Sector · Private security companies

Security guard scheduling software: scattered sites, 12-hour posts

A security company’s guards do not work in its own office but at the client’s housing estate, factory or car park. If the relief does not arrive, the guard on duty cannot leave. This page sets out the Turkish legal frame for 12-hour posts and how the system keeps every site as a separate work area.

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Every client site is a work areaMissing relief on the live boardNight 7.5-hour warning11 hours’ rest between posts

What makes tracking hard for a security company?

What makes tracking hard is that the workplace belongs to the client, not to the company. Forty guards are spread over fifteen sites; the operations manager at head office usually learns who is at which gate by phone, on the guard’s own word. The invoice sent to the client at month end rests on those same statements.

The second difficulty is the handover. The night guard hands over to the day guard at 07:00; if the day guard is late or does not turn up, the night guard waits so that the post is not left empty. If that wait is not written in the paper logbook, it reaches neither the guard’s pay nor the client’s service report. If it is written, nobody can tell who wrote it and when.

The third is the law. Under Turkish law, private security is one of the few lines of work where the 7.5-hour limit on night work allows an exception — but the exception does not apply by itself; it depends on the guard’s written consent. A roster built without knowing why a 12-hour post can be lawful, and which patterns stop being lawful, causes trouble at the first inspection or the first wage claim.

Is a 12-hour post lawful in Türkiye?

In short: if a 12-hour post includes a 1-hour rest break, net working time is 11 hours and within the daily ceiling; for the part of night work beyond 7.5 hours the guard’s written consent is required. The table shows where each rule comes from.

Is a 12-hour post lawful in Türkiye?
Rule	Source	What it means for security
Daily working time may not exceed 11 hours in any way	Working Time Regulation art. 4	A 12-hour post only comes down to 11 hours net with at least a 1-hour break
Work over 7.5 hours gets at least a 1-hour break, not counted as working time	Labour Law No. 4857 art. 68	The post spans 12 hours; measured work is 11 hours
Two posts may be arranged in 24 hours	Shift Work Regulation art. 4(a)	The general three-post requirement does not apply to private security
Night work may not exceed 7.5 hours; in private security it may, with written consent	Labour Law art. 69 · Shift Work Regulation art. 7	Consent is per guard and in writing
No overtime may be worked during night work	Labour Law art. 41	Extending a night post cannot be solved with overtime
At least 11 hours’ uninterrupted rest when posts change	Shift Work Regulation art. 9	Moving from days to nights needs at least 11 hours in between

Under art. 7 of the Shift Work Regulation, the private security exception covers private security companies holding an operating licence and anyone employed as a private security guard at any workplace. Staff at the same site who are not security guards (reception, cleaning) do not benefit from it.

Which rota pattern goes over 45 hours a week?

The weekly limit is driven not by the length of a post but by how many posts fall in a week. Each post is assumed to be 11 hours net (12 hours with a 1-hour break).

Which rota pattern goes over 45 hours a week?
Pattern	Average posts per week	Average net hours per week	Result
12 on · 36 off	3.5	38.5 hours	Below 45
2 days · 2 nights · 4 off (8-day cycle; 24 hours between day and night posts)	3.5	38.5 hours	Below 45
4 posts a week, fixed	4	44 hours	Very close; one extra post goes over
12 on · 24 off	about 4.67	about 51.3 hours	Over 45; the excess is overtime

Under art. 41 of Labour Law No. 4857, work above 45 hours a week is overtime and no overtime may be worked during night work. Ask your employment lawyer before setting up a 12/24 pattern that includes night posts. The table is a worked example, not legal advice.

How the system is set up for a security company

Every client site is a work area

The location and radius of the estate, factory or car park are defined; if you are on site, “use my current location” is enough. The guard clocks in there by phone with location.

Location-bound QR in the gatehouse

The code posted in the gatehouse is tied to that site’s location. Photographing it and scanning it elsewhere does not become a clock-in.

Site = department

Each client site is added to the department tree; the site supervisor, as department head, sees and approves only that site’s guards.

Missing relief

A guard expected today who has not clocked in shows on the live board. The operations manager knows before the guard on duty picks up the phone.

Missed clock-out

A guard who forgets to clock out after the morning handover gets a reminder; a record still open is closed by company rule and flagged as an “automatic clock-out”.

11 hours between posts

Shift swap requests and future-dated shift changes measure the rest between two shifts; if 11 hours are not left, the earliest suitable day is suggested.

