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 FIVE – Occupational Health and Safety
Madde 77 – Employers’ and employees’ obligations
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 78 – Occupational health and safety regulations[26]
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 79 – Suspension of work or closure of the workplace
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 80 – Occupational health and safety committee
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 81 – Occupational health and safety services[27]
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 82 – Engineers or technical staff responsible for occupational safety
(Repealed: 15/5/2008-5763/37 art.)
Madde 83 – Employees’ rights
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 84 – Prohibition on the use of alcohol or narcotic substances
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 85 – Heavy and dangerous work
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 86 – Medical reports for heavy and dangerous work
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 87 – Medical reports for employees under eighteen years of age
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 88 – Regulations concerning pregnant or breastfeeding women
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 89 – Various regulations
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
CHAPTER SIX – Finding Jobs and Employees
Madde 90 – Intermediation in finding jobs and employees
The function of placing jobseekers in suitable jobs and of arranging for suitable employees to be found for various jobs shall be performed by the Turkish Employment Agency and private employment agencies authorised for this purpose.
CHAPTER SEVEN – Supervision and Inspection of Working Life
Madde 91 – State authority
The State monitors, supervises and inspects the implementation of legislation relating to working life. This duty is carried out by labour inspectors, attached to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, who are authorised to inspect and supervise and are sufficient in number and suitably qualified to meet the need.
(Added paragraph: 13/2/2011-6111/77 art.; Amended paragraph: 12/10/2017-7036/13 art.) Upon applications by employees concerning their individual claims arising from the law, employment contracts or collective employment agreements, action may be taken pursuant to the first paragraph, provided that the employment contract remains in force.
The inspection and supervision of military workplaces and workplaces producing materials necessary for national security, and procedures relating to the matters and results of such inspection and supervision, shall be carried out in accordance with a regulation to be jointly prepared by the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Madde 92 – Competent authorities and officials[28]
For the purposes of implementing Article 91, labour inspectors responsible for monitoring, supervising and inspecting working life are authorised, in accordance with the principles set out in Article 93, to see, investigate and examine workplaces and their annexes, the manner in which work is carried out and related documents, tools and equipment, devices and machinery, raw and processed materials, and materials required for the work at such times as necessary, and facilities and arrangements relating to employees’ life, health, safety, training, rest or sitting and sleeping at any time; and, where they encounter acts classified as offences under this Act, to prevent them in the manner specified in a regulation issued by the President of the Republic.[29]
(Amended second paragraph: 13/2/2011-6111/78 art.) During inspections, supervision and examinations, employers, employees and other persons considered relevant to the matter shall, when summoned by the labour inspectors (…)28 responsible for monitoring, supervising and inspecting, attend, give statements and information, bring, produce and provide the necessary documents and evidence, show every kind of assistance to the labour inspectors in carrying out the duties set out in the first paragraph, and comply without delay with their requests in this regard.
(Amended third paragraph: 13/2/2011-6111/78 art.) Records drawn up by labour inspectors (…)28 authorised to monitor, supervise and inspect working life are valid until proved otherwise. Either party may, within thirty days, object before the competent labour court to the parts of reports drawn up and records kept by labour inspectors that concern employees’ claims. Either party may appeal against the labour court’s decision by the legal remedies provided for in Article 8 of Law No. 5521. An appeal shall not prevent the collection of an employee’s claim awarded by the labour court.
Madde 93 – Duties of competent officials
When performing their duties, labour inspectors authorised to monitor, supervise and inspect working life shall, having regard to the nature of the matter under examination, avoid as far as possible disrupting, stopping or impeding the normal course of work and the operation of the workplace; shall keep strictly confidential, unless disclosure is necessary for the conduct and conclusion of official proceedings, any matters they see or learn concerning the employer’s and workplace’s trade secrets and conditions, and economic and commercial circumstances; and shall not disclose the names or identities of employees or other persons whose statements or information they have taken, who have applied to them or who have made reports to them.
Madde 94 – Exemption
Where employees, employers or their professional organisations apply in writing to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in matters concerning them and relating to working life, those applications and the related records, documents, books and proceedings shall be exempt from stamp duty and all kinds of duties and charges.
Madde 95 – Inspections carried out by other authorities
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 96 – Liability of employees and employers
Employers are prohibited from directly or indirectly prompting employees whose statements or information have been sought by labour inspectors authorised to supervise and inspect work, from inducing or in any way compelling employees to conceal or alter the truth, and from treating employees adversely because they have applied to the relevant authorities or provided information or statements.
