Remote work regulation in Türkiye: the contract, working hours and tracking remote employees

What is remote work under Turkish law?

Remote work is an employment relationship established in writing in which the employee performs the work, within the employer’s organisation, at home or outside the workplace using technological communication tools (Labour Law art. 14/4). The definition was added to the law in 2016; the details are in the Remote Work Regulation (Official Gazette 10.03.2021, No. 31419).

Under the regulation a remote worker is an employee who performs all or part of the work remotely (art. 4). Someone working from home part of the week falls within the definition; the 2026 amendment expressly regulated this arrangement and how it is written into the contract.

Remote work is not a separate type of contract but a way of performing an employment contract: the employee keeps every right under the Labour Law. Annual leave, weekly rest, overtime pay and severance are calculated under the same rules as for office staff.

What must a remote work contract contain?

Employment contracts for remote work are made in writing (Regulation art. 5/1). The law (art. 14/5) and the regulation list the same headings:

• Description of the work, how it is done, its duration and place,
• Pay and how it is paid,
• Tools and equipment provided by the employer and obligations to protect them,
• How the employer communicates with the employee,
• General and specific working conditions,
• The definition and scope of data to be protected (art. 11/2),
• How necessary expenses are identified and covered (art. 8),
• The time window and duration of remote work; for partly on-site work, the days on site and remote and the working hours (art. 9).

Equipment, workspace and expenses

Unless the contract says otherwise, the employer provides the materials and tools needed for the remote worker’s output; the rules of use and the maintenance and repair conditions are communicated clearly (art. 7/1).

• Equipment list. If the employer provides the tools, a written list showing their value at handover is given to the employee; the copy signed by the employee is kept in the personnel file. If the list is in the contract or annexed to it on signing, no separate document is needed (art. 7/2).
• Workspace. Where needed, arrangements to the workspace are completed before work starts; how their cost is covered is decided jointly (art. 6).
• Expenses. How necessary expenses directly tied to producing the goods or services are identified and covered is set out in the contract (art. 8). The regulation sets no amount or rate.

For what the personnel file holds, see the personnel file guide.

Working hours in remote work

The time window and duration of remote work are set in the employment contract; the parties may change working hours within the legal limits (Regulation art. 9/1). Working from home does not lift the Labour Law’s time rules: the 45-hour week, the 11-hour day and rest breaks apply to remote workers too.

• Overtime is worked on the employer’s written request, with the employee’s acceptance and in line with the law (art. 9/1). An oral or implicit “just check it this evening” does not meet that condition.
• Communication — method and time window — is set jointly by employee and employer (art. 10). A communication window written into the contract also marks the limit for messages outside working hours.
• Documentation. The employer must document employees’ working hours by suitable means (Regulation on Working Time art. 9). The employee being at home does not remove that duty.

For how weekly hours are spread and the daily limit, see the weekly working hours guide.

The 2026 amendment: partly on site, partly remote

An amendment published in the Official Gazette of 25 September 2026, No. 33381, added a second paragraph to article 9: it may be agreed that part of the work is done at the workplace and part remotely, and in that case the days on site and remote and the working hours are set in the employment contract. The amendment took effect on publication.

Example. An employee in the office on Tuesday and Thursday 08:30–18:00 and working from home Monday, Wednesday and Friday 09:00–18:00 needs those days and hours in the contract. A clause such as “two office days a week” that leaves the days open is incomplete after the amendment; if the days are to change, the contract should also say how.

Data protection

The employer informs the remote worker about the business rules and legislation on protecting and sharing data relating to the workplace and the work, and takes the necessary measures; the contract defines the data to be protected. The remote worker must follow those rules (Regulation art. 11).

The duty runs two ways and is often confused: article 11 protects the company’s data (client files, trade secrets). The employee’s own personal data is protected by the Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698, and the employer must keep that secure too (6698 art. 12). A measure taken to protect company data does not justify disproportionate processing of the employee’s personal data.

