This guide covers the Turkish employment law framework as it applies to foreign nationals: the mandatory nature of Labour Law No. 4857, the rules governing employment contracts, the work permit regime under Law No. 6735, statutory leave entitlements, social security obligations and the bilateral agreements that can avoid double contributions, the termination framework and severance calculation, job security and reinstatement rights, the mandatory mediation requirement, and how governing law clauses actually operate in cross-border employment relationships.
Turkish labour law applies to foreign nationals working in Turkey in substantially the same way it applies to Turkish citizens. This is a point that foreign employees frequently underestimate, and one that foreign employers operating in Turkey frequently discover only when a claim is brought. The protections the law creates are mandatory, they cannot be reduced by contract, and they apply regardless of the employee's nationality or the employer's place of incorporation.
At Bayraktar Attorneys, we act exclusively for foreign nationals in Turkey, and employment law is one of our core practice areas. We advise both foreign employees on their statutory entitlements and foreign-owned companies on structuring compliant employment relationships in Turkey.
Turkish Labour Law No. 4857, which came into force on 10 June 2003, is the primary statute governing employment relationships in Turkey. It applies to workplaces and employers in all sectors, with limited exceptions for certain categories of work such as maritime employment, governed by Maritime Labour Law No. 854, and press employment, governed by Press Labour Law No. 5953.
For foreign nationals employed in Turkey, Law No. 4857 applies in full unless a specific exception or bilateral social security agreement provides otherwise. The law does not distinguish between Turkish and foreign national employees with respect to the substantive employment rights it creates. A foreign national holding a valid work permit and employed in Turkey has the same statutory employment rights as a Turkish citizen in the same position.
Under Article 8 of Law No. 4857, employment contracts do not generally need to be in writing to be valid. An oral employment contract creates the same statutory obligations for both parties as a written one. However, where the contract is for a fixed term (belirli sureli is sozlesmesi) or has a duration of one year or more, a written contract is mandatory.
In practice, we strongly recommend that all employment contracts be in writing, for the straightforward reason that a written contract is evidence of its own terms. In a dispute about working hours, remuneration, or the scope of duties, the party without written evidence is at a structural disadvantage.
Turkish labour law draws a critical distinction between fixed-term and indefinite-term employment contracts, and the conditions under which a fixed-term contract may be used are strict.
Under Article 11 of Law No. 4857, a fixed-term contract may only be used where the work itself is of a fixed-term nature, such as a specific project, seasonal work, or a temporary replacement for an absent employee. A fixed-term contract used repeatedly, or used for work that is not genuinely temporary, is treated as an indefinite-term contract by operation of law. This is a frequent area of dispute between employers and employees in Turkey.
| Feature | Fixed-Term Contract | Indefinite-Term Contract |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Article 11, Law No. 4857 | Article 8, Law No. 4857 |
| When permitted | Only where work is genuinely temporary (project, season, substitution) | The default form for all ongoing employment |
| Notice period on termination | Not required; the contract expires at the end of the term | Mandatory, 2 to 8 weeks depending on length of service |
| Severance pay | Not payable on expiry; payable if terminated early by the employer without cause | Payable after 1 year of service |
| Job security protections | Generally not applicable | Applicable in workplaces with 30 or more employees after 2 years of service |
| Renewal | Limited; repeated renewal converts the contract to indefinite-term by operation of law | Continues until terminated |
Where a written contract is used, it should as a minimum specify:
Under Article 15 of Law No. 4857, employment contracts may include a probation period of up to two months. During the probation period, either party may terminate the contract without notice and without payment of severance. The probation period may be extended to four months by a collective bargaining agreement. It cannot be extended beyond two months by an individual employment contract.
The standard maximum working week under Article 63 of Law No. 4857 is 45 hours, spread over a maximum of 11 hours per day. Work in excess of 45 hours per week constitutes overtime and is subject to a premium rate of at least 1.5 times the regular hourly rate. Alternatively, at the employee's election, the employee may take 1.5 hours of compensatory rest for each overtime hour worked.
