HR glossary Türkiye: labour law and workforce terms explained

How to use this glossary

The glossary lists the terms most often met in HR, timesheets, payroll and employment law in Türkiye, in alphabetical order of their English name. Each entry has three parts: the definition, the basis (law and article number) and a link to a detailed guide with examples and calculations. The Turkish term is shown in brackets, because that is the word you will see on Turkish contracts, payslips and official forms.

Letter index: A · B · C · D · E · F · H · I · K · L · M · N · O · P · R · S · T · U · V · W · Y

Term pairs most often confused

The pairs below are used interchangeably in everyday speech, but their legal effects differ. Each row is a short comparison of two entries in the glossary.

A

Annual leave pay (yıllık izin ücreti)

Annual leave pay is the wage for the leave period, which the employer must pay in full or as an advance before the leave starts. For employees not on a fixed wage, such as commission or percentage pay, the earnings of the last year are used. When the contract ends, pay for unused leave is due, and the limitation period is five years. Basis: Labour Law Art. 57 · Art. 59 · Additional Art. 3.

Annual paid leave (yıllık ücretli izin)

Annual paid leave is a non-waivable paid rest entitlement for employees who have worked at least one year at the workplace, probation included. It is at least fourteen days (one to five years of service), twenty days (five to fifteen years) and twenty-six days (fifteen years or more). Employees aged eighteen or under and fifty or over get at least twenty days. Basis: Labour Law Art. 53. Calculate: annual leave calculation · track: leave management.

Anonymisation (anonim hâle getirme)

Anonymisation means making personal data impossible to link to an identified or identifiable person, even when matched with other data. Deleting the name or masking the ID number is not always enough: if department, job title and dates together point to one person, the data is not anonymous. It is one of the methods, alongside erasure and destruction, used when a retention period ends. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 3(1)(b) · Art. 7.

Asset handover record (zimmet)

“Zimmet” at work is the record showing which tools, equipment, devices or keys the employer handed to an employee and in what condition, documented with a handover record or form. It is not a concept defined in the Labour Law. It is the basis of the return check when the employee leaves; deducting the value of a missing item from pay needs a contractual basis and the statutory limits. Basis: not defined in statute; deductions under Labour Law Art. 38.

B

Biometric data (biyometrik veri)

Biometric data is data derived from physical features such as fingerprints, facial geometry, iris and retina, and the law lists it as a special category of personal data. The Personal Data Protection Board’s principle decision No. 2026/921 held that processing fingerprint, facial recognition, iris and retina data for tracking working hours is unlawful even with explicit consent, on grounds of proportionality. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 6(1) · Board decision 2026/921. Decision and alternatives: biometric attendance ban.

C

Comparable full-time worker (emsal işçi)

A comparable worker is a full-time worker doing the same or similar job at the workplace; if there is none, a full-time worker doing similar work at a suitable workplace in the same sector is used. A part-time employee’s divisible pay and monetary benefits are paid in proportion to their hours compared with that worker, and they may not be treated differently merely for being part-time. Basis: Labour Law Art. 13. More: part-time work.

Compassionate leave (mazeret izni)

Compassionate leave is the everyday name for the paid leave the law ties to specific events. An employee gets three days of paid leave for marriage, adoption, or the death of a parent, spouse, sibling or child, and ten days when their spouse gives birth. There is also up to ten days of paid leave a year for treating a child with a disability of at least seventy per cent or a chronic illness. Basis: Labour Law Additional Art. 2. More: compassionate leave.

Compensation in lieu of notice (ihbar tazminatı)

Compensation in lieu of notice is paid by the party that ends an indefinite-term contract without respecting the notice period, equal to the wages for that period. It can be owed by either employer or employee and is calculated on total remuneration. An employer that pays the notice wages in advance owes nothing further. The limitation period is five years. Basis: Labour Law Art. 17 · Additional Art. 3 · Law No. 1475, Art. 14.

D

Data controller (veri sorumlusu)

A data controller is the natural or legal person that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data and is responsible for setting up and managing the filing system. For employee data the employer is the data controller: notices, data security, retention and destruction, and answering employees’ requests are its duties and cannot be handed over to a software provider. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 3(1)(ı) · Art. 10 · Art. 12.

Data processor (veri işleyen)

A data processor is a natural or legal person processing personal data on behalf of the data controller under its authority. If an employer uses cloud software for staff tracking, the employer decides the purpose and means and is the data controller, while the software provider is as a rule the processor. Both are jointly responsible for data security measures. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 3(1)(ğ) · Art. 12(2).