Night 7.5-hour warning

For a shift whose night work exceeds 7.5 hours the system warns rather than blocks, because private security has a written-consent exception and the manager decides.

Long time off site

If the company turns it on, the manager is alerted when a guard stays outside the work area for a long time while on shift; the alert carries the duration only, not the location.

What the system does NOT do for security work

What you should know before buying. These stay with another tool or on paper.

It is not a guard-tour system. Scanning a series of checkpoints through the night (tour points, patrol wands) is not part of this system. It records the start and end of the shift, breaks and time spent outside the work area.
It does not store the written consent. The guard’s written consent to night work over 7.5 hours stays in your personnel file. The system knows neither your sector nor that consent, so it only warns.
It does not find a replacement by itself. An open-shift posting goes to staff working that day on a different shift; a guard on the weekly rest day or on leave cannot volunteer. The emergency cover plan is the operations manager’s job.
We do not promise a separate client login. Letting the client watch the guards in their own panel is not a feature described for the standard setup; you share the site-filtered timesheet as PDF, CSV or Excel.
No biometric verification. Fingerprints and face recognition are not used; the Turkish Data Protection Board’s principle decision No. 2026/921 held that processing biometric data for attendance is unlawful even with explicit consent. If the company wishes, a photo is requested at clock-in and attached to the record.

What the employer must keep in writing for a post rota

The Shift Work Regulation places posting and list duties on the employer. The system keeps the records; the posting itself is your workplace’s responsibility.

Posting (art. 3) — the number of posts, each post’s start and end time, the guards’ names, rest breaks and weekly rest days are posted where staff can easily see them. We do not claim that a guard seeing their shift on their phone replaces that notice; keep the posted list.
Name lists (art. 12) — lists of those working in each post are kept at the workplace to be produced when the Ministry asks. A timesheet filtered by site makes them easier to prepare.
Weekly rest (art. 11) — in shift work a weekly rest of no less than 24 hours is given on one day of the week, by rotation.
Day/night rotation (art. 8) — a guard who works nights for at most one working week moves to days the following working week; where the work allows, a two-week rotation may be used. Build the plan accordingly.
Recording working time — art. 9 of the Working Time Regulation requires the employer to record working time by suitable means. Clock-in records and the approved monthly timesheet are the basis of that record.

Pricing example for a security company

Tiered price per person (excluding VAT): 1–50 employees ₺59 · 51–100 ₺52 · 101–200 ₺45. Each guard is billed at the price of their own tier.
120 guards = 50 × ₺59 + 50 × ₺52 + 20 × ₺45 = ₺6,450/month (excluding VAT).
The price follows headcount; the price list has no per-site or per-QR-code item. Department Management is free for every company.
30-day free trial: start with one or two client sites and run it alongside your current logbook.

Sources

The article references in this guide are based on these official texts (in Turkish). Legislation can change; check the current text before acting.

When security companies ask

How does a 19:00–07:00 night post appear in the system?

With a 1-hour break, net work is 11 hours; more than half of it falls between 20:00 and 06:00, so it is a night post. Because night work exceeds 7.5 hours the system warns on the shift definition but saves it; in private security the exception depends on the guard’s written consent. Any overtime request from a guard on this post is stopped at the request stage.

What happens to the time a night guard spends waiting when the day guard does not show?

The guard’s clock-in and clock-out are recorded at the real time, so the wait shows on the timesheet. But since no overtime may be worked at night, the system will not open an overtime request for this post. The right fix is to see the missing relief early on the live board and send cover in time; review the legal nature of the wait with your adviser.

What if guards must leave their phones before entering the client’s building?

A location-bound QR code is posted in the gatehouse or security room, or a shared tablet is placed there; the guard picks their name and clocks in with a personal PIN. The tablet needs a connection; for QR and phone clock-ins without a connection, the record is stored on the phone with the tap time and sent later.

Can the same guard work at two different client sites in one week?

Yes. Each site is a separate work area, and the record keeps the location where the guard clocked in. If the guard works two sites on the same day, multiple clock-ins per day are enabled in company settings. Because the timesheet filters by department, you get hours per site.

Can our receptionist work 12-hour nights like the guards?

Art. 7 of the Shift Work Regulation applies the private security exception to private security companies and to people employed as private security guards. Staff who are not security guards do not benefit from it; their night work should not exceed 7.5 hours. The system warns in both cases; you make the distinction.

Tell us about your sites and rota

How many client sites, how many guards and which rota pattern? We define the work areas and shifts with you during onboarding, free of charge.

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+90 541 454 25 24 bilgi@medyajans.com.tr