Certain categories of worker are subject to different working time rules, including workers in managerial positions, on-call workers, and workers in specific sectors such as healthcare, transport, and hospitality.
Turkey sets a national minimum wage, reviewed and updated by a tripartite commission, the Minimum Wage Determination Commission. The minimum wage is expressed in gross terms and applies to all workers in Turkey regardless of nationality, sector, or workplace size. No employment contract may set a salary below the current minimum wage, and a contract that purports to do so is corrected to the statutory minimum by operation of law.
The requirement for a work permit is one of the most fundamental legal obligations for foreign nationals working in Turkey, and non-compliance carries consequences for both the employee and the employer. The legal framework is set out in the International Labour Force Law (Law No. 6735), which came into force in 2016 and replaced the earlier Law No. 4817.
With limited exceptions, every foreign national who works in Turkey in any capacity, whether as an employee, an independent contractor, or a manager of their own company, requires a work permit issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The permit is required before the work begins, not after.
The most important exemptions from the standard work permit requirement are set out in Article 48 of the Implementing Regulation under Law No. 6735. These include:
One of the most important practical constraints in the Turkish work permit system is the requirement that, for each foreign national employed, the sponsoring employer must have at least five Turkish employees on its payroll. This ratio is verified by the Ministry and is applied at the renewal stage.
The implications of this rule are significant:
| Type | Duration | Key Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Standard work permit | Up to 1 year initially | Employer-sponsored; minimum capital and Turkish employee ratio requirements apply |
| Extended work permit | Up to 3 years | Available after 1 year of continuous legal employment with the same employer |
| Indefinite work permit | Indefinite | Available after 8 years of continuous legal work in Turkey |
| Independent work permit | Up to 1 year, renewable | For self-employed foreign nationals; higher capital and qualification requirements |
| Work permit exemption | Up to passport validity minus 60 days | For qualifying categories under Article 48; also serves as a residence permit |
| Turquoise Card | Permanent | For highly qualified foreign nationals; granted at Ministry discretion; no employer sponsorship required |
The standard work permit application for a foreign national already in Turkey is filed online through the e-izin system by the employer. The application must be accompanied by a set of mandatory documents, including the employment contract, the employer's tax registration and social security records, the employee's passport and educational credentials, and a biometric photograph.
Processing typically takes two to six weeks. During this period, the foreign national may remain in Turkey on their existing visa or residence permit but may not begin working until the permit is formally issued.
For foreign nationals applying from abroad, the application is made to the Turkish consulate in their country of residence, which forwards the file to the Ministry. The Ministry's decision is then communicated back through the consulate.
Foreign nationals employed in Turkey are entitled to the same statutory leave rights as Turkish employees. These are minimum entitlements; the employment contract may improve on them but cannot reduce them.
| Type of Leave | Statutory Entitlement | Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Annual paid leave | Minimum 14 days after 1 year of service; 20 days after 5 years; 26 days after 15 years | Article 53, Law No. 4857 |
| Public holidays | Approximately 14.5 days per year, comprising national and religious holidays | Law No. 2429 |
| Sick leave | Paid by SGK from the third day of incapacity; the employer covers the first two days | Law No. 5510 |
| Maternity leave | 16 weeks total: 8 weeks before and 8 weeks after birth, paid by SGK | Article 74, Law No. 4857 |
| Paternity leave | 5 working days of paid leave | Article 46 and supplementary provisions, Law No. 4857 |
| Marriage leave | 3 working days | Supplementary Article 2, Law No. 4857 |
| Bereavement leave | 3 working days for the death of a first-degree relative, spouse, or sibling | Supplementary Article 2, Law No. 4857 |
| Breastfeeding leave | 1.5 hours per day for up to 1 year after birth | Article 74, Law No. 4857 |
Annual leave cannot be replaced by a cash payment while the employment relationship continues. Unused annual leave must, however, be paid out on termination of the contract, calculated at the rate applicable at the time of payment. The employer is required to keep accurate records of leave taken, and in a dispute the absence of proper records generally operates against the employer.