Data subject (ilgili kişi)

The data subject is the natural person whose personal data is processed: the employee in staff tracking, the candidate in recruitment. Data subjects may ask whether their data is processed, request information, ask for corrections and, where conditions are met, for erasure. They apply to the data controller, that is, the employer. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 3(1)(ç) · Art. 11.

Defence statement (savunma)

A defence statement is the employee’s response to the allegations, taken before the contract is ended for reasons relating to their conduct or performance. The law states plainly that an indefinite-term contract cannot be terminated on these grounds without it; the employer’s right of immediate termination under Art. 25(II) is outside this rule. Request and response are kept in writing in the personnel file. Basis: Labour Law Art. 19. Documentation: absenteeism records and defence.

Disciplinary pay deduction (ücret kesme cezası)

A disciplinary pay deduction is a penalty deducted from wages for reasons stated in the collective agreement or employment contract. The employee must be told immediately with the reason, and deductions may not exceed two days’ wages a month, or two days’ earnings for piece-rate pay. Without a contractual basis no penalty deduction is allowed; not paying for time lost through lateness is a separate matter. Basis: Labour Law Art. 38. The difference: lateness and wage deductions.

Duty to inform (aydınlatma yükümlülüğü)

The duty to inform requires the data controller, when collecting personal data, to tell the person who it is, why the data will be processed, to whom and why it may be transferred, how it is collected and on what legal ground, and what rights the person has. For employers this notice is given at hiring and whenever a new processing activity, such as location-based clock-in, begins. It is separate from consent. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 10. In practice: employee tracking under KVKK.

E

Earnings subject to premium (prime esas kazanç)

Earnings subject to premium are the amount on which social insurance premiums are calculated: wages earned plus premiums, bonuses and similar payments, with some payments listed in the law excluded. There is a floor and a ceiling; current limits change each period, so this glossary does not state them. The figure can differ from gross pay on the payroll. Basis: Social Insurance Law Art. 80.

Employee (işçi)

An employee is a natural person working under an employment contract. The test is dependent work under a contract, not a job title or the label on the payslip: part-time, fixed-term, on-call and remote workers are employees too. The relationship between employee and employer is called the employment relationship. Health and safety law uses the broader term “çalışan”. Basis: Labour Law Art. 2 · Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(b).

Employee representative (çalışan temsilcisi)

An employee representative is an employee authorised to represent colleagues in occupational health and safety matters: taking part in and monitoring the work, asking for measures and making proposals. It is not a professional title like safety specialist or workplace physician; the representative comes from the workforce and links employer and employees on safety issues. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, Art. 3(1)(c).

Employer (işveren)

An employer is a natural or legal person, or an institution without legal personality, that employs workers. People acting on the employer’s behalf in managing the work, workplace and business are employer’s representatives, and the employer is directly liable for their actions towards employees. For personal data, the employer is the data controller of employee data. Basis: Labour Law Art. 2 · Personal Data Protection Law Art. 3(1)(ı).

Employment contract (iş sözleşmesi)

An employment contract is an agreement under which one party (the employee) undertakes to work in a dependent position and the other (the employer) to pay wages. Unless the law says otherwise it needs no special form, but contracts of one year or longer must be written. Without a written contract the employer must give a written statement of terms, hours, base pay and pay period within two months. Basis: Labour Law Art. 8.

Explicit consent (açık rıza)

Explicit consent is consent that relates to a specific matter, is based on information and is given of free will. A general, catch-all approval does not qualify. Because an employee depends on the employer, whether consent at work is truly free is questioned separately, so an employer should first check whether a legal ground that does not need consent applies. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698, Art. 3(1)(a). More: KVKK-compliant employee tracking.

F

Fazla mesai (everyday word for overtime)

“Fazla mesai” is the everyday Turkish word for what the law calls “fazla çalışma”, overtime; it is the word most often seen at work and on payslips. Its legal effect is the same: hours above forty-five a week, fifty per cent premium or one and a half hours off, a two-hundred-and-seventy-hour annual cap and written consent. The word “mesai” does not appear in the statute in this sense. Basis: Labour Law Art. 41. Tracking: overtime tracking.

Fixed-term employment contract (belirli süreli iş sözleşmesi)

A fixed-term contract is a written employment contract tied to fixed-term work or to objective conditions such as completing a specific job or the occurrence of a specific event. It cannot be renewed back-to-back without a material reason; otherwise the contract is treated as indefinite from the start. Any employment contract of one year or longer must be in writing. Basis: Labour Law Art. 8 · Art. 11.

