How many days of annual leave do private-sector employees get in Turkey?
Private-sector employees in Turkey are entitled to paid annual leave under Labor Law No. 4857, Article 53: at least 14 days after 1–5 years of service (year 5 included), 20 days for more than 5 and fewer than 15 years, and 26 days from 15 years on. Employees aged 18 or younger, or 50 or older, get a 20-day minimum.
The Article 53 tiers
Turkey's private sector has no single annual-leave figure — Article 53 of Labor Law No. 4857 sets three seniority-based minimums: 14, 20 and 26 days. Entitlement first arises after one full year of service with the same employer, and the probation period counts toward that year.
The tiers work as follows: 1–5 years of service (year 5 included) earns at least 14 days per year, more than 5 but fewer than 15 years earns at least 20, and 15 years or more earns at least 26. These are statutory floors — an employment contract or collective agreement can grant more, never less. Regardless of seniority, employees aged 18 or younger or 50 or older must receive at least 20 days, and workers in underground jobs get each tier increased by four days (18/24/30) under a clause added to Article 53 by Law No. 6552.
The count also favors the employee: weekly rest days, national holidays and public holidays that fall within the leave period are not deducted from the entitlement (Article 56), so 14 days of leave usually spans more than 14 calendar days.
Private sector vs civil service
Much of the confusion in Turkish sources comes from mixing two regimes. Civil servants are covered by the Civil Servants Law No. 657, Article 102: 20 days of leave for 1–10 years of service (year 10 included) and 30 days beyond 10 years. Those numbers never apply to a private employer — everyone hired under Labor Law No. 4857, white-collar or not, follows the 14/20/26 tiers.
The regimes differ beyond duration. Law No. 657 has no equivalent of Article 56's rule excluding weekends and public holidays from the leave count, so a weekend inside a civil servant's leave stays within it. Carry-over diverges too: a civil servant's unused leave rolls only into the following year and then lapses (Article 103), while a private-sector employee's leave never lapses during employment — on termination, unused days are paid out at the final base gross salary (Article 59), subject to a five-year limitation period.
| Legal basis | Labor Law No. 4857, Article 53 |
| 1–5 years of service (year 5 incl.) | At least 14 days |
| More than 5, fewer than 15 years | At least 20 days |
| 15 years or more | At least 26 days |
| Aged 18 or younger / 50 or older | At least 20 days |
| Underground workers | Each tier +4 days (18/24/30) |
| Civil servants (Law 657, Art. 102) | 1–10 yrs: 20 days · over 10 yrs: 30 days |
| Nature of the durations | Statutory floors — contracts can add |
Frequently asked
Statutory annual leave requires one full year of service with the employer, including any probation period (Labor Law No. 4857, Article 53). Before that anniversary there is no legal entitlement, though an employer may grant leave in advance by agreement.
Under Article 56 of Labor Law No. 4857, weekly rest days, national holidays and public holidays that fall within a leave period are not counted against the annual-leave balance — the absence simply extends around them.
The Article 53 durations are statutory minimums. Contracts and collective agreements routinely grant more. Agreeing to less than the floor is invalid even with the employee's consent.
Unused leave accumulates — Turkish law has no use-it-or-lose-it rule for private-sector employees. When employment ends for any reason, unused days are paid out at the employee's final base gross salary (Labor Law No. 4857, Article 59), and the claim is subject to a five-year limitation period.