Social security registration and contribution payment is mandatory for all employees working legally in Turkey, including foreign nationals. The Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law (Law No. 5510) governs the system, which is administered by the Social Security Institution (Sosyal Guvenlik Kurumu, SGK).
| Contribution Type | Employee Rate | Employer Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-term insurance (pension) | 9 percent | 11 percent | 20 percent |
| Short-term insurance (work accident and occupational disease) | None | 1 to 6.5 percent, depending on sector | Varies by sector |
| General health insurance | 5 percent | 7.5 percent | 12.5 percent |
| Unemployment insurance | 1 percent | 2 percent | 3 percent |
| Approximate total | Around 14 percent | Around 20.5 percent and above | Around 34.5 percent and above |
Contributions are calculated on the employee's gross salary, subject to a minimum base equal to the minimum wage and a maximum base updated regularly by the SGK. Earnings above the maximum base do not attract further contributions.
Turkey has concluded bilateral social security agreements with a number of countries. Where such an agreement exists between Turkey and the employee's home country, the employee may be exempt from contributing to the Turkish SGK system, or from contributing to their home country's system, during the period of employment in Turkey. The agreements most commonly relevant to our foreign national clients include those with Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and a number of other European countries.
The existence of a bilateral agreement does not mean SGK contributions are automatically waived. The employee must apply for a certificate of coverage from their home country's social security authority, confirming that they remain covered by their home country's system during the Turkish assignment. This certificate must be produced to the Turkish employer and registered with the SGK.
The termination of an employment contract in Turkey is one of the most heavily regulated and legally consequential areas of Turkish labour law. Errors by either party in the termination process can result in significant financial liability. For foreign nationals, understanding this framework matters both as employees and, where they own or manage Turkish companies, as employers.
An employer may terminate an indefinite-term employment contract by giving the employee the applicable statutory notice period. The minimum statutory notice periods under Article 17 of Law No. 4857 are:
The employer may pay the employee in lieu of notice instead of requiring them to work through the notice period. The notice periods may be improved upon by the employment contract but cannot be reduced.
Under Article 25 of Law No. 4857, an employer may terminate the contract immediately and without notice in the following circumstances:
The right to terminate without notice on grounds of misconduct is subject to a strict time limit: the employer must exercise this right within six working days of learning of the grounds for dismissal, and in any event within one year of the events giving rise to the dismissal. An employer who does not act within the six-day window loses the right to dismiss summarily on that ground.
An employee may terminate the contract with notice by giving the applicable statutory notice period. An employee is entitled to terminate the contract immediately and without notice, and to claim severance pay, where the employer has committed a fundamental breach of the employment relationship, including:
Severance pay (kidem tazminati) is one of the most significant financial obligations in Turkish employment law. It is payable to an employee who has completed at least one year of continuous service with the same employer and whose contract is terminated in circumstances giving rise to entitlement.
The amount is calculated at 30 days of the employee's last gross salary for each completed year of service, subject to an annually updated statutory ceiling. Partial years count on a pro rata basis.
Severance pay is payable where:
Severance pay is not payable where the employee resigns without just cause, or where the employer terminates for serious misconduct under Article 25/II.
Turkish law provides a significant additional protection known as job security (is guvencesi) for employees who meet all of the following criteria:
An employee meeting all of these criteria who is dismissed without valid cause may apply to a labour mediator and, if mediation fails, to the labour court, for reinstatement. If the court finds the dismissal unjustified, the employer must either reinstate the employee within one month or pay additional compensation of between four and eight months' salary, in addition to the salary for the period of unemployment during the proceedings, up to four months.
The claim must be brought within one month of the termination date. Where the employment contract or collective bargaining agreement provides for arbitration of job security claims, the dispute proceeds to arbitration rather than court.