H

Hazard class (tehlike sınıfı)

The hazard class is the hazard group assigned to a workplace for health and safety purposes, based on the nature of the work, substances used or produced, equipment, production methods and working environment. The scope of the duty to appoint a workplace physician, a safety specialist and other health personnel varies with this class. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(r) · Art. 6.

I

Indefinite-term employment contract (belirsiz süreli iş sözleşmesi)

An indefinite-term contract is one not tied to any period, and it is the default type: when no term is agreed, the relationship is indefinite. Notice periods apply when it is terminated, and in workplaces with thirty or more workers an employee with at least six months’ service can only be dismissed for a valid reason. Basis: Labour Law Art. 11 · Art. 17 · Art. 18.

K

KVKK

KVKK is the abbreviation of Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698; the same abbreviation is used for the Personal Data Protection Authority that enforces it. The law aims to protect fundamental rights and freedoms, above all privacy, when personal data is processed. On the HR side, notices, consent, data security, retention and destruction are built on this law. Basis: Law No. 6698. More: KVKK-compliant employee tracking.

L

Limitation period (zamanaşımı)

A limitation period is the time after which a claim can no longer be enforced through the courts. For annual leave pay and severance, notice, bad-faith and unequal-treatment compensation arising from an employment contract, the period is five years, whatever law the claim falls under. It is worth considering when planning how long to keep records. Basis: Labour Law Additional Art. 3.

M

Make-up work (telafi çalışması)

Make-up work is working, within four months, the hours lost when work stops for compelling reasons, the workplace closes before or after a public holiday, or the employee is given leave at their own request. These hours are not overtime or work beyond contract, so they carry no premium. The President may extend the four-month period up to double. Basis: Labour Law Art. 64. Rules: make-up work.

Material change to working conditions (esaslı değişiklik)

A material change is a significant change to working conditions set by the contract, staff rules or workplace practice, such as working hours, place of work or pay structure. The employer can make it only by written notice; if the employee does not accept it in writing within six working days, it does not bind them, and the employer can only proceed by terminating for a valid reason. Basis: Labour Law Art. 22.

Maternity leave (analık izni)

Maternity leave is the period during which a female employee may not be made to work: eight weeks before and sixteen weeks after birth, twenty-four weeks in total. In a multiple pregnancy two weeks are added to the period before birth. After it ends, the employee may also take up to six months of unpaid leave if she wishes; that second period follows the rules of unpaid leave. Basis: Labour Law No. 4857, Art. 74. For the unpaid period: unpaid leave in Türkiye.

Mediation before a reinstatement claim (arabuluculuk)

Mediation is the mandatory first step for an employee who wants reinstatement after dismissal. The employee must apply to a mediator within one month of being notified of the termination. If no agreement is reached, a claim can be filed with the labour court within two weeks of the final mediation report. Missing these deadlines can close the route to reinstatement. Basis: Labour Law Art. 20.

Mesai (everyday word for working time)

“Mesai” is the everyday Turkish word for the time an employee spends at work; the legal term is “çalışma süresi”, working time. “Mesai saatleri” means the workplace’s working hours, “mesai takibi” the recording of clock-ins and working time, and “fazla mesai” the statutory overtime. For a legal question, always check the definition of the statutory term. Basis: Labour Law Art. 63 (working time). Recording: overtime tracking.

Minimum wage (asgari ücret)

The minimum wage is the lowest pay that may be paid to any worker employed under an employment contract, whether or not the job falls under the Labour Law. It is set at least every two years by the Minimum Wage Determination Commission; its decisions are final and take effect on publication in the Official Gazette. The current amount changes each period, so this glossary does not state it. Basis: Labour Law Art. 39. Converting pay to an hourly rate: hourly wage calculation.

Missing days (eksik gün)

Missing days are the days in a month for which an insured employee neither worked nor was paid, so fewer than thirty days are reported to the Social Security Institution (SGK). The employer reports their number and reason in the monthly combined withholding and premium return. Unpaid leave, sick-note days and unexcused absence are the most common reasons; each has its own code and supporting document. Basis: Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, Art. 3(14) · Art. 86. Reasons and documents: SGK missing-day codes.

N

Night shift (gece postası)

A night shift is the shift that falls in the night period where work is done in shifts. The law stops the same employees staying on nights permanently: those who worked nights for one working week are put on day shifts in the next, and two-week rotation is also allowed. An employee changing shift must have at least eleven consecutive hours of rest before starting the other shift. Basis: Labour Law Art. 69. Planning: how to create a shift schedule.

