Employment & Labour Law in Turkey

Two figures changed materially at the start of 2026 that every employer and employee in Turkey needs to know, and that most general guidance still circulating online has not caught up with. The minimum wage rose 27% on 1 January 2026, the kind of increase that ripples through payroll budgets, severance calculations, and work permit salary thresholds simultaneously, and the severance pay ceiling rose alongside it. Turkish employment law itself is comparatively stable in its structure, but its monetary figures move twice a year, and a termination calculated against last year’s numbers is calculated wrong.

This guide covers the legal framework, the 2026 wage and severance figures specifically, termination grounds and procedure, notice periods, and the points most relevant to foreign employers and foreign employees in Turkey.

Legal Notice: This page provides general legal information for educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. For guidance specific to your situation, please consult a qualified attorney.

The Legal Framework

Turkish employment relationships are governed primarily by Labour Law No. 4857 (İş Kanunu), enacted in 2003, covering working conditions, termination, and most day-to-day employment matters. Severance pay specifically retains a genuine historical quirk worth knowing: it is still governed by Article 14 of the earlier Labour Law No. 1475 (1971), which was formally repealed when Law No. 4857 came into force, except that Article 14 itself was expressly kept alive by Article 120 and Provisional Article 6 of the new law. In practice, this means severance pay sits on different statutory footing from almost everything else in Turkish employment law, being a deliberate legislative choice rather than an oversight, and one general guidance frequently glosses over.

Collective labour relations fall under the Law on Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining Agreements No. 6356. Social security obligations are governed by Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, administered by SGK. The annual minimum wage and the severance pay ceiling are set by the Minimum Wage Determination Commission (Asgari Ücret Tespit Komisyonu) and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance respectively, both published in the Official Gazette.

The 2026 Minimum Wage

Effective 1 January 2026, following the Minimum Wage Determination Commission’s decision of 23 December 2025, the gross monthly minimum wage rose to TRY 33,030.00 (net TRY 28,075.50), a 27% increase over the 2025 figure. This applies to every employee in Turkey regardless of sector, age, or qualification, and minimum wage earnings remain exempt from income tax and stamp duty under the exemption framework introduced in 2022.

This figure matters well beyond payroll for minimum-wage workers specifically: it is the base unit for SGK contribution calculations, the floor for severance pay calculations, and, critically for our foreign client base, the benchmark for work permit salary thresholds discussed in our Immigration to Turkey guide, where required salaries for foreign employees are generally expressed as multiples of the minimum wage, for example, broadly 2x for specialists, 3x for department managers, 4x for engineers and architects, and 5x for senior managers and pilots under current practice. A 27% jump in the base figure flows directly through to what foreign employees must be paid to maintain their work permit eligibility.

A further 2026 change worth noting for employer payroll planning: the SGK earnings ceiling, meaning the upper limit of earnings subject to social security premium calculation, rose from 7.5 times to 9 times the minimum wage, meaning mid-to-higher earners now have a materially larger portion of their compensation subject to SGK premiums than under the prior ceiling.

Severance Pay (Kıdem Tazminatı)

This is the area of Turkish employment law most likely to surprise foreign employers unfamiliar with the Turkish system, since many jurisdictions, common law ones especially, have no direct equivalent to a guaranteed, formula-based severance entitlement of this kind.

Eligibility

An employee is entitled to severance pay where the employment relationship ends after at least one full year of continuous service with the same employer, and the termination falls within a qualifying category: dismissal by the employer for reasons other than the employee’s serious misconduct, resignation by the employee for a recognised just cause (including specific statutory grounds such as the employer’s own breach of the employment relationship), termination due to military service, retirement, or, for female employees specifically, resignation within one year of marriage. An employee who resigns without a qualifying just cause is not entitled to severance pay.

Calculation

Severance pay is calculated at 30 days’ gross wage for each full year of service, pro-rated for any partial year, based on the employee’s last gross wage at the time of termination. The calculation base includes the basic wage plus regular benefits the employer provides as part of the employment relationship, including housing allowance, food allowance, transportation allowance, and similar recurring benefits, where these are properly included under the law and established case law, not merely the headline base salary.

Worked example: An employee with 6 years of service and a final gross monthly salary of TRY 40,000 would have a daily gross wage of approximately TRY 1,333, giving a severance calculation of 6 years × 30 days × TRY 1,333 ≈ TRY 239,940, before checking this figure against the current ceiling described below.

The Severance Pay Ceiling

This is a critical, frequently overlooked limitation: regardless of the employee’s actual gross wage, the maximum severance payable per year of service is capped, at a figure adjusted by the relevant authority twice a year, in January and July. As of January 2026, this ceiling is TRY 63,948.00 per year of service, up from TRY 46,655.43 in July 2025, a substantial increase reflecting the same wage and inflation dynamics behind the minimum wage jump. An employer calculating severance for a higher-earning employee without checking the cap applicable on the actual termination date risks materially overpaying; an employee or their counsel relying on an outdated cap figure risks materially underclaiming. The cap can be exceeded only by mutual agreement between employer and employee, as paying above the statutory ceiling voluntarily is permitted, but is never a baseline obligation.

Severance Cannot Be Waived in Advance

Any clause in an employment contract purporting to eliminate or reduce an employee’s statutory severance entitlement in advance is null and void under Turkish labour law. This is a mandatory right, not a negotiable term, and foreign employers used to jurisdictions where severance is purely contractual should not assume a Turkish employment contract can simply opt out of this framework.

