Unofficial English translation for information only. In case of discrepancy, the Turkish text prevails. This translation is not legal advice.
Turkish source: Law No. 4857, Official Gazette 10/06/2003, No. 25134. Turkish text as published on mevzuat.gov.tr, checked on 26 October 2026: https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuat?MevzuatNo=4857&MevzuatTur=1&MevzuatTertip=5
CHAPTER ONE – General Provisions
Madde 1 – Purpose and scope
The purpose of this Law is to regulate the rights and obligations of employers and employees employed under an employment contract in relation to working conditions and the working environment.
This Law applies, irrespective of their fields of activity, to all workplaces other than those falling within the exceptions in Article 4, and to the employers, employers’ representatives and employees at those workplaces.
Workplaces, employers, employers’ representatives and employees are bound by the provisions of this Law irrespective of the notification date referred to in Article 3.
Madde 2 – Definitions
A natural person working under an employment contract is called an employee; a natural or legal person, or an institution or organisation without legal personality, employing an employee is called an employer; and the relationship established between an employee and an employer is called an employment relationship. The unit in which the employer organises material and immaterial elements together with the employee for the purpose of producing goods or services is called a workplace.
Places connected, in terms of their nature, with the goods or services produced by the employer at the workplace and organised under the same management (places connected to the workplace), as well as other annexes and equipment such as rest areas, places for breastfeeding, dining areas, sleeping areas, washing facilities, examination and care facilities, physical and vocational training facilities and courtyards, are also deemed to form part of the workplace.
The workplace, places connected to the workplace, annexes and equipment form an integrated whole within the work organisation.
(Added paragraph: 23/7/2010-6009/48 art.; Repealed fourth paragraph: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Persons acting on behalf of the employer and having duties in the management of the work, workplace and enterprise are called the employer’s representatives. The employer is directly liable for the acts and obligations of the employer’s representative, in that capacity, towards employees.
All types of liability and obligations prescribed for the employer under this Act also apply to the employer’s representatives. The status of employer’s representative does not remove the rights and obligations granted to employees.
The relationship established between an employer who takes on work from another employer in auxiliary work relating to the production of goods or services carried out at the workplace, or in a part of the principal work requiring expertise for operational and work-related reasons and technological reasons, and who employs the employees assigned to that work solely on the work taken on at that workplace, and the employer from whom that work is taken on, is called the principal employer-subcontractor relationship. In this relationship, the principal employer is jointly liable with the subcontractor for the subcontractor’s obligations towards its employees concerning that workplace, arising under this Act, the employment contract or the collective agreement to which the subcontractor is a party.
The rights of employees of the principal employer may not be restricted by their being hired by the subcontractor and continuing to work for it, nor may a subcontractor relationship be established with a person previously employed at that workplace. Otherwise, and generally, the principal employer-subcontractor relationship shall be deemed to be based on a sham transaction, and the subcontractor’s employees shall be treated as employees of the principal employer from the outset. The principal work may not be divided and assigned to subcontractors, except for work requiring expertise for operational and work-related reasons and technological reasons.
(Added paragraph: 1/7/2006-5538/18 art.) Persons employed through a contractor under contracts entered into for the purpose of procuring services, within the framework of the Public Procurement Law No. 4734 or other laws, by public institutions and organisations established under a law or a Presidential decree, and by partnerships in which they hold, directly or indirectly, at least fifty per cent of the capital, shall not, on the basis of having worked in this manner;[1]
a) be entitled to appointment to posts or positions belonging to those institutions, organisations and partnerships,
b) be entitled to benefit from any financial rights and social benefits determined under collective agreements, personnel laws or other relevant legislation for employees working in posts or positions at the workplaces of those institutions, organisations and partnerships.
(Added paragraph: 1/7/2006-5538/18 art.) The same provision applies to persons employed at the workplaces referred to in the eighth paragraph by employers other than contractors, and to persons who, having entered into a contract in their own name and on their own account under the procurement legislation applicable to those workplaces, themselves work directly on the work awarded by procurement. The provisions of the eighth paragraph also apply to requests by employees working in posts or positions at partnerships in whose capital the institutions, organisations or partnerships referred to in the eighth paragraph have a holding, for appointment to posts or positions at the public institutions, organisations or partnerships that are partners, or to benefit from the financial rights and social benefits applicable at those institutions, organisations or partnerships. The contracts and specifications forming the basis for service procurement may not include provisions:
a) leaving to public institutions, organisations and partnerships the authority to determine the persons to be hired and to dismiss employees,
b) requiring the continued employment of persons who previously worked at the same workplace under service procurement contracts or as temporary employees.