Night work (gece çalışması)

In Turkish labour law, “night” is the period starting no later than 20:00 and ending no earlier than 06:00, lasting at most eleven hours. Night work by employees may not, as a rule, exceed seven and a half hours; there are exceptions for jobs such as tourism, private security and healthcare. Overtime is not allowed during night work. Basis: Labour Law Art. 69 · Art. 41. Rules: night work rules.

Notice of termination (fesih bildirimi)

A notice of termination is the statement by which a party ends the employment contract. The employer must give it in writing and state the reason clearly and precisely. An indefinite-term contract cannot be ended for reasons related to the employee’s conduct or performance without first hearing the employee’s defence; the employer’s right of immediate termination under Art. 25(II) is reserved. Basis: Labour Law Art. 19.

Notice period (ihbar süresi)

The notice period is the advance warning the terminating party must give before ending an indefinite-term contract. It is two weeks if service is under six months, four weeks from six months to eighteen months, six weeks from eighteen months to three years and eight weeks above three years. These are minimums and may be extended by contract. Basis: Labour Law Art. 17.

O

Occupational disease (meslek hastalığı)

Under health and safety law, an occupational disease is an illness arising from exposure to occupational risks. It is linked to factors from the work itself, such as noise, dust, chemicals or repetitive movement. During rest due to an occupational disease, temporary incapacity benefit is paid for every day, as with a work accident. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(l) · Social Insurance Law Art. 18.

Occupational health and safety (iş sağlığı ve güvenliği, İSG)

Occupational health and safety is the field that sets the duties, powers, responsibilities, rights and obligations of employers and employees to ensure health and safety at work and improve existing conditions. Its core statute is Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331; risk assessment, the workplace physician, the safety specialist and employee training are its main tools. Basis: Law No. 6331.

Occupational safety specialist (iş güvenliği uzmanı)

An occupational safety specialist is a person authorised by the Ministry to work in occupational health and safety and holding a safety specialist certificate; they come from engineers, architects, technical staff or the inspectors listed in the law. The employer appoints one from among its employees or, if no suitable person exists, buys the service from a joint health and safety unit. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(f) · Art. 6(1)(a).

On-call work (çağrı üzerine çalışma)

On-call work is a part-time employment relationship in which a written contract states that the employee will work when the employer needs the agreed work done. If the parties do not set how much work is due in a week, month or year, twenty hours a week is deemed agreed. The employee earns pay for the agreed period whether or not they are actually called in. Basis: Labour Law Art. 14. Part-time rules: part-time work in Türkiye.

Overtime (fazla çalışma)

Overtime is work above forty-five hours a week within the conditions set by law. Each overtime hour is paid at the normal hourly rate plus fifty per cent, or, if the employee prefers, compensated with one and a half hours of time off. Total overtime may not exceed two hundred and seventy hours a year, requires the employee’s consent and is not allowed during night work. Basis: Labour Law Art. 41. Calculation and tool: overtime calculation.

Overtime consent (fazla çalışma onayı)

Overtime consent is the employee’s written agreement to work overtime and hours beyond the contract. It is obtained when the contract is signed or when the need arises, and kept in the personnel file. It is not required for overtime due to compelling reasons or emergencies. The employee may withdraw consent by giving thirty days’ written notice. Basis: Labour Law Art. 41 · Regulation on Overtime and Work beyond Contractual Hours, Art. 9. Form and rules: overtime consent form.

Overtime for compelling reasons (zorunlu nedenlerle fazla çalışma)

Overtime for compelling reasons is overtime during a breakdown or when one is likely, for urgent work on machines and equipment, or in force majeure, limited to what is needed to restore normal operation. The employee’s consent is not required, but employees who work it must be given suitable rest. Basis: Labour Law Art. 42 · Regulation on Overtime and Work beyond Contractual Hours, Art. 9.

P

Part-time work (kısmi süreli çalışma)

Part-time work is an employment contract whose normal weekly hours are significantly lower than those of a comparable full-time worker. A part-time employee may not be treated differently merely because of being part-time unless there is a justified reason; divisible pay and monetary benefits are paid in proportion to hours worked. Basis: Labour Law Art. 13. Rules: part-time work.

Payroll register (ücret bordrosu)

The payroll register is the record employers must keep under tax law for the wages they pay each month. It shows at least each employee’s name and signature for receipt, the pay period, gross amount and deductions. The difference from puantaj: puantaj counts days and hours, the payroll turns that count into amounts. Basis: Tax Procedure Law No. 213, Art. 238. How they link: what is puantaj.

