The primary law of the Turkish Labour Law is the Turkish Labour Code No. 4857. Working hours of workers are being regulated by the Code No. 4857.
Accordingly, the normal weekly working hours are accepted as 45 hours. Works exceeding 45 hours per week are considered as “overtime”. The wage to be paid for each hour of overtime is paid by increasing the amount of the normal working wage per hour by fifty percent.
In cases where the weekly working hours are determined by contracts as less than forty-five hours, work exceeding the average weekly working hours applied and up to forty-five hours is defined as “working with extra hours”. In working with extra hours, the wage to be paid for each hour of extra hour must be paid by increasing the amount of the normal working wage per hour by twenty-five percent.
One of the overtime working methods regulated in the Turkish Labor Law is the “compensatory work”. If “compensatory work” is being applied in the workplace, the works to be done within the scope shall not be considered as overtime.
In cases where work stops due to compulsory reasons, the workplace is closed before or after national and general holidays, or similar reasons, work is significantly less than normal working hours at the workplace, or the workplace is closed completely, or the employee is granted leave upon request, the employer has the right to compensate for the unworked hours within four months within the form of “compensatory work”. Work done in this way is not considered overtime or work for extra hours and does not require increased wages.
However, according to the Code No. 4857, compensatory work cannot be done on any holiday, including a contractual holiday.
Likewise, it is mandatory according to the Turkish Labour Code that compensatory work cannot be done as to exceed three hours per day or as to exceed 11 hours during the day and 7.5 hours at night works.