Madde 3 – Notification of the workplace
An employer who establishes a workplace of a nature falling within the scope of this Law, acquires one by any means, partially or wholly changes its field of activity, or for any reason ceases its activities and closes the workplace, must notify the regional directorate within one month of the workplace’s title and address, the number of employees employed, its field of activity, the date on which the work begins or ends, the employer’s name and surname or title, address, and, if any, the names, surnames and addresses of the employer’s representative or representatives.
(Amended second paragraph: 15/5/2008-5763/1 art.) A subcontractor undertaking work under Article 2, paragraph six of this Law must, for registration of its own workplace, make a notification in accordance with paragraph one, together with the written subcontracting agreement obtained from the principal employer and the necessary documents. Documents relating to this workplace, registered by the regional directorate, shall be examined by labour inspectors when necessary. If the examination establishes that a transaction is a sham, the reasoned inspector’s report concerning this finding shall be served on the employers. The employers may appeal against this report before the competent labour court within thirty working days from the date of service. (Amended fifth sentence: 16/9/2014-6552/1 art.) The case heard following an appeal shall be concluded within four months under the simplified trial procedure. If the court’s decision is appealed, the Court of Cassation shall give a final decision within six months. Public administrations are required to appeal against these reports before the competent labour courts and to pursue other legal remedies against court decisions. If no appeal is made against the report within thirty working days, or if the court upholds the finding that the transaction is a sham, the registration shall be cancelled and the subcontractor’s employees shall be treated as employees of the principal employer from the outset.[2][3]
(Added paragraph: 11/6/2003-4884/10 art.) However, companies’ registration records shall be made on the basis of documents sent by trade registry offices, and those documents shall be sent by the relevant trade registry office to the relevant regional directorates of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security within one month.
(Added paragraph: 15/5/2008-5763/1 art.) The procedures and principles concerning the establishment and notification of a principal employer-subcontractor relationship, the registration of the workplace and other matters required to be included in the agreement to be concluded shall be determined by a regulation issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Madde 4 – Exceptions
The provisions of this Law shall not apply to the following work and employment relationships;
a) work in maritime and air transport,
b) workplaces or enterprises where agricultural and forestry work is performed and fewer than 50 employees are employed (including 50),
c) all kinds of construction work relating to agriculture that falls within the limits of a family economy,
d) work performed in homes involving handicrafts, among members of a family and relatives up to the third degree (including the third degree), with no other person from outside participating,
e) domestic services,
f) apprentices (…)[4],
g) athletes,
h) persons undergoing rehabilitation,
ı) workplaces employing three persons, as defined in Article 2 of the Tradesmen and Craftsmen Law No. 507.
However:
a) loading and unloading work carried out on coasts or at ports and quays, from ships to land and from land to ships,
b) work carried out at all ground facilities of aviation,
c) work performed in workshops and factories where agricultural products are processed or agricultural tools, machinery and parts are manufactured,
d) construction work carried out in agricultural enterprises,
e) work in parks and gardens open to public use or constituting an annex to a workplace,
f) work relating to aquaculture producers working at sea, which does not fall within the scope of the Maritime Labour Law and is not deemed agricultural work,
shall be subject to the provisions of this Law.
Madde 5 – Principle of equal treatment
(Added: 6/2/2014-6518/57 art.) No discrimination may be made in the employment relationship on grounds such as language, race, colour, sex, disability, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion or sect.
Unless there are substantial reasons, an employer may not treat a part-time employee differently from a full-time employee, or a fixed-term employee differently from an indefinite-term employee.
Unless required by biological reasons or reasons relating to the nature of the work, an employer may not directly or indirectly treat an employee differently on grounds of sex or pregnancy in the making, establishment of terms, implementation or termination of an employment contract.
For work of the same or equal value, a lower wage may not be agreed on grounds of sex.
The application of special protective provisions on account of an employee’s sex does not justify the application of a lower wage.
Where the provisions of the paragraphs above are violated during the employment relationship or upon its termination, the employee may claim, in addition to appropriate compensation equal to up to four months’ wages, the rights of which the employee has been deprived. The provisions of Article 31 of Trade Unions Law No. 2821 are reserved.