Payslip (ücret hesap pusulası)

A payslip is the signed or employer-stamped statement given to the employee with each payment, showing how the wage was calculated. It shows the payment date and period, and separately every addition to base pay such as overtime, weekly rest, festival and public holiday pay, as well as deductions. In everyday speech it is called “maaş pusulası” or “bordro dökümü”. Basis: Labour Law Art. 37.

PDKS (personnel attendance control system)

PDKS stands for Personel Devam Kontrol Sistemi: a system that records employees’ clock-in and clock-out times electronically and uses them to calculate working time, lateness, absence and overtime. The term does not appear in the law, but paying overtime, observing rest breaks and the eleven-hour daily limit all require working time to be recorded. Basis: Labour Law Art. 41 · Art. 63 · Art. 68 (provisions requiring a record). Definition: what is PDKS · product: time and attendance.

Personal data (kişisel veri)

Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. For an employee, besides name and ID number, clock-in and clock-out times, location records, leave and sick-note details, performance notes and camera footage are all personal data. Each processing activity must rest on a purpose and on a legal ground listed in the law. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 3(1)(d) · Art. 5. In practice: KVKK-compliant employee tracking.

Personnel file (özlük dosyası)

The personnel file is the file an employer keeps for each employee, holding identity details and every document and record it must keep under the Labour Law and other laws. The employer must show it to competent authorities on request, use information about the employee honestly and lawfully, and keep confidential what the employee has a legitimate interest in keeping private. Basis: Labour Law Art. 75. Document list: personnel file requirements.

Premium payment days (prim ödeme gün sayısı)

Premium payment days are the days for which premiums are reported to the Social Security Institution for an insured person, often called “SGK prim günü”. In social insurance law a month is counted as thirty days, so an employee who worked the whole month is reported for thirty days regardless of the calendar. In a month reported with fewer days, the reason for the missing days is stated. Basis: Social Insurance Law Art. 3(14) · Art. 86. More: SGK missing-day codes.

Probation period (deneme süresi)

A probation period is a trial phase written into the employment contract; it can be at most two months, or up to four months under a collective agreement. During it either party may end the contract without notice and without compensation. Pay and other rights for the days worked remain due, and the probation period counts towards the one year needed for annual leave. Basis: Labour Law Art. 15 · Art. 53.

Processing of personal data (kişisel verilerin işlenmesi)

Processing is any operation on personal data, wholly or partly automated or as part of a filing system: obtaining, recording, storing, keeping, changing, disclosing, transferring, classifying and similar. Simply keeping data in a file or viewing it in a spreadsheet is therefore processing. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 3(1)(e).

Puantaj (monthly timesheet)

Puantaj is the sheet that turns each day of each employee’s month into a status (worked, on leave, sick, weekly rest, public holiday, absent) and an hour total. It is produced from clock records, shifts, leave and sick notes, and it is the input to payroll. The word is not in the law, but duties such as showing overtime and holiday pay separately on the payslip require it. Basis: Labour Law Art. 37 · Art. 41 (provisions requiring a record). Definition: what is puantaj · how-to: preparing a timesheet.

Public holiday (genel tatil)

Public holidays are the days recognised by law as national and public holidays. An employee who does not work on such a day receives that day’s full pay without working; one who works receives an extra day’s pay for each day worked. Which days are holidays is listed in Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and Public Holidays. Basis: Labour Law Art. 47 · Law No. 2429. Calendar and pay: public holidays 2026 · holiday pay calculation.

R

Reinstatement (işe iade)

Reinstatement is the route back to work for an employee dismissed without a valid reason or for an invalid one. If the termination is found invalid, the employer must take the employee back within one month; otherwise it pays compensation of at least four and at most eight months’ wages. The claim starts with mediation within one month of the notice. Basis: Labour Law Art. 20 · Art. 21.

Remote work (uzaktan çalışma)

Remote work is a written employment relationship in which the employee performs the work, within the employer’s organisation, at home or away from the workplace using technological communication tools. The contract covers the job description, how and where it is done, hours, pay, equipment provided by the employer and how the employer will communicate. Details are in the Remote Work Regulation. Basis: Labour Law Art. 14 · Remote Work Regulation. More: remote work regulation.

Rest break (ara dinlenme)

A rest break is the pause given around the middle of the working day and it does not count as working time. Minimums depend on the length of the day: fifteen minutes for work of four hours or less, thirty minutes for more than four and up to seven and a half hours, one hour for more than seven and a half hours. They are minimums and are normally given in one piece. Basis: Labour Law Art. 68 · Regulation on Working Time, Art. 3. Examples: rest break rules.

