Turkey PEO Services

Employment Information

In Turkey, working hours cannot exceed 45 per week and are typically divided up evenly across six days. Most businesses will open 8.30am to 5.30pm or 9.00am to 6.00pm. Paid annual leave entitlement starts after a year of continuous service in any job, with 14 days available at one to five years' service. This entitlement increases in stages, up to 26 days for employees who have completed more than 15 years of service.

Deciding whether work will be done on public holidays is decided by the collective agreement or employment contracts. The employee’s consent is required if there is no provision in the collective agreement or in employment contracts.

For the unworked rest day, the employer shall pay the employee’s daily wage, without any work obligation in return. The paid wage for work completed on national and public holidays must be paid to the employee by the employer.

Maternity / Paternity Leaves

In principle, female employees must not be engaged in work for a total period of sixteen weeks when taking maternity leave. This is made up of eight weeks before confinement and eight weeks after confinement. The female employee shall be granted leave with pay for periodic examinations during their pregnancy.

If the female employee chooses, they may be granted an unpaid leave of up to six months after the expiry of the sixteen weeks; this is also applicable in the case of multiple pregnancies. This period shall not be considered in determining the employee’s one year of service for entitlement to annual leave with pay.

A male employee who becomes a father is entitled to five days of paid leave.

Visas

To relocate to Turkey, an expat must apply for a work permit via the consulate in either their home country or in Turkey. The respective employer must apply with the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services. Expats with approved work applications completed abroad must enter Turkey within 180 days.

If applying within Turkey, expats must have at least six months left on their residence permit. If all applications are correct and supported by the relevant documents, processing times take roughly 30 days.

Documents and applications for work visas vary from trade to trade.

Cultural Information

All official agencies in Turkey only speak Turkish. While English is a reasonably common form of business communication in bigger cities such as Ankara and Istanbul, foreign workers may struggle to get by without at least some understanding of Turkish.

As around 99% of the Turkish population is Muslim, religious holidays are of great importance. Two Islamic festivals, a three-day celebration of the end of Ramadan and the four-day Feast of Sacrifice, accompany the seven Turkish national holidays.

Turkish people are very friendly and hospitable. In most tourist hotspots you will find the locals who staff shops and restaurants are multilingual – many speak English, German, French, and Russian. Foreigners who learn some basic conversational Turkish will be highly respected.

Turkey does not require foreigners to take a Turkish driving test from scratch after a year. Turkey, instead, also allows foreigners to convert their license into a Turkish one.

Impacts from COVID-19

Turkey quickly adopted measures to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and save lives, while providing economic support to affected firms and households. The economic outlook since the pandemic has been more uncertain than usual, and a fast economic recovery depends on how quickly the ongoing crisis can be brought under control.