Without prejudice to Article 20, the employee bears the burden of proving that the employer acted contrary to the provisions of the paragraphs above. However, where the employee presents circumstances strongly indicating the likelihood of a violation, the employer bears the burden of proving that no such violation occurred.
Madde 6 – Transfer of the workplace or a part thereof
Where the workplace or a part thereof is transferred to another person on the basis of a legal transaction, the employment contracts existing at the workplace or part thereof on the date of transfer pass to the transferee together with all their rights and obligations.
For rights based on the employee’s length of service, the transferee employer is required to act by reference to the date on which the employee began working for the transferor employer.
In the event of a transfer under the provisions above, the transferor and transferee employers are jointly liable for debts that arose before the transfer and were payable on the date of transfer. However, the transferor employer’s liability for these obligations is limited to two years from the date of transfer.
The provisions on joint liability do not apply where a legal person ceases to exist as a result of a merger, absorption into another legal person or a change of its legal form.
The transferor or transferee employer may not terminate an employment contract solely on the grounds of the transfer of the workplace or a part thereof, and the transfer does not constitute just cause for termination by the employee. The transferor or transferee employer’s right to terminate where required by economic and technological reasons or a change in the organisation of work, and the rights of employees and employers to terminate immediately for just cause, are reserved.
The provisions above do not apply where the workplace or a part thereof is transferred to another person as a result of the liquidation of assets due to bankruptcy.
Madde 7 – Temporary employment relationship
(Amended: 6/5/2016-6715/1 art.)
A temporary employment relationship may be established through a private employment agency, or by assigning an employee within a holding or to another workplace belonging to the same group of companies.
A temporary employment relationship through a private employment agency may be established by a private employment agency authorised by the Turkish Employment Agency entering into a temporary employee supply agreement with an employer and temporarily transferring one of its employees to that employer, in the following cases:
a) in the cases specified in paragraph five of Article 13 and Article 74 of this Law, during the employee’s military service, and in other cases where the employment contract is suspended,
b) in seasonal agricultural work,
c) in domestic services,
d) in work that is not part of the enterprise’s daily activities and is performed intermittently,
e) in work that is urgent from an occupational health and safety perspective, or where compelling reasons arise that significantly affect production,
f) where the enterprise’s average capacity for producing goods and services increases to an extent requiring a temporary employment relationship and in an unforeseeable manner,
g) in cases of periodic increases in work, excluding seasonal work,
A temporary employee supply agreement may be concluded for the duration of the cases listed in subparagraph (a) of paragraph two; without a time limit in the cases listed in subparagraphs (b) and (c); and for a maximum of four months in the cases listed in the other subparagraphs. Except for agreements under subparagraph (g) of paragraph two, which may not be renewed, this agreement may be renewed no more than twice, provided that its total duration does not exceed eight months. The employer engaging temporary employees may not engage temporary employees again for the same work until six months have elapsed after the end of the specified period.
A temporary employment relationship under paragraph two of this Article may not be established at workplaces where collective dismissal has taken place within the scope of Article 29 of this Law for eight months following that dismissal. Such a relationship may not be established at public institutions and organisations or at workplaces where mining is carried out underground.
During the implementation of a strike or lockout, an employer engaging temporary employees may not employ employees through a temporary employment relationship, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 65 of the Trade Unions and Collective Labour Agreements Law No. 6356 dated 18/10/2012.
The number of employees engaged through a temporary employment relationship under subparagraph (f) of paragraph two may not exceed one quarter of the number of employees employed at the workplace. However, a temporary employment relationship may be established for up to five employees at workplaces employing ten or fewer employees. For determining the number of employees, persons working under part-time employment contracts shall be converted to full-time equivalents, taking their working hours into account. An employee working under a temporary employee supply agreement is not included in the employee count of the private employment agency or the employer engaging temporary employees for the purposes of applying Article 30.
An employer engaging temporary employees may not employ, within a temporary employment relationship, a former employee whose employment contract has been terminated until six months have elapsed from the date of termination.
A temporary employee may not receive an advance or loan from the employer engaging temporary employees, to be set off against the service fee of the private employment agency.