Tracking remote employees: where does KVKK draw the line?

The line is drawn by KVKK’s general principle: personal data must be relevant, limited and proportionate to the purpose of processing (6698 art. 4/2-ç). Recording when work starts and ends serves that purpose; continuously watching what an employee does all day goes beyond it in most jobs.

The last column is an assessment based on the statutory principle; no decision of the Personal Data Protection Board on screen monitoring in remote work was reviewed for this guide. Biometric data is special-category data (6698 art. 6/1); for biometrics in attendance, see our separate guide.

Whatever method is chosen, the employee is informed in advance of the purpose, method and legal ground of collection (6698 art. 10). For location and biometrics, see the KVKK-compliant tracking guide and the biometric attendance guide.

How to keep a remote employee’s working-time record

A remote employee’s record is kept, as in the office, at the start and end of work; the difference is that it comes from the employee’s own device rather than a door. The aim is to make actual work comparable with the time window in the contract and to document overtime with its consent.

• A record that opens and closes the day. The employee clocks in and out from phone or computer at the start and end of work. Continuous monitoring during the day is not needed.
• Mark remote days in the calendar. In a hybrid arrangement the office and remote days are in the contract; if the recording system does not know them, a clock-in from home looks “off site” or a remote day looks like absence.
• Tie overtime to request and approval. In remote work overtime starts with the employer’s written request; the record should hold the request, the employee’s acceptance and the actual time together.
• Record breaks. Rest breaks are not working time, at home either.
• Do not store the home location. When the place of work is written in the contract, recording the home address at every clock-in produces no new information and accumulates data beyond the purpose.

Plan for lost connections too: if the record is held on the device and sent when the connection returns, the device states the time and the record should show it was made offline. For every record corrected afterwards, who corrected it, when and why should be kept; a record without a correction trail is weak evidence on its own in a dispute.

Example. An employee whose contract sets 09:00–18:00 with a one-hour break on remote days clocks in at 09:05 and out at 18:40 on Wednesday. Net work is 8 hours 35 minutes. If the extra 40 minutes were worked on the employer’s written request they count towards overtime and are assessed in the weekly total; if not, what that time was should be clarified with the manager. The record is what makes that conversation possible.

In our clock-in tracking, if an employee clocks in from home or outside a defined work area the record is created but flagged as off-site; the manager sees flagged records and can ask for an explanation. Blocking such clock-ins entirely is also possible; it is a configurable rule. Location is taken only while a shift is open. Overtime goes through request and approval, and cannot be approved for an employee without recorded overtime consent. Details: mobile clock-in.

Moving to remote work and back

The employment may be established directly with a remote work contract, or an on-site employee’s contract may be converted into one by agreement of employee and employer (Regulation art. 14/1).

Work that cannot be done remotely

Remote work is not allowed in work with hazardous chemicals, radioactive substances or their waste, or with a risk of exposure to biological agents (Regulation art. 13/1). For work outsourced by public bodies and units, projects, facilities and services of strategic importance for national security, the responsible public body decides where remote work is not allowed (art. 13/2).

Equal treatment, health and safety, notices

• Equal treatment. Without a material reason, a remote worker may not be treated differently from a comparable employee solely because of the nature of the contract (Labour Law art. 14/6). Withholding meals, bonuses or training given to office staff without a material reason falls foul of this rule.
• Occupational health and safety. Taking the nature of the work into account, the employer informs the employee, provides the necessary training, ensures health surveillance and takes safety measures for the equipment it supplies (Regulation art. 12; Labour Law art. 14/6).
• Notices. Notices under the Labour Law are given in writing against signature or, with the employee’s written acceptance, by registered electronic mail (KEP); notices leading to termination are always in writing (art. 109). A termination notice sent to a remote worker by ordinary e-mail or message does not meet this requirement.

This guide is for information only and is not legal or payroll advice. Your collective agreement or employment contract may contain more favourable terms.