Tax Treatment

Severance pay up to the statutory ceiling is exempt from income tax, though it remains subject to stamp duty. Amounts paid above the ceiling by mutual agreement do not carry this exemption on the excess.

Notice Pay (İhbar Tazminatı)

Separate from severance, notice pay applies to terminations without immediate “just cause,” where the terminating party must provide statutory notice or pay in lieu. The required notice period under Labour Law No. 4857 scales with length of service, generally 2 weeks for service under 6 months, 4 weeks for 6 months to 1.5 years, 6 weeks for 1.5 to 3 years, and 8 weeks for service exceeding 3 years, with pay in lieu calculated against the employee’s gross wage for the relevant period if notice is not actually worked.

Termination Grounds

Termination With Just Cause

Under Article 25 of Labour Law No. 4857, an employer can terminate immediately, without notice, in narrowly defined categories: health-related grounds including self-inflicted incapacity through reckless conduct or intoxication causing repeated absence, grounds related to the employee’s conduct, dishonesty, fraud, breach of trust, serious misconduct including harassment, or refusal to obey lawful instructions, and force majeure events making continuation of the employment relationship genuinely impossible. Even within just-cause termination, severance pay can still be owed in some categories, since just-cause termination and severance eligibility are governed by overlapping but not identical tests, which is precisely the kind of nuance that makes a blanket assumption either way risky without reviewing the specific grounds relied upon.

Termination Without Just Cause

Termination outside these narrow categories requires the employer to provide statutory notice or pay in lieu and, where the one-year service threshold is met, severance pay. For employers with 30 or more employees, job security provisions under the Labour Law additionally require a valid reason for termination and a defined procedure, including, in many cases, written notice and an opportunity for the employee to respond before termination, with employees able to challenge an invalid or procedurally defective termination before the labour courts, generally after a mandatory mediation stage required for most individual and collective labour disputes before litigation can proceed.

Foreign Employees in Turkish Employment Law

Foreign employees working in Turkey under a valid work permit are protected by the same Labour Law framework as Turkish employees, including severance, notice, and termination protections, as there is no reduced standard of protection based on nationality. What differs practically is the connection between the employment relationship and the employee’s residence status: termination of employment can affect the basis on which a work permit, and the residence status that comes with it, remains valid, a point we cover in detail in our Immigration to Turkey guide, including the strict 10-day window to secure an alternative residence basis after a work permit lapses.

For employers, the salary thresholds tied to work permit categories, expressed as multiples of the minimum wage, mean the 27% wage increase for 2026 has a direct, immediate effect on the minimum compensation required to sponsor or maintain a foreign employee’s work permit in several categories, being a cost planning point worth flagging to clients with foreign staff on January and July review cycles.

Occupational Health and Safety

Employers carry statutory obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, including workplace risk assessment, mandatory training, and, depending on workplace classification and headcount, the engagement of an occupational physician and safety specialist. Non-compliance carries administrative fines that, like the minimum wage and severance ceiling, are adjusted periodically and should be checked against current figures rather than assumed static.

Data Protection in HR Processes

Employee personal data, including recruitment records, performance reviews, health and disciplinary records, falls within the scope of the Law on Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 (KVKK), requiring a documented legal basis for processing, appropriate retention limits, and security measures proportionate to the sensitivity of the data involved, since health data in particular is treated as a special category requiring heightened protection.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum wage in Turkey for 2026?

TRY 33,030.00 gross per month (TRY 28,075.50 net), effective from 1 January 2026, a 27% increase over 2025.

How is severance pay calculated, and is there a cap?

30 days’ gross wage per full year of service, based on the employee’s final gross wage including qualifying regular benefits, but capped at TRY 63,948.00 per year of service as of January 2026, regardless of actual salary. The cap is updated every January and July.

Can an employee waive their right to severance pay in their contract?

No. Any contractual clause eliminating or reducing the statutory severance entitlement in advance is null and void under Turkish labour law.

Does an employee who resigns get severance pay?

Generally no, unless the resignation falls within a recognised just-cause category, such as the employer’s own breach of the employment relationship, military service, retirement eligibility, or, for female employees, resignation within one year of marriage. Ordinary resignation without one of these grounds does not carry severance entitlement.

How much notice is required to terminate an employee in Turkey?

Between 2 and 8 weeks depending on length of service, under Article 17 of the Labour Law, or payment in lieu if notice is not worked. This is separate from severance pay and assessed independently.

Are foreign employees protected by the same labour law as Turkish employees?

Yes. Foreign employees working under a valid work permit receive the same statutory protections, including severance, notice, and termination procedure, as Turkish employees. Termination can, however, separately affect the employee’s residence status, which should be planned for alongside the employment law analysis.

Do labour disputes have to go through mediation before court?

Yes, for most individual and collective labour disputes, mandatory mediation is a prerequisite before a claim can proceed to the labour courts.

Working With Aslan Attorney

Aslan Attorney advises employers and employees on Turkish employment and labour law. Our services cover employment contract drafting, severance and termination compliance using current wage and ceiling figures, workplace policy and risk mitigation, occupational health and safety compliance, KVKK compliance in HR processes, and representation in individual and collective labour disputes, including the mandatory mediation stage.

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