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 THREE – Wages
Madde 32 – Wage and payment of wages
In the general sense, a wage is an amount paid in money to a person by an employer or third parties in return for work.
(Amended second paragraph: 17/4/2008-5754/85 art.) As a rule, wages, bonuses, premiums and all kinds of entitlements of this nature shall be paid in Turkish currency, at the workplace or into a bank account opened specifically for that purpose. If wages, bonuses, premiums and all kinds of entitlements of this nature have been agreed in foreign currency, payment may be made in Turkish currency at the exchange rate prevailing on the payment date. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of State responsible for the Treasury Undersecretariat are jointly authorised to require employers or third parties to pay the wages, bonuses, premiums and all kinds of entitlements of this nature of the employees they employ into bank accounts opened specifically for that purpose, taking into account such factors as the type of tax liability to which they are subject, the size of the enterprise, the number of employees they employ and the province in which the workplace is located, and to determine whether the wages, bonuses, premiums and all kinds of entitlements of this nature to be deposited into bank accounts shall be paid as gross amounts or as net amounts remaining after statutory deductions. Employers or third parties required to pay the wages, bonuses, premiums and all kinds of entitlements of this nature of the employees they employ through bank accounts opened specifically for that purpose may not pay those wages, bonuses, premiums and entitlements except through such bank accounts.
(Added paragraph: 17/4/2008-5754/85 art.) Other procedures and principles concerning payment of the employee’s wages, bonuses, premiums and all kinds of entitlements of this nature by depositing them into bank accounts opened specifically for that purpose shall be regulated by a regulation to be jointly issued by the aforementioned ministries.
Wages may not be paid by a promissory note payable to order, by coupons, by a note alleged to represent currency valid in the country, or in any other manner.
Wages shall be paid at least once a month. The payment period may be reduced to one week by employment contracts or collective agreements.
Upon termination of employment contracts, the employee’s wages and any benefits arising from the contract and the Law that can be measured in money must be paid in full.
Wages may not be paid in taverns and similar places of entertainment or in shops and stores selling retail goods, except to those employed there.
The limitation period for wage claims is five years.
Madde 33 – Employer’s insolvency
(Repealed: 15/5/2008-5763/37 art.)
Madde 34 – Non-payment of wages on the due date
An employee whose wages have not been paid within twenty days of the payment date for a reason other than force majeure may refrain from performing the obligation to work. Even if employees’ failure to perform their obligation to work on the basis of their individual decisions thereby acquires a collective character in numerical terms, it may not be characterised as a strike. The highest interest rate applied to deposits shall apply to wages not paid on the due date.
The employment contracts of these employees may not be terminated on this account because they have not worked; no new employees may be hired in their place, and the work may not be assigned to others.
Madde 35 – Protected portion of wages
More than one quarter of employees’ monthly wages may not be attached, transferred or assigned to another person. However, the amount determined by a judge for family members whom the employee is obliged to support is not included in this sum. The rights of creditors of maintenance claims are reserved.
Madde 36 – Obligation of public authorities and principal employers to deduct wages from progress payments
General and annexed budget departments, local authorities or public economic enterprises, or banks and organisations established pursuant to a special law or a Presidential Decree, and principal employers shall check whether any employees working on construction and repair works awarded to contractors, such as the construction of buildings, bridges, lines and roads, have wages unpaid by contractors or subcontractors. Where unpaid wages are identified through such checks or upon an application by an employee whose wages have not been paid, they shall pay those wages from the contractors’ or subcontractors’ progress payments, on the basis of payrolls requested from them.[14]
For this purpose, the relevant administration shall announce that a progress payment is to be made by posting a written notice in places visible to employees, such as the site management office noticeboard at the workplace or places where employees gather. The said administrations shall bear no responsibility for wage claims of employees exceeding the amount of wages for three months for each progress payment period.
Any transfer or other change of ownership, or any attachment or enforcement proceedings, concerning any kind of security or progress payments held by the said contractors with these employers shall take effect on the remaining portion after the amount required to cover the wage claims of employees working on the project has been set aside.
Any attachment or enforcement proceedings against installations, materials, raw, semi-processed and fully processed goods and other assets at a workplace on account of an employer’s debts to a third party shall take effect on the remaining portion after the amount required to cover the wage claims of employees working at that workplace for the three-month period before the date of the enforcement order has been set aside.
(Amended fifth paragraph: 10/9/2014-6552/3 art.) Where employers award work to a subcontractor, they are obliged, upon an employee’s application or monthly on their own initiative, to check whether the subcontractor’s employees have been paid their wages and, if any wages remain unpaid, to deduct them from the progress payments due and deposit them into the employees’ bank accounts.
Madde 37 – Wage statement
When making payments at the workplace or through a bank, the employer must give the employee a signed statement, or one bearing the workplace’s special mark, showing the wage calculation.
This statement must separately show the payment date and the period to which it relates, the amounts of all additions to the basic wage, such as overtime work, weekly rest day, public holiday and general holiday wages, and all deductions, such as taxes, insurance contributions, offsetting of advances, maintenance and enforcement deductions.
