Holidays & Leaves

Official Public Holidays in Turkey:

January 1: New Year’s Day.
April 23: National Sovereignty & Children’s Day.
May 1: Labor and Solidarity Day.
May 19: Atatürk Commemoration, Youth & Sports Day.
July 15: Democracy & National Unity Day.
August 30: Victory Day.
October 28-29: Republic Day.

Sick Leave:

According to Article 46 (c) of the Turkish Labor Law, all employees are entitled to a maximum of one week’s paid sick leave upon presenting a confirmatory medical report. The sick leave could be extended. Extended sick leave is granted on an unpaid basis. In case of sick leave exceeding (6) six weeks beyond the notice periods determined by labor law, the employment contract may be terminated without notice but by paying the severance pay.

Since notice periods are related to an employee’s length of service, an employee’s maximum sick leave cannot exceed the following durations, for an employee with seniority;

less than 6 weeks, 2 weeks
between 6 weeks and 18 weeks; 4 weeks
between 18 weeks and 36 weeks; 6 weeks
more than 3 years; 8 weeks.

Employers may have the right to terminate employment contracts without notice in the event of sick leave exceeding six weeks beyond the above notice periods. For example, for an employee who uses sick leave and has worked less than six weeks, the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract without notice after (8) eight weeks. (2weeks notice + 6 weeks sick leave)

Annual Leave

Under Turkish law, employees who have completed one year of work at the workplace are entitled to annual leave. To avoid any misuse of annual leave by either the employee or the employer, both parties should be aware of the applicable rules and regulations in this regard.

According to article 53 of the Labor Act No. 4857, the age and years of service of an employee shall be considered when calculating the number of days of annual leave to which he/ she is entitled. Article 53 provides that an employee is entitled:

According to the Turkish Labor Law, the number of working days in a week is 6 days as a result, they accept 1 week of annual leave as 6 days. However, companies that work 5 days a week accept the annual leave of 1 week as 5 days.

Employees aged under 18 or plus 50 years must have more than 20 days’ annual leave. Employment contracts and collective agreements can increase this.

Years of Work	Minimum Paid Annual Leave
1-5 years	14 days
>5 to <15 years	20 days
≥ 15 years	26 days

Maternity Leave

Turkish Labor Law allows a pregnant woman to take maternity leave of 16 weeks, eight weeks before and eight weeks after the birth; not all leave can be taken after the birth. In the case of multiple pregnancies (twins or more), the maternity leave is extended to 18 weeks. A pregnant woman may work up to three weeks before the birth, with the rest of the leave being added to the leave taken after the birth, if her health and the baby’s health allow it.

After the birth, when the period of paid leave is over, a working mother may request six months of unpaid leave; this does not affect vacation pay.

During pregnancy, a working woman may be granted time off for periodic medical examinations. After childbirth, she may request breaks in the working day, amounting to 1 hour and 30 minutes per day for breastfeeding. Mothers can determine at what times and for how long they have used this time. This applies until the baby is one year old.

To be eligible for maternity leave, an employee must have an official medical report indicating the expected date of birth. This report is also required for the allowance paid during maternity leave. The employer can provide information on the social security institution to which the company is affiliated.

Paternity Leave

Fathers are entitled to parental leave of up to three days.

Marriage Leave

In the case of marriage, in accordance with Article 46 (b) of the Turkish Labor Law, employees are entitled to (3) three days of paid leave.

Bereavement Leave

According to Article 46 (b) of the Turkish Labor Law, employees are entitled to (3) three days of paid leave in the event of the death of the employee’s family members such as mother, father, spouse, brother, or sister and child.

Job Search Leave

In accordance with Article 27, during the notice period, all employees have the right to use at least two hours of rest during working hours to seek new employment. Job search hours may be combined and may be used simultaneously. If the employee works during the job search hours, the employer should compensate for the job search hours with an amount of double pay and the employee’s regular salary.