The national minimum wage applies to all employees except the ones working in the coal and lignite mining sectors. In these sectors, the minimum wage must be at least twice the regular minimum wage determined by the commission. The gross minimum monthly wage in force until 31 December 2026 is TRY 33,030.00 gross, which corresponds to net TRY 28,075.50. The minimum wage is expected to increase in 2027; however, it has not been decided yet.
Article 32 of the Employment Law states that the employer shall pay the employees on a monthly basis, at the latest. The payment period can be reduced to a week under collective bargaining and employment agreements. Pursuant to Article 32 of the Employment Law, the payment shall be made in Turkish currency, in principle.
Additionally, in principle, payments under employment agreements are required to be made in Turkish Lira as per Decree Number 32 on Protection of Value of Turkish Currency. However, foreign currency payments can be determined with regard to the following exemptions:
As per Article 41 of the Employment Law, overtime is defined as the time which exceeds 45 hours per week, under the circumstances stipulated under the law. As per Article 63 of the Employment Law, weekly working hours can be distributed to the working days in a week by the mutual agreement of the parties, provided that a maximum of 11 hours per working day is not exceeded. In this manner, the weekly average working time of the employee within a period of two months cannot exceed the regular weekly working time. The reference period can be increased up to four months under collective bargaining agreements. Provided that the average working hours of the employee do not exceed regular weekly working hours, even though it may exceed a total of 45 hours during some weeks, it is not considered to be overtime, if the two-month reference applies in accordance with Article 63.
Extra wages for each overtime hour shall be paid as 50% more than the regular working hour salary. However, if the weekly working hours are determined to be less than 45 hours in the employment agreement, working hours which exceed the applied average time within the abovementioned conditions and up to 45 hours, are considered to be overtime work. Extra wages for each overtime work hour shall be paid as 25% more than the regular working hour salary.
Employees who do overtime, are entitled to take a free time of 1.5 hours for each hour of their overtime, instead of receiving increased wages as explained above. The employees should use this free time during their working hours within a six-month period and without any deductions from their salary. However, this free time is only applicable regarding overtime performed during the week, and cannot be applied for works performed during national holidays and weekly days off.
The written consent of the employees must be obtained through the employment agreement or through an additional written document, if they are asked to do overtime. In accordance with Article 102/c of the Employment Law, employers may be subject to an administrative fine for each employee, in case of the absence of the employee’s approval for overtime work. The administrative fine is revised each year.
Regarding white-collar employees, it can be agreed under an employment agreement that the wages for overtime of up to 270 hours in one year is included in the employee’s salary. For any hour exceeding this limit, the employer is obliged to make overtime payments to the employee. If the employer does not pay the employee’s wage for the exceeding hours, there is the risk that the employee may terminate his/her employment agreement and claim compensation from the employer for exceeding hours within five years starting from the relevant overtime work, as well as severance payment. Similar to the above, the 270-hour limit is only applicable regarding overtime performed during the week, and cannot be applied for works performed during national holidays and weekly days off. Therefore, if an employee has worked during a national holiday, or on their weekly day off, monetary compensation must be paid regardless of the annual 270-hour limit.
Per Article 102 of the Employment Law, the employer shall be fined an administrative fine of TRY 4,815 as of 2026 for each employee who has not been paid overtime, who has not been granted the free time he/she deserved within six months, and who has worked extra hours without his/her approval.
If the employer does not pay the employee’s wage for the exceeding hours, there is the risk that the employee may claim compensation from the employer for exceeding hours within five years starting from the relevant overtime work. The important point is to prove that the employee’s overtime wage is paid by the employer. The employer will prove this through the payrolls of the employee. However, if the overtime wage is not included in the payroll, the employee can claim that he/she did not receive this wage, based on the statement of the witness. These are established by the established Supreme Court’s precedent judgments.
Pursuant to the Occupational Health and Safety Law, some of the general responsibilities of employers are as follows:
In addition to the general requirements above, some further measures may be required from the employers depending on the hazard class of the respective workplace.
Furthermore, under the Regulation published on 2 April 2026, employers’ obligations regarding occupational health and safety trainings have been significantly expanded and detailed. Employers are now required not only to provide trainings but also to update them in line with changing risks, ensure their periodic repetition, and implement structured training programmes with defined minimum durations based on hazard classes. The Regulation also introduces stricter rules on pre-employment and online trainings, as well as a mandatory assessment system to measure effectiveness. In this framework, employers must adopt a more systematic and compliant approach to training processes, ensuring both proper documentation and active employee participation.
Administrative Fines: Administrative fines vary according to the nature of the violation and the hazard class of the workplace. Also, if the violation continues, these administrative fines continue to be applied every month. Administrative fines applied as of 2026 are listed below as an example.
Private Litigation: A lawsuit may be filed against the employer, demanding material and immaterial compensation, by the employee or their relatives who have suffered bodily harm.
Criminal Proceedings: An employee who has suffered bodily harm can complain about the employer to the prosecutor. In this case, the investigation process related to the incident begins. In accordance with the provisions of the Turkish Penal Code Act No. 5237, a penalty may be imposed on the responsible persons.
In order not to face the administrative, legal, and penal responsibilities described above, the rules set out in Occupational Health and Safety Law Act No. 6331 and the Occupational Health and Safety Services Regulation must be followed.
The working conditions arising out of the employment agreement, internal regulations, or workplace practices, may be changed only if the employees are notified in writing before the change. There are many types of changes to be made and each change must be separately determined whether or not it constitutes a material change, depending on the situation. However, some of the main types of material changes are as follows: payment, nature of the work, workplace, and working hours. Employees of the company should be notified in writing and asked to respond within 6 business days, whether or not they object to the changes. Otherwise, employees will be deemed to have not accepted such alterations. If an employee does not provide his/her written approval regarding the changes, or clearly does not accept such changes, the altered conditions cannot be applied to the relevant employee.
If an employer applies such material changes without the employee’s written approval, the employee may terminate his/her employment agreement and demand severance payment. The employee will also have the right to claim compensation based on the rights of which they have been deprived (such as due to salary reduction, removal of bonus payments etc.) within a 5-year time period.