An employer engaging temporary employees:
a) is authorised to give instructions to its temporary employee as required by the work and in accordance with the temporary employee supply agreement.
b) must inform its temporary employee of vacant positions at the workplace and retain, for the periods specified, the documents requested by the Turkish Employment Agency.
c) must immediately notify the private employment agency of cases of occupational accidents and diseases affecting the temporary employee, and notify the relevant authorities in accordance with Articles 13 and 14 of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 dated 31/5/2006.
d) shall ensure that temporary employees benefit from social services at the workplace during the periods they work, in accordance with the principle of equal treatment. During periods when they are not working, temporary employees shall benefit from training and childcare services at the private employment agency.
e) must inform the workplace trade union representative, if any, of information concerning the employment status of temporary employees at the workplace.
f) must provide the training stipulated in paragraph six of Article 17 of the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 dated 20/6/2012 and take the measures required for occupational health and safety; the temporary employee must also attend this training.
During the period of work at the workplace of the employer engaging the temporary employee, the temporary employee’s basic working conditions may not be less favourable than the conditions that would be provided if those employees were directly employed by the same employer for the same work.
In a temporary employment relationship, the employer is the private employment agency. A temporary employment relationship through a private employment agency shall be established in writing by means of an employment contract with the temporary employee and a temporary employee supply agreement with the employer engaging temporary employees. The temporary employee supply agreement between the private employment agency and the employer engaging temporary employees shall specify the agreement’s commencement and end dates, the nature of the work, the private employment agency’s service fee and, if any, the special obligations of the employer engaging temporary employees and the private employment agency. No provision may be included that prevents the temporary employee from obtaining services from the Turkish Employment Agency or another private employment agency, or from working at the workplace of the employer for whom the employee worked as a temporary employee or of a different employer after performing the work. The employment contract with the temporary employee shall specify the period after which, if the employee is not called to work, the employee may terminate the employment contract for just cause. This period may not exceed three months.
In a temporary employment relationship established under subparagraph (f) of paragraph two, the employer engaging temporary employees must check each month during the period of work whether the wages of temporary employees who have worked at its workplace for more than one month have been paid; the private employment agency must submit to that employer, monthly, documents showing that the wages have been paid. If any wages remain unpaid, the employer engaging temporary employees shall, until they are paid, pay directly into the employees’ bank accounts the wages of the temporary employees for a period of up to three months, without paying the private employment agency’s receivable and setting off those wages against that receivable. The employer engaging temporary employees shall notify the provincial directorate of labour and employment of the employees whose wages have not been paid and the amount of unpaid wages.
If the temporary employment relationship continues after expiry of the period specified in the agreement, an indefinite-term employment contract shall be deemed to have been concluded between the employer engaging temporary employees and the employee from the date on which the agreement expired. In that case, the private employment agency is liable for the employee’s wages arising from the temporary employment relationship, its duty of care towards the employee and social insurance contributions, limited to the term of the agreement.
The temporary employee is liable to the employer engaging temporary employees for damage caused through the employee’s fault, insofar as it relates to the workplace and the work.
A temporary employment relationship is also established where an employer, having obtained the employee’s written consent at the time of transfer, temporarily transfers one of its employees to perform work within a holding or at another workplace belonging to the same group of companies. A temporary employment relationship under this paragraph may be established in writing for a period not exceeding six months and may be renewed no more than twice. The employer temporarily transferring its employee remains obliged to pay wages. The employer with which the temporary employment relationship is established is jointly liable with the transferor employer for unpaid wages for the period during which the employee works for it, its duty of care towards the employee and social insurance contributions. Paragraphs four, five, ten and fourteen, subparagraphs (a) and (f) of paragraph nine, and the first sentence of subparagraph (d) of paragraph nine also apply to a temporary employment relationship established under this paragraph.
Notes
[1] By Article 145 of Decree-Law No. 700 dated 2/7/2018, the phrase “under the authority granted by law” in this paragraph was amended to read “by Presidential decree”.
[2] By Article 1 of Law No. 6552 dated 10/9/2014, the phrase “six working days” in this paragraph was amended to read “thirty working days”.
[3] Although Article 1 of Law No. 6552 dated 10/9/2014 provided for the fifth sentence of this paragraph to be amended, it has been incorporated into the text in place of the provision consisting of two sentences.
[4] By Article 37 of Law No. 6331 dated 20/6/2012, the phrase “Subject to the provisions on occupational health and safety” in this subparagraph was removed from the text of the article.