Employees are prohibited from engaging in bad-faith conduct, such as burdening employers with unnecessary proceedings by providing untruthful reports about workplaces where they work or have worked, or about their employers, or attempting to place their employers in an unjustly adverse position; and hindering an inspection or supervision, or causing it to reach an incorrect conclusion, by giving untruthful answers to questions put to them by labour inspectors.
Madde 97 – Assistance by law enforcement authorities
In order to ensure the full and proper implementation of this Act, where labour inspectors authorised to inspect and supervise workplaces consider such assistance necessary and request it, law enforcement authorities shall provide every kind of assistance to enable those labour inspectors to perform their duties properly.
CHAPTER EIGHT – Administrative Penalty Provisions
Madde 98 – Breach of the obligation to notify the workplace
(Amended first paragraph: 15/5/2008-5763/8 art.) An employer or employer’s representative who breaches the obligation to notify the workplace under the first and second paragraphs of Article 3 of this Act shall be subject to an administrative fine of one hundred New Turkish liras for each employee employed; (…)[30] an administrative fine of ten thousand New Turkish liras shall be imposed separately on the principal employer and subcontractor, or their representatives, who notify the workplace under the second paragraph of Article 3 on the basis of a sham arrangement.
If the breach of the notification obligation continues after this administrative fine becomes final, the same amount of fine shall be imposed for each subsequent month.
Madde 99 – Breach of general provisions
(Amended: 6/5/2016-6715/4 art.)
The following administrative fines shall be imposed under this Act:
a) An employer or employer’s representative who breaches the principles and obligations set out in Article 5 shall be subject to an administrative fine of one hundred and fifty Turkish liras for each employee concerned.
b) An employer or employer’s representative who employs temporary employees in breach of the principles and obligations set out in Article 7 shall be subject to an administrative fine of two hundred and fifty Turkish liras for each employee concerned.
c) An employer or employer’s representative who fails to give the employee the document referred to in the last paragraph of Article 8, or acts in breach of the provisions of Article 14, shall be subject to an administrative fine of one hundred and fifty Turkish liras for each employee concerned.
d) An employer or employer’s representative who acts in breach of the obligation to issue a certificate of employment under Article 28, or enters false information in that certificate, shall be subject to an administrative fine of one hundred and fifty Turkish liras for each employee concerned.
An employer or employer’s representative who acts in breach of subparagraph (f) of the second paragraph of Article 7 shall be subject to the fine specified in subparagraph (b) of the first paragraph, increased by four times its amount.
Madde 100 – Breach of provisions concerning collective dismissal
An employer or employer’s representative who dismisses employees in breach of the provisions of Article 29 of this Law shall be subject to an administrative fine of four hundred and fifty Turkish liras for each employee dismissed.[31]
Madde 101 – Breach of the obligation to employ persons with disabilities and former convicts[32]
An employer or employer’s representative who fails to employ persons with disabilities and former convicts in breach of the provisions of Article 30 of this Law shall be subject to an administrative fine of one thousand seven hundred Turkish liras for each person with a disability or former convict whom the employer is required but fails to employ, for each month of non-employment. Public institutions shall in no way be exempt from this fine.[33]
Madde 102 – Breach of provisions concerning wages[34]
Under this Law, the following administrative fines
a) (Amended: 17/4/2008-5754/85 art.) an administrative fine of one hundred and twenty-five Turkish liras for each employee concerned and for each month on an employer, employer’s representative or third party who intentionally fails to pay, or underpays, within the prescribed period the wage referred to in Article 32 or wage payments due to the employee under this Law, a collective employment agreement or an employment contract; who fails to pay, or underpays, to the employee the minimum wage determined by the commission referred to in Article 39; or who, despite being required to do so, fails to pay wages, premiums, bonuses and all other entitlements of this nature into a specially opened bank account;
b) an administrative fine of four hundred and fifty Turkish liras on an employer or employer’s representative who fails to prepare a wage statement in breach of Article 37, imposes a wage deduction penalty on employees in breach of Article 38, fails to notify the reason for and calculation of a wage deduction made, or fails to provide the document referred to in Article 52;
c) an administrative fine of two hundred and twenty Turkish liras for each employee concerned on an employer or employer’s representative who fails to pay the wages for overtime work referred to in Article 41, fails to allow the employee to take the compensatory time to which they are entitled within six months, or fails to obtain the employee’s consent for work beyond normal working hours;
shall be imposed.