Risk assessment (risk değerlendirmesi)

A risk assessment is the work done to identify hazards existing at or coming into the workplace, analyse and rank the factors that turn them into risks, and decide on control measures. It is the core health and safety document; situations such as night shifts, lone working and young workers are addressed in it. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(ö).

S

Severance pay (kıdem tazminatı)

Severance pay is compensation equal to thirty days’ wages for each full year of service, paid when the contract ends in one of the ways listed by law; part-years count at the same rate, so at least one full year is needed. The listed cases are: dismissal other than for misconduct, the employee’s resignation for just cause, military service, retirement, a woman leaving within a year of marriage, and death. It is calculated on the last total remuneration. Basis: Labour Law No. 1475, Art. 14 (kept in force by Law No. 4857, Art. 120) · Law No. 4857, Additional Art. 3.

Shift (posta)

“Posta” is the legal term for a group of employees working in rotation where work is continuous or runs long hours; the everyday word is “vardiya”. For shift work, special rules on working time, night work, weekly rest and breaks are set in the Regulation on Special Procedures for Work Carried Out in Shifts. Basis: Labour Law Art. 69 · Shift Work Regulation. Planning: shift scheduling.

Sick-note day (raporlu gün)

A sick-note day is a day the employee does not come to work because of a rest report from an authorised physician. As a rule the Social Security Institution, not the employer, pays for these days as temporary incapacity benefit; for illness it starts on the third day, for work accidents and occupational disease on the first. Sick-note days are recorded separately from absence and unpaid leave. Basis: Social Insurance Law Art. 18. More: sick leave pay.

Special categories of personal data (özel nitelikli kişisel veri)

Special categories of personal data are data on race, ethnic origin, political opinion, beliefs, dress, membership of associations, foundations or unions, health, sex life, criminal convictions, and biometric and genetic data. Processing them is prohibited as a rule and allowed only under the exceptions listed in the law. In HR, medical reports and biometrics are the most common examples. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 6. Biometrics: principle decision 2026/921.

Split annual leave (bölümler hâlinde yıllık izin)

As a rule, the employer cannot split annual paid leave and must grant it continuously. If both parties agree, leave may be taken in parts, provided one part is at least ten days. Other paid or unpaid leave, rest and sick leave given during the year cannot be deducted from annual leave, so compassionate leave or a sick note does not reduce the annual leave balance. Basis: Labour Law Art. 56. Calculation: annual leave calculation.

Standby time (hazır bekleme)

Standby time is time an employee spends at work, ready to work at any moment, waiting for work without being given any; it counts as working time. Time an employee spends idle at the workplace waiting for a customer or a delivery is working time and is not deducted as “idle” on the timesheet. It must not be confused with a rest break. Basis: Labour Law Art. 66(1)(c).

Subcontractor (alt işveren)

A subcontractor is an employer that takes on auxiliary work at another employer’s workplace, or a part of the main work that requires expertise for operational or technological reasons, and employs its workers for that job only at that workplace. The principal employer is jointly liable with the subcontractor towards the subcontractor’s workers for obligations arising from the law and the employment and collective agreements. Basis: Labour Law No. 4857, Art. 2.

Successive fixed-term contracts (zincirleme iş sözleşmesi)

Successive fixed-term contracts are fixed-term contracts made back-to-back with the same employee. This is not allowed without a material reason; if it happens, the contract is treated as indefinite from the start and the employee gets the protection of notice, severance and job security. Successive contracts based on a material reason keep their fixed-term nature. Basis: Labour Law Art. 11.

Support staff for emergencies (destek elemanı)

Support staff are people specially assigned, alongside their main job, to prevention, protection, evacuation, fire-fighting and first aid, with suitable equipment and adequate training. They make sure the first responders in an emergency are known in advance; in shift-based workplaces planning should check that each shift has them. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(ç).

T

Team contract (takım sözleşmesi)

A team contract is made with the employer by one member of a team of workers acting as team leader on behalf of the others. When each named worker starts work, an employment contract on the terms of the team contract is deemed made between that worker and the employer, so records such as the timesheet are kept per person, not per team. Basis: Labour Law Art. 16.

Temporary incapacity benefit (geçici iş göremezlik ödeneği)

Temporary incapacity benefit is the money the Social Security Institution (SGK) pays an insured person on a medical rest report for the days they cannot work. For a work accident or occupational disease it is paid for every day. For illness it starts on the third day of the report, provided at least ninety days of short-term insurance premiums were reported in the year before. A report from an authorised physician is required. Basis: Social Insurance Law No. 5510, Art. 18. Timesheet and pay: sick leave pay.