These transactions are exempt from stamp duty and all kinds of duties and charges.
Madde 38 – Wage deduction penalty
The employer may not impose a wage deduction penalty on an employee for reasons other than those specified in collective agreements or employment contracts.
Deductions from employees’ wages as a penalty must be notified to the employee immediately, together with the reasons. Such deductions from employees’ wages may not exceed two days’ wages in a month or, for wages paid per piece or according to the amount of work performed, the employee’s earnings for two days.
These sums shall be deposited within one month from the date of deduction into an account of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security at a bank established in Türkiye and authorised to accept deposits, as designated by the Ministry, for use and expenditure on employees’ education and social services. Every employer is obliged to keep a separate account for these sums at the workplace. The destinations and amounts for which the accumulated penalty funds are to be used shall be decided by a board chaired by the Minister of Labour and Social Security and including employee representatives. The composition of this board and the manner and principles according to which it shall operate shall be set out in a regulation to be issued.
Madde 39 – Minimum wage
For the purpose of regulating the economic and social conditions of all employees working under an employment contract, whether or not they are covered by this Law, the minimum limits of wages shall be determined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through the Minimum Wage Determination Commission at least once every two years.
(Repealed second paragraph: 2/7/2018-KHK/700/145 art.)
The Commission’s decisions are final. They shall enter into force upon publication in the Official Gazette.
The manner in which the Commission convenes and works, the principles to be applied in determining minimum wages, and the attendance fees to be paid to the chair, members and rapporteurs shall be specified in a regulation jointly prepared by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Secretariat services for the Minimum Wage Determination Commission shall be provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Madde 40 – Half wages
An employee who is unable to work or is not put to work because of compelling reasons specified in subparagraph (III) of Articles 24 and 25 shall be paid half wages for each day, for up to one week, during this waiting period.
Madde 41 – Overtime pay
Overtime work may be performed for reasons such as the country’s general interests, the nature of the work or increasing production. Overtime work means work exceeding forty-five hours per week, subject to the conditions set out in the Law. Where the averaging principle under Article 63 is applied, work shall not be considered overtime even if it exceeds a total of forty-five hours in some weeks, provided that the employee’s average weekly working time does not exceed the normal weekly working time.
For each hour of overtime work, wages shall be paid at a rate fifty per cent higher than the hourly amount of the normal wage.
Where weekly working time is set by contract at less than forty-five hours, work exceeding the average weekly working time applied in accordance with the principles set out above and up to forty-five hours shall constitute work in excess of normal working hours. For each hour of such work, wages shall be paid at a rate twenty-five per cent higher than the hourly amount of the normal wage.
An employee who performs overtime work or work in excess of normal working hours may, if they wish, take as compensatory time off instead of the increased wage one hour and thirty minutes for each hour of overtime work, or one hour and fifteen minutes for each hour of work in excess of normal working hours.
The employee shall take the compensatory time off earned within six months, during working hours and without any deduction from wages.
Overtime work may not be performed in work subject to reduced or limited working hours on health grounds, as set out in the final paragraph of Article 63, or in night work specified in Article 69.
The employee’s consent is required for overtime work or work in excess of normal working hours.
The total duration of overtime work may not exceed two hundred and seventy hours in a year.
(Added paragraph: 10/9/2014-6552/4 art.) Except in the cases listed in Articles 42 and 43 of this Law, employees working in underground mining work may not be required to perform overtime work.
(Added paragraph: 10/9/2014-6552/4 art.) In the cases listed in Articles 42 and 43 of this Law, for each hour of overtime work exceeding thirty-seven and a half hours per week performed by employees working in underground mining work, wages shall be paid at a rate increased by not less than one hundred per cent over the hourly amount of the normal wage.[15]
The manner in which overtime work and work in excess of normal working hours are to be performed shall be set out in a regulation to be issued.
Madde 42 – Overtime work for compelling reasons
In the event of a breakdown, where a breakdown is considered possible, in urgent work that must be carried out immediately on machinery, equipment or tools, or where compelling reasons arise, all or some of the employees may be required to perform overtime work, provided that this does not exceed the level necessary to ensure the workplace’s normal operation. In such cases, employees who perform overtime work must be given an appropriate rest period.
However, the provisions of the first, second and third paragraphs of Article 41 shall apply to overtime work performed for compelling reasons.
Madde 43 – Overtime work in extraordinary circumstances
During mobilisation, if overtime work is considered necessary in workplaces meeting the needs of national defence, the President of the Republic may, according to the type of work and the degree of need, increase daily working time to the maximum working capacity of the employee, provided that this measure does not extend beyond the mobilisation period.[16]
The provisions of the first, second and third paragraphs of Article 41 shall apply to the wages payable to employees required to work overtime in this manner.
Madde 44 – Work on national and general holidays
Whether work is to be performed at workplaces on national and general holidays shall be determined by collective agreements or employment contracts. If the contracts contain no provision, the employee’s consent is required for work on those days.
Wages for those days shall be paid in accordance with Article 47.
Madde 45 – Reserved rights
Collective agreements or employment contracts may not contain provisions contrary to the rights granted to employees under this Law concerning weekly rest days, national and general holidays, paid leave, or the rights of employees working under the percentage system.
