Employee benefits and leave entitlements in Turkey

Turkey has a well-developed statutory benefits framework, and getting it right matters — non-compliance with Labour Law No. 4857 (İş Kanunu) can expose employers to penalties and back-pay claims. This guide covers everything you need to know about annual leave, public holidays, sick leave, parental leave, health insurance, and the private pension scheme for employees on Turkish contracts.

Annual leave

Turkey’s annual leave entitlements scale with length of service under Labour Law 4857. All employees must complete at least one year of service before they’re entitled to paid leave — the qualifying year includes any probation period.

Entitlement by service length

These are statutory minimums. You can offer more generous leave in employment contracts, but you can’t go below them.

How leave works in practice

Leave must be used within the employment year that follows the year in which entitlement accrues — this isn’t necessarily a calendar year. You must pay the employee their full leave pay before the leave period begins.

By default, you must allow the employee to take their full entitlement in one block. With mutual agreement, you may split annual leave into a maximum of three parts, but at least one part must be 10 working days or more.

If an employee is travelling abroad and requests up to 4 unpaid travel days in addition to their leave, you’re required to grant them.

Public holidays in turkey

Turkey observes 9 named public holidays. Several of the religious holidays include a half-day eve (from 1pm the day before), which is compensable. The 2026 schedule is set out below.

Note that when a public holiday falls on a Sunday, as Victory Day does in 2026, the following Monday isn’t automatically a substitute holiday. Whether you grant a substitute day is at your discretion unless a collective agreement states otherwise.

Sick leave

Turkey’s sick leave system splits responsibility between the employer and SGK (the Social Security Institution, Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu).

Who pays and when

• Days 1–2: There’s no statutory obligation on the employer to pay. Many employers cover these days voluntarily or through contractual arrangements, but there’s no legal requirement to do so.
• Day 3 onwards: SGK pays a temporary incapacity benefit (Geçici İş Göremezlik Ödeneği), provided the employee meets the qualifying conditions below.

Sgk benefit conditions and rates

For SGK to pay the benefit, the employee must have a medical certificate from an SGK-contracted doctor and at least 90 days of SGK premium contributions in the year before the sick leave began.

The SGK benefit rates are:

• Outpatient treatment: approximately 2/3 of the employee’s daily reference wage
• Inpatient (hospitalisation): approximately 1/2 of the employee’s daily reference wage

For work accidents or occupational diseases, the SGK benefit starts from Day 1 — there’s no two-day waiting period.

Employer notification obligation

You must notify SGK through the e-bildirge system that the employee was absent and confirm the sick leave dates. Failing to do so can complicate SGK benefit processing for the employee.

Maternity leave

Turkish maternity leave is mandatory. Employees can’t waive it, and you can’t require them to work during the protected periods.

Standard entitlement

An employee may choose to work up to 3 weeks before the due date with medical clearance. If she does, the unused pre-birth leave is added to her post-natal period.

Maternity pay

SGK pays 2/3 of the employee’s regular daily wage throughout the mandatory leave period. You don’t fund this directly, but you do need to ensure the employee has been properly registered with SGK so the payments flow correctly.

Additional leave options after maternity

After the mandatory leave ends, several further options are available:

• Unpaid leave: Up to 6 months of unpaid leave, available to either parent.
• Part-time option: Either parent may reduce hours to up to half their regular working hours (unpaid) until the child reaches compulsory school age.
• Extended unpaid leave by number of children (available to either parent):
  • 1st child: 60 days
  • 2nd child: 120 days
  • 3rd child: 180 days

Adoption

An employee adopting a child under the age of 3 is entitled to 8 weeks’ maternity leave from the date of adoption.

Paternity leave

Fathers are entitled to 5 working days of paid paternity leave. Male employees adopting a child under 3 may take unpaid leave equivalent to half their regular working hours, on the same duration terms as the extended unpaid leave available to mothers (60, 120, or 180 days depending on number of children).

Health insurance (sgk)

Every employee working under a Turkish contract — whether Turkish national or expat — must be registered with SGK. This is a non-negotiable employer obligation.

What sgk covers

SGK health coverage is comprehensive. It includes outpatient care, inpatient treatment, emergency services, maternity care, work accidents, and occupational diseases. Dependants (spouse and children) are generally covered under the employee’s plan.

Contribution rates

Both contributions are made through payroll. SGK registration must be completed before the employee’s first working day — registering late triggers penalties.

Private pension (bes — bireysel emeklilik sistemi)

Turkey operates a mandatory auto-enrollment private pension scheme for most Turkish employees.

Who’s enrolled

Auto-enrollment applies to Turkish employees under the age of 45. Enrollment happens automatically when the employment contract starts; you’re responsible for enrolling the employee and deducting contributions.

Contribution and subsidy structure

Opt-out rights

An employee can opt out within 2 months of receiving their enrollment notification. If they opt out, contribution deductions stop and any accumulated contributions are returned. You can’t waive the enrollment step — the employee must actively opt out if they don’t want to participate.

Leave entitlements: quick-reference summary

RemotePass ensures your Turkey employees receive every statutory entitlement — from annual leave tracking to maternity pay coordination with SGK. Book a demo to see how RemotePass handles Turkish payroll and compliance end to end.