Termination for a valid reason (geçerli sebep)

Termination for a valid reason is the employer ending an indefinite-term contract for a reason relating to the employee’s capability or conduct, or to the needs of the business, workplace or job. Employees with at least six months’ service in workplaces with thirty or more workers have this protection. Without a valid reason the employee can seek reinstatement. Basis: Labour Law Art. 18 · Art. 20.

Termination for just cause (haklı neden)

Termination for just cause ends the contract immediately, without waiting for the term or giving notice. It is available on grounds listed separately for employees and employers: health reasons, conduct contrary to morality and good faith, and compelling reasons. A termination based on misconduct must as a rule be made within six working days of learning of it and within one year of the act. Basis: Labour Law Art. 24 · Art. 25 · Art. 26.

Termination with notice (bildirimli fesih)

Termination with notice ends an indefinite-term contract after warning the other party in advance. Depending on the employee’s service, the contract ends two, four, six or eight weeks after notice; these are minimums and can be extended by contract. The employer may instead pay the wages for the notice period in advance. A party that ignores notice pays compensation in lieu of notice. Basis: Labour Law Art. 17.

Time off in lieu (serbest zaman)

Time off in lieu is paid free time an employee may take instead of premium pay for overtime or hours beyond the contract. It is one and a half hours for each overtime hour and one hour fifteen minutes for each hour beyond the contract. The employee uses it within six months, during working hours and without loss of pay. Basis: Labour Law Art. 41. Calculation: overtime calculation.

Total remuneration for severance (giydirilmiş ücret)

“Giydirilmiş ücret” is the pay used to calculate severance and notice compensation: base pay plus the money and money-measurable contractual and statutory benefits provided to the employee, so regular benefits such as meals, transport and bonuses are considered. The phrase is practice, not statute; the rule itself is in Article 14 of Law No. 1475. Basis: Labour Law No. 1475, Art. 14.

U

Unexcused absence (devamsızlık)

Unexcused absence means not coming to work without the employer’s permission or a justified reason. The law lets the employer terminate immediately for just cause when an employee is absent two working days in a row, twice in a month on the working day after a holiday, or three working days in a month. Recording and proving the absence is the employer’s burden. Basis: Labour Law Art. 25(II)(g). Records: absenteeism records.

Unpaid leave (ücretsiz izin)

Unpaid leave is leave during which the contract continues but the employee does not work and the employer pays nothing for those days. The Labour Law has no general unpaid leave article: it makes unpaid leave mandatory in a few cases, such as up to six months after birth, and leaves the rest to agreement. Unpaid leave days are reported to the Social Security Institution as missing days. Basis: Labour Law Art. 56 · Art. 74 · Social Insurance Law Art. 86. More: unpaid leave in Türkiye.

Unpaid wages (ücretin ödenmemesi)

If wages are not paid within twenty days of the pay date, except for force majeure, the employee may refuse to work. Employees who stop work for this reason cannot be dismissed or replaced by new hires, and this is not a strike even if many do it. The highest interest rate applied to deposits accrues on wages not paid on time. Basis: Labour Law Art. 34.

V

Vardiya (everyday word for shift)

“Vardiya” is the everyday Turkish word for a shift, a slice of the workplace’s hours split between groups of employees; the legal term is “posta”. A shift plan must respect the eleven-hour daily limit, rest breaks, the seven-and-a-half-hour night limit, day-night rotation and at least eleven hours of uninterrupted rest when changing shift. Basis: Labour Law Art. 63 · Art. 68 · Art. 69. How-to: shift schedule · template: shift schedule template.

VERBİS (Data Controllers’ Registry)

The Data Controllers’ Registry is the public register kept by the Personal Data Protection Authority, in which natural and legal persons processing personal data must register before they start processing; in practice it is known by the name of its system, VERBİS. The Board may grant exemptions using objective criteria such as the nature and volume of data and whether processing is required by law; the thresholds are in Board decisions. Basis: Personal Data Protection Law Art. 16.

W

Wage (ücret)

In general terms, a wage is the amount paid in money by the employer or third parties to a person in return for work. Wages, premiums, bonuses and similar entitlements are paid in Turkish lira, at the workplace or into a bank account opened for the purpose. Wages are paid at least monthly; contracts may shorten the period to one week. Basis: Labour Law Art. 32.

