Labor & Employment Law in Türkiye

Employment relationships in Türkiye are governed primarily by Labour Law No. 4857, supported by the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, and the Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining Agreements Law No. 6356. Foreign employment is regulated separately under the International Labour Force Law No. 6735. Together these statutes make Turkish employment law noticeably employee-protective: the floor of rights they set cannot be lowered by contract.

We act for both employers and employees, structuring compliant relationships before disputes arise and defending or pursuing claims when they do. For foreign investors in particular, the gap between a Western at-will mindset and the Turkish framework is where most costly mistakes happen. Our complete guide to employing staff in Türkiye maps the whole lifecycle, with focused help on employment contracts, termination and severance and workplace disputes.

Where the Labour Law is silent, the Code of Obligations No. 6098 fills the gap, particularly for the work and employment relationships that Article 4 of the Labour Law excludes from its scope, such as domestic services, sportspeople and agricultural workplaces with 50 or fewer workers. Occupational health and safety obligations under Law No. 6331 apply to virtually every workplace irrespective of size, and social-security registration under Law No. 5510 must be completed before the employee’s first day, not after. What this means for you: compliance is not a single document but a stack of registrations, notices and records that has to be in place from day one.

The same framework decides when workers supplied by a contractor are treated as the principal employer’s own, a question examined in subcontracting and when contractor workers become yours.

Collective labour law sits alongside this framework in Law No. 6356. A union that clears the statutory thresholds obtains an authorisation determination from the Ministry, and the employer’s window to object to it is measured in working days rather than months; the sequence, and what the employer may and may not do while it runs, is set out in trade union authorisation and what the employer faces.

Under Article 8(2) of Labour Law No. 4857, employment contracts with a term of one year or more must be made in writing. Where no written contract is made, Article 8(3) requires the employer to give the employee, within two months at the latest, a written document showing the working conditions, working hours, basic wage, pay period and the rules on termination; this does not apply to fixed-term contracts of one month or less. Even where writing is not strictly mandatory, we strongly recommend it, because in a dispute the burden of proving terms usually falls on the employer. Every contract should clearly set out the identities and addresses of both parties, the job title, duties and place of work, wage, allowances and benefits, working hours and rest periods, the duration where fixed, and notice periods and termination conditions.

Two traps recur. First, fixed-term contracts are often misused to avoid job security. Chaining renewals without a fresh objective reason converts the relationship into an indefinite-term one by operation of law, and the employee acquires full termination protection. Second, non-compete clauses are enforceable only if reasonable in scope, geography and time, and only where a legitimate business interest justifies them. Under Article 445/2 of the Code of Obligations the judge may limit an excessive restriction in scope or duration. A third question arises before the contract is drafted at all: whether the people doing the work should be employed directly, engaged through a temporary employment relationship, or contracted as an independent supplier; the limits Article 7 places on each are set out on our workforce structuring and flexible employment page.

A signed release does not close the file on its own. Under Article 420(2) of the Code of Obligations a release must be in writing, signed at least one month after the contract ended, state the type and amount of the claim expressly, and be backed by a payment made in full relative to the entitlement and through a bank; otherwise it is absolutely null and void, and under Article 420(3) a document that does not reflect the true amount is only a receipt for the sum it records, leaving the employer exposed to the rest of the claim years later.

Wages are usually paid monthly and must at least meet the national minimum wage, which the Minimum Wage Determination Commission sets at least every two years (Article 39). Payment must run through a bank for most employers. Late or short payment is not a minor administrative slip: it exposes the employer to penalties and, critically, gives the employee grounds to resign for just cause while preserving full severance rights.

Employees are entitled to paid annual leave once they complete one year of service. Leave ranges from 14 to 26 working days depending on length of service, plus national and public holidays. Unused accrued leave does not simply evaporate; on termination it is paid out in cash based on the final wage, which is a line item employers routinely underestimate.

• Notice periods. Either party ending an indefinite-term contract must give notice of two, four, six or eight weeks depending on length of service (Article 17), or pay in lieu.
• Valid reason and job security. In workplaces with 30 or more employees, an employee with at least six months’ service can only be dismissed for a valid reason and may bring a reinstatement claim if the reason is inadequate.
• Just cause. Serious misconduct or breach allows immediate termination without notice, but the employer must act within six working days of learning of the conduct.
• Severance pay. After one year of service, a qualifying termination triggers severance of 30 days’ gross wage per year worked, up to a statutory ceiling; the calculation is worked through in our guide to severance and notice pay in Türkiye.

One event that looks like a termination is not one at all. Where the workplace changes hands, Article 6 carries the employment contracts across to the transferee with the employees’ accrued seniority, and the transfer itself is not a ground for dismissal by either party. What the transferor remains liable for, and for how long, is set out in transfer of an undertaking in Türkiye.

How the contract ends determines what is owed. The broad picture:

Written notice stating the specific grounds is essential: Article 19(1) of Labour Law No. 4857 requires the employer to give notice in writing and to state the reason clearly and precisely, and under Article 20 a missing reason, or one that is not valid, is the basis of a reinstatement claim. What this means for you: the difference between a resignation, a dismissal for just cause, and a dismissal without valid reason can swing the employer’s exposure from nothing to reinstatement plus several months’ wages. Document the reason, the evidence and the timing before you act, not after.

For employers planning a restructuring or headcount reduction, the sequence matters as much as the substance. Performance concerns should be documented in writing over time, warnings issued and acknowledged, and alternatives such as reassignment genuinely considered before dismissal. Article 18 of Labour Law No. 4857 requires a valid reason connected with the employee’s capability or conduct or with the requirements of the enterprise, Article 19(2) bars dismissal for conduct or performance without first taking the employee’s defence, and Article 20 places the burden of proving the valid reason on the employer; the record therefore has to exist before the decision, not be assembled after it.

Mediation is not a formality to be rushed through; it is the most practical point at which to settle on controlled terms. Once the reinstatement clock and litigation costs start running, both sides lose leverage.

We prepare and represent clients at mediation with the aim of settling early on controlled terms and, where the matter cannot be resolved, carry it on to the labor courts with a clean procedural record.

Employers bear responsibility for securing permits before hiring; unauthorized employment triggers significant fines for both employer and worker, plus liability for unpaid social-security contributions; under Article 23(9) of Law No. 6735 the employer must also cover the foreign national’s accommodation, return travel and, where needed, health costs, including those of any spouse and children. For companies building a team in Türkiye, sequencing the permit process alongside company formation and registration is essential so that new hires are lawful from their first day.

Where such an employee’s contract designates a foreign law, the limits on that choice are set out in choice of law in a Turkish employment contract.

• Employment Contracts & Workplace Policies: Compliant contracts, remote work policies, and non-compete covenants for foreign employers.
• Termination & Severance Under Turkish Law: Severance pay calculation (Kıdem), valid termination grounds, and defending reinstatement claims.
• Workplace Disputes & Labor Litigation: Mandatory labor mediation and Labor Court defense across Istanbul.
• Legal Matters in Istanbul for Foreign Clients and Companies: Labor law compliance, work permits, and cross-border employer representation.