days |
| Weekly rest | Min. 24 uninterrupted hours |
| Adoption leave | 3 days (Additional art. 2) |
| Care of a disabled or chronically ill child | Up to 10 days/year (Additional art. 2) |
| Maternity leave | 24 weeks — 8 before + 16 after birth (art. 74, since May 2026) |
| Nursing breaks | 1.5 paid hours/day until the child turns 1 (art. 74) |
| Travel leave | Up to 4 days, unpaid (art. 56) |
Frequently asked
Turkish employees earn annual paid leave after one full year of service, probation included: at least 14 working days for 1–5 years of seniority (5 included), 20 for more than 5 and less than 15 years, and 26 for 15 years or more (Labor Law No. 4857, Article 53). Workers aged 18 or under and 50 or over receive at least 20 days regardless of seniority.
Turkish law grants paid excuse leaves for marriage (3 days), the birth of an employee's child (10 days of paternity leave since May 2026), death of a parent, spouse, sibling, or child (3 days), adoption (3 days), and up to 10 days a year for treatment of a severely disabled or chronically ill child (Labor Law No. 4857, Additional Article 2). The weekly rest day and public holidays are also paid. An employee who works on a public holiday earns an extra day's wage for each day worked (Article 47).
Leave pay equals the employee's base salary for the leave period, excluding overtime pay, premiums, and social benefits, and the employer must pay it in advance before the leave begins (Labor Law No. 4857, Article 57).
Unused annual leave never expires while employment continues: it rolls over year to year and cannot be converted to cash during employment. When the contract ends for any reason, the employer pays out every unused day at the employee's final salary rate (Labor Law No. 4857, Article 59), subject to a five-year limitation period from the termination date.
Four statutory groups. The first is annual paid leave of 14–26 days by seniority (art. 53). The second is excuse leave — 3 days for marriage or adoption, 10 days of paternity leave, 3 days on the death of a close family member, and up to 10 days a year for the treatment of a disabled or chronically ill child (supplementary art. 2). The third is the paid weekly rest day, and the fourth is paid national and public holidays.
Turkish annual leave steps up in three tiers: each of the first five service years earns 14 working days. Once seniority exceeds five years — in practice, from the entitlement earned on completing the sixth year — the allowance becomes 20 working days, and from the fifteenth year 26 (Labor Law No. 4857, art. 53). Employees aged 18 or under and 50 or over always receive at least 20 days regardless of seniority. Contracts may grant more, never less.