Weekly rest day (hafta tatili)

The weekly rest day is an uninterrupted rest of at least twenty-four hours within each seven-day period, given to employees who worked the preceding working days. The employer pays the full wage for the weekly rest day without work in return. The weekly rest day and public holidays are separate rights; a public holiday falling on a rest day is a separate calculation. Basis: Labour Law Art. 46. Calculation: weekly rest and holiday pay.

Weekly working hours (haftalık çalışma süresi)

Weekly working time is at most forty-five hours in general and, unless agreed otherwise, is divided equally across the working days. The parties may spread it differently, but a working day may not exceed eleven hours. In underground mining the limit is seven and a half hours a day and thirty-seven and a half a week. Time above the limit is overtime. Basis: Labour Law Art. 63. More: weekly working hours.

Work accident (iş kazası)

Under health and safety law, a work accident is an event occurring at the workplace or because of the conduct of work that causes death or physical or mental disability. Social insurance law has its own definition as well. For rest following a work accident, temporary incapacity benefit is paid from the first day of the report. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(g) · Social Insurance Law Art. 18.

Work beyond contractual hours (fazla sürelerle çalışma)

Work beyond contractual hours applies where the contract sets weekly hours below forty-five: work above the agreed average but up to forty-five hours. Each such hour is paid at the normal hourly rate plus twenty-five per cent, or the employee may take one hour and fifteen minutes off instead. Anything above forty-five hours is ordinary overtime. Basis: Labour Law Art. 41. Example: weekly working hours.

Working time (çalışma süresi)

Working time is the time an employee spends at the work they are employed for. Some other periods also count, such as travel when sent elsewhere by the employer, time spent ready and waiting for work and nursing time for breastfeeding employees; rest breaks do not count. The general weekly limit is forty-five hours and a working day may not exceed eleven hours. Basis: Labour Law Art. 63 · Art. 66 · Regulation on Working Time, Art. 3. Calculate: working hours calculator.

Working-time averaging (denkleştirme)

Averaging applies when normal weekly hours are spread unevenly across days: the employee’s average weekly hours over a two-month period must not exceed the normal weekly hours. In that case hours above forty-five in some weeks are not overtime. A collective agreement can extend the period to four months; in tourism the rule is four months, extendable to six by collective agreement. Basis: Labour Law Art. 41 · Art. 63. Worked examples: working-time averaging.

Workplace (işyeri)

A workplace is the unit in which the employer organises tangible and intangible elements together with employees to produce goods or services. Places attached to it and facilities such as rest, nursing, dining, sleeping, washing, medical, training areas and yards, as well as vehicles, also count as part of the workplace. Together they form one whole. Basis: Labour Law Art. 2.

Workplace physician (işyeri hekimi)

A workplace physician is a doctor authorised by the Ministry to work in occupational health and safety and holding a workplace physician certificate. The employer appoints one from its staff or, if no qualified person exists, obtains all or part of the service from a joint health and safety unit or an employee health centre (ÇASMER). Very hazardous workplaces with ten or more employees must also appoint other health personnel. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(ı) · Art. 6(1)(a).

Written record (tutanak)

A “tutanak” is a document recording a workplace event, such as an absence, lateness, accident or handover of equipment, with date, time and witnesses. It is not a document type defined in the Labour Law; its value is as evidence. In practice it is drawn up at or right after the event, signed by at least two witnesses, and a refusal by the employee to sign is noted. Basis: not defined in statute; used as evidence in cases under Labour Law Art. 19 · Art. 25. Template: absence record template.

Y

Young worker (genç çalışan)

A young worker is an employee who has completed fifteen but not yet reached eighteen years of age. Health and safety law treats them as a separate protected group: age-appropriate tasks, training and supervision are planned in the risk assessment and in job assignments. Employees aged eighteen or under are entitled to at least twenty days of annual paid leave regardless of service. Basis: Occupational Health and Safety Law Art. 3(1)(e) · Labour Law Art. 53.

Where the definitions come from

Statutory terms were written from the official text of the relevant law, read in its current form on mevzuat.gov.tr; the article number is next to every definition. Personal data terms follow the definitions in Article 3 of Law No. 6698, health and safety terms Article 3 of Law No. 6331. Severance pay rests on Article 14 of the former Labour Law No. 1475, which Article 120 of Law No. 4857 kept in force.

Everyday terms (fazla mesai, puantaj, vardiya) were matched to their statutory equivalents. Interpretations based on court rulings were not included: for details shaped by case law, see the linked guide and a professional. For free calculators see the HR calculators; for ready-made forms see the templates.

This glossary is for information only and is not legal or payroll advice. For a specific dispute, check the current text of the law and consult a professional.