Since 1 January 2018, mediation has been a mandatory precondition for filing labour claims in Turkey. Under the Mediation in Civil Disputes Law (Law No. 6325), as amended by Law No. 7036, an employee or employer wishing to bring a labour claim must first file an application with a registered labour mediator and complete the mediation process before a court claim can be accepted.
A labour court claim filed without the mandatory mediation certificate is rejected on procedural grounds. The limitation period for the underlying claim is suspended during the mediation process.
| Claim | Limitation Period | Runs From |
|---|---|---|
| Severance pay and notice pay | 5 years | Termination of employment |
| Annual leave pay | 5 years | Termination of employment |
| Overtime pay | 5 years | The date each payment fell due |
| Wages (monthly salary) | 5 years | The date each payment fell due |
| Reinstatement claim (job security) | 1 month | The termination date; strictly enforced |
The question of which country's law governs an employment relationship with an international dimension is more complex than it first appears. Turkish private international law, governed primarily by Law No. 5718 on International Private Law and Procedural Law, provides the framework for resolving these conflicts.
Parties to an employment contract with an international element may agree on the law that will govern the contract. However, under Article 27 of Law No. 5718, such a choice of law cannot deprive the employee of the protection of the mandatory rules of the law that would have applied in the absence of a choice. In practice this means:
A foreign national working in Turkey may be subject to another country's law in defined situations:
Where a foreign national is sent to Turkey on a temporary assignment by a foreign employer that has no Turkish legal entity, the assignment may be structured to preserve the home country employment relationship while creating a supplementary arrangement for the Turkish period. In this structure the foreign employer remains the legal employer, Turkish labour law may nonetheless apply to day-to-day employment conditions depending on the duration and nature of the work, social security obligations depend on whether a bilateral agreement is in place, and a work permit exemption under Article 48 may be available for shorter assignments.
Foreign nationals residing in Turkey for more than six months in a calendar year are generally treated as Turkish tax residents and are subject to Turkish income tax on their worldwide income. Social security contributions are payable in addition to income tax. Understanding resident tax in Turkey is essential to remaining compliant, and the residence test should be assessed at the outset of any assignment rather than discovered at the end of the tax year.
10.1. Does Turkish labour law apply to me if my employer is a foreign company?
It depends on the circumstances. If you are physically working in Turkey on a regular and ongoing basis, Turkish labour law will generally apply to your employment regardless of whether your employer is a Turkish or foreign company. A choice of law clause designating a foreign law cannot deprive you of the mandatory protections Turkish law provides. If your assignment is genuinely short-term and your home country has a bilateral social security agreement with Turkey, some of the social security obligations may be governed by your home country's system.
10.2. Can I be dismissed without severance pay?
Severance pay is not payable in every termination scenario. It is not payable if you resign without just cause, or if you are dismissed for serious misconduct under Article 25/II of Law No. 4857, such as fraud, assault, or persistent unauthorised absence. It is payable if you are dismissed without just cause, if you resign for just cause due to the employer's breach, on retirement, on death, or for military service. Where severance is owed, the calculation is 30 days of gross salary per completed year of service, subject to the statutory ceiling.
10.3. What is the minimum notice period for termination in Turkey?
Under Article 17 of Law No. 4857, the minimum statutory notice periods for indefinite-term contracts are two weeks for less than six months of service, four weeks for six to eighteen months, six weeks for eighteen months to three years, and eight weeks for more than three years. These are minimums, and your contract may provide for longer periods. Either party may pay or receive payment in lieu of notice.
10.4. Do I have to pay SGK contributions if I already pay social security at home?
If your home country has a bilateral social security agreement with Turkey, you may be able to avoid double contributions. You will need to obtain a certificate of coverage from your home country's social security authority confirming that you remain insured there, and register this certificate with your Turkish employer and the SGK. Without this certificate, contributions are mandatory in Turkey regardless of what you pay at home, and you will pay twice for the same period.