Acquired rights arising from laws, collective agreements, employment contracts or custom that provide employees with more favourable rights and benefits in these matters are reserved.
Madde 46 – Weekly rest day pay
At workplaces covered by this Law, employees shall be granted uninterrupted rest of at least twenty-four hours within a seven-day period (weekly rest day), provided that they have worked on the working days determined under Article 63 before the rest day. (Added sentences: 10/7/2025-7553/9 art.) However, at accommodation facilities holding a tourism establishment certificate issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the weekly rest day to which employees are entitled under this paragraph may be granted within the four days following the day on which the entitlement arose, at the employee’s written request or with their written consent. In that case, the portion of the work performed by the employee on the weekly rest day to which they are entitled that corresponds to the normal daily working time shall not be taken into account when calculating overtime work. The employee may withdraw their consent, provided that they notify the employer in writing thirty days in advance.
For a weekly rest day on which no work is performed, the employer shall pay the full wage for that day without work being performed in return.
However;
a) Periods which, although not worked, are deemed by law to count as working time, and rest days under law or contract, whether paid at the daily wage or unpaid,
b) (Amended: 4/4/2015-6645/35 art.) Leave periods listed in Additional Article 2,
c) Other leave granted by the employer, and sick leave and rest leave granted on a doctor’s report, provided that such leave does not exceed one week,
Shall be counted as days worked.
Where, without a compelling or economic reason, the employer suspends work at the workplace on one or more days of the week, the days of the week on which no work is performed shall be deemed days worked for entitlement to paid weekly rest.
Where compelling reasons arise at a workplace that require work to be suspended for more than one week, the half wages paid to employees for days not worked because of the compelling reasons specified in subparagraph (III) of Articles 24 and 25 shall also be paid for the weekly rest day.
At workplaces where the percentage system is applied, the employer shall pay the weekly rest day wage to the employee.
Madde 47 – General holiday pay
At workplaces covered by this Law, employees who do not work on days recognised by law as national or general holidays shall receive their full wages for those days without work being performed in return; if they work instead of taking the holiday, they shall additionally be paid one day’s wage for each day worked.
At workplaces where the percentage system is applied, the employer shall pay employees’ wages for national and general holidays.
Madde 48 – Temporary incapacity for work
When employees are entitled to a temporary incapacity allowance, national holidays, general holidays and weekly rest days falling within the period of temporary incapacity shall be paid by the institutions or funds making the payment, at the rate applicable to temporary incapacity.
On days not worked due to illness, the temporary incapacity allowance paid by the Social Insurance Institution shall be offset against the wages of employees paid monthly.
Madde 49 – Holiday pay according to wage arrangements
An employee’s wage for a holiday is the wage attributable to one day, based on the days worked.
For employees paid per piece, on a task-rate basis, at a flat rate or under the percentage system, holiday pay shall be calculated by dividing the wages earned during the payment period by the days worked during the same period.
For employees paid by the hour, holiday pay is seven and a half times the hourly wage.
The provisions of Articles 46 and 47 and the first paragraph of Article 48 shall not apply to employees paid monthly whose full monthly wage is paid even when they are absent due to illness, leave or other justified reasons. However, those among them who work on national or general holidays shall additionally be paid one day’s wage for each day worked.
Madde 50 – Items excluded from holiday pay calculations
Wages received for overtime work, premiums, wages received by employees permanently employed at the workplace for preparatory, completion or cleaning work performed outside normal working hours, and social benefits shall not be included in calculating wages payable for national holidays, weekly rest days and general holidays.
Madde 51 – Payment of percentages
In hotels, restaurants, places of entertainment and similar establishments, and places serving alcoholic beverages or selling various foodstuffs for consumption on the premises, where the percentage system is applied, the employer is obliged to pay in full to all employees working at the workplace the sums collected by adding a “percentage” to customers’ bills in return for service or under other names, or collected separately, as well as sums voluntarily left by customers with the employer or collected together under the employer’s control.
The employer or the employer’s representative is obliged to document that the sums referred to in the preceding paragraph, when received by them, have been distributed in full to the employees.
The principles and rates according to which sums collected as percentages are to be distributed among employees working at the workplace, according to the nature of the work performed, shall be set out in a regulation to be prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Madde 52 – Documentation of percentages
At workplaces where the percentage system is applied, the employer is obliged to give a document showing the grand total of each bill to a representative chosen by the employees from among themselves. The form of these documents and the procedures for their use shall be specified in employment contracts or collective agreements.
Notes
[14] By Article 145 of Decree-Law No. 700 dated 2/7/2018, the phrase “authority granted by special law” in this paragraph was amended to read “by Presidential decree”.
[15] By Article 34 of Law No. 6645 dated 4/4/2015, the phrase “exceeding thirty-six hours per week” in this paragraph was amended to read “exceeding thirty-seven and a half hours per week”.
[16] By Article 145 of Decree-Law No. 700 dated 2/7/2018, the phrase “Council of Ministers” in this paragraph was amended to read “President of the Republic”.