Madde 103 – Breach of provisions on annual paid leave
An employer or employer’s representative who divides annual paid leave in breach of Article 56 of this Law; pays leave pay contrary to the procedure set out in the third and fourth paragraphs of Article 57 or underpays it; fails to pay, on termination of the employment contract without the employee having taken the accrued leave referred to in Article 59, the pay for that leave; or fails to grant leave, or grants insufficient leave, contrary to the principles and procedures of the regulation referred to in Article 60 shall be subject to an administrative fine of two hundred and twenty Turkish liras for each employee concerned.[35]
Madde 104 – Breach of provisions concerning the organisation of work[36]
An employer or employer’s representative who employs employees in breach of the working hours prescribed in Article 63 of this Law and the regulation referred to therein; fails to apply the rest breaks under Article 68 in accordance with that Article; employs employees for more than seven and a half hours at night in breach of Article 69; fails to change night and day shifts; acts in breach of Article 71 and the provisions of the regulation referred to in the last paragraph of that Article; employs male children and young males under eighteen years of age, and women of any age, in the places specified in Article 72 in breach of that Article; employs child and young employees at night in breach of Article 73 or acts in breach of the provisions of the regulation referred to therein; employs pregnant or recently delivered women during the periods before and after childbirth in breach of Article 74, or fails to grant unpaid leave; fails to prepare the employee personnel files referred to in Article 75; or fails to comply with the provisions of the regulation referred to in Article 76 shall be subject to an administrative fine of one thousand two hundred Turkish liras.[37]
An employer or employer’s representative who acts in breach of the provisions set out in Article 64 (…)[38] shall be subject to an administrative fine of two hundred and twenty Turkish liras for each employee concerned.
Madde 105 – Breach of provisions concerning occupational health and safety
(Repealed: 20/6/2012-6331/37 art.)
Madde 106 – Breach of provisions on employment and recruitment
An employer operating without obtaining the authorisation provided for in Article 90 of this Law shall be subject to a fine of one billion liras.
Madde 107 – Breach of provisions concerning the supervision and inspection of working life
(Amended: 23/1/2008-5728/500 art.)
An employer or employer’s representative who, under this Law,
a) fails to fulfil the obligations set out in the second paragraph of Article 92, or
b) fails to comply with the prohibitions in Article 96,
shall be subject to an administrative fine of eight thousand Turkish liras.
Any person who obstructs labour inspectors in performing or completing their duties in the exercise of any inspection and supervision powers and duties arising under this Law or other laws shall, unless the act constitutes an offence, be subject to an administrative fine of eight thousand Turkish liras.
Madde 108 – Matters concerning the imposition of administrative fines
(Amended:10/7/2025-7553/10 art.)
The administrative fines provided for in this Law shall be imposed by the provincial director of the Labour and Employment Agency, with the reasons stated. Administrative fines to be imposed under Articles 101 and 106 on employers with workplaces in more than one province shall be imposed by the provincial director of the Labour and Employment Agency where the employers’ head office is located. Administrative fines imposed under Articles 101 and 106 shall be collected in accordance with the general provisions. For the administrative fine to be imposed under Article 106, the amounts set out in Article 20 of the Law No. 4904 of 25/6/2003 on Certain Regulations Concerning the Turkish Employment Agency shall apply.
Notes
[29] By Article 145 of Decree-Law No. 700 dated 2/7/2018, the phrase “in the Labour Inspection Statute to be issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security” in this paragraph was amended to read “in the regulation issued by the President of the Republic”.
[30] By Article 37 of Law No. 6331 dated 20/6/2012, the phrase “in workplaces within the scope of Article 85, one thousand New Turkish liras for each employee employed” in this paragraph was removed from the text of the article.
[31] By Article 17 of Law No. 6270 dated 17/1/2012, the phrase “a fine of two hundred million liras” in this paragraph was amended to read “an administrative fine of four hundred and fifty Turkish liras”.
[33] By Article 17 of Law No. 6270 dated 17/1/2012, the phrase “a fine of seven hundred and fifty million liras” in this paragraph was amended to read “an administrative fine of one thousand seven hundred Turkish liras”.
[35] By Article 17 of Law No. 6270 dated 17/1/2012, the phrase “a fine of one hundred million liras” in this paragraph was amended to read “an administrative fine of two hundred and twenty Turkish liras”.
[37] By Article 39 of Law No. 6645 dated 4/4/2015, the phrase “and the provisions of the regulation referred to in the final paragraph of this article” was added after the phrase “the provisions of Article 71” in this paragraph.
[38] By Article 35 of Law No. 6645 dated 4/4/2015, the phrase “and 65” in this paragraph was removed from the text of the article.