10.5. Is mediation mandatory before I can sue my employer?
Yes. Since 1 January 2018, mediation is a mandatory precondition for all labour claims in Turkey. You must file an application with a registered mediator and either reach a settlement or receive a certificate of non-agreement before you can file a court claim. A claim filed without this certificate is rejected on procedural grounds. The mediation process typically takes three to four weeks.
10.6. I am being dismissed after 2.5 years and my employer has more than 30 staff. Do I have job security rights?
Yes, you almost certainly qualify for job security protection. Employees on indefinite-term contracts with at least two years of service, working for an employer with 30 or more employees, are entitled to challenge an unjust dismissal. You must apply to a mediator within one month of the termination date. If the dismissal is found unjust, the employer must reinstate you or pay additional compensation of four to eight months' salary, on top of your other termination entitlements.
10.7. Can my employer use a fixed-term contract to avoid paying severance?
Not legitimately. Turkish law restricts the use of fixed-term contracts to genuinely temporary work. Where a fixed-term contract is used for work that is not temporary in nature, or where it is renewed repeatedly, it is treated as an indefinite-term contract by operation of law. If your employer has used a fixed-term structure in circumstances where the work is not genuinely temporary, you may have the same rights as an indefinite-term employee, including severance pay and, where applicable, job security protections.
10.8. What happens if my employer does not pay my wages on time?
Under Article 34 of Law No. 4857, if wages are not paid within 20 days of the due date without justified reason, you have the right to refrain from working until wages are paid, without losing your entitlement to wages for that period. You also acquire the right to terminate the contract for just cause and claim severance pay, regardless of your length of service. Late wage payments additionally attract statutory interest.
10.9. Can I apply for a work permit after arriving in Turkey on a tourist visa?
Generally no. To apply from within Turkey, you need a residence permit valid for at least six months, and obtaining that permit is itself a demanding process. The more reliable route is to apply for the work permit through the Turkish consulate in your own country and enter Turkey with the permit already issued. Arriving on a visa and expecting to regularise the position from inside Turkey is the single most common planning error we see.
10.10. Does my employment contract have to be in Turkish?
A contract in a foreign language is enforceable in Turkey, but it may create practical difficulties in court or administrative proceedings where the meaning of a term is disputed. We recommend a bilingual contract in English and Turkish with a clear governing language clause. This avoids the risk that a disputed term is interpreted from a translation prepared by the opposing party during proceedings.
Turkish employment law grants foreign nationals the same substantive protections it grants Turkish employees, and those protections are mandatory. They cannot be reduced by contract, they are not displaced by a foreign governing law clause, and they apply whether the employer is Turkish or foreign. For foreign employees, this is a significant source of security that many are unaware of. For foreign employers operating in Turkey, it is a compliance framework that must be built into the employment structure from the outset rather than addressed after a claim arises.
The areas where we see the most avoidable loss are consistent: work permit applications sequenced incorrectly, certificates of coverage not obtained under bilateral social security agreements, severance calculated on basic salary rather than the full remuneration package, and reinstatement claims lost to the one-month deadline. Each of these is resolved by taking advice at the right moment, which is generally earlier than most parties assume.
Beyond employment, foreign nationals in Turkey commonly need to address obtaining a residence permit and dealing with the Turkish tax office during their stay, and these matters interact directly with employment status.
At Bayraktar Attorneys, we act exclusively for foreign nationals in Turkey. We advise on employment contracts and assignment structures, work permit applications and exemptions, social security positioning under bilateral agreements, termination and severance calculation, and the full range of employment disputes including mediation and labour court proceedings. Whether you are an employee assessing your position or a company structuring employment in Turkey, contact an experienced attorney for foreigners at our Istanbul office for a confidential consultation.
This article is prepared for general information purposes and reflects the legal position as at the date of publication. Statutory ceilings, minimum wage levels, SGK contribution bases, and the list of countries with bilateral social security agreements are updated periodically and should be confirmed at the relevant time. This article does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon without examination of the specific facts of your situation.
