According to the Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and General Holidays, which determines the holidays and general holidays in Türkiye, the Republic Day of October 29 is regarded as a “national holiday”, and the holiday in question starts at 13:00 on October 28 and is considered one-and-a-half-day holiday.
The aforementioned law states that public institutions must be closed on national holidays, religious holidays and general holidays, but does not require private institutions to remain closed. The only exception to this is the Republic Day of October 29. The law, which attaches special importance to this holiday, requires private workplaces—alongside the public workplaces—to be closed on the date of October 29. However, the provisions in the special laws of institutions that must operate continuously due to their nature are reserved.
On the other hand, while the law orders the closure of private workplaces on the date of October 29, it does not foresee any sanctions for not complying with this obligation. The law does not impose any judicial or administrative penalties or administrative fines for continuing to work on the date of October 29. In other words, employers who open their workplaces on October 29 are unlikely to face any sanctions.
However, there are some points that workplaces that continue to operate on national and public holidays need to pay attention to under Turkish Labour Law as to avoid fines and administrative sanctions. Namely, according to the general provisions of the Turkish Labour Law and Turkish Trade Unions Law, regulations regarding whether work will be done on other public holidays other than October 29 can be included in employment contracts or collective labour agreements. If a written employment contract has not been made or a provision regarding this has not been included in employment contracts, employers can make employees work on these days by obtaining their approval and paying the increased wage specified in the law.
If employees working in workplaces within the scope of the Turkish Labour Code No. 4857 do not work on days accepted as national holidays and public holidays by the laws they will be paid the full wage of that day without any compensation, and if they work without taking a holiday, they will be paid one additional day’s wage for each day worked. If they work after 13:00 on October 28, they will be paid half a day’s wage in addition to their normal wage.
For example, if a worker working with a gross daily wage of 3000 Turkish Lira does not work on October 29 Republic Day, he/she must still be paid one day’s wage. However, if the worker does not take a holiday and works at the day of October 29, he/she will be entitled to a daily wage of 3,000 + 3,000 = 6,000 Turkish Liras, in addition to the one-day wage he/she will receive without working, with a one hundred percent increase resulting from working on the holiday. If the working period in question falls within the scope of “working for extra hours” or “working overtime” mentioned in the Labour Code No. 4857, this time the worker will receive a wage with a 25% or 50% increase in his/her daily wage as well. If the aforementioned worker has continued to work after 13:00 on October 28, an additional half-day’s wage must be calculated and paid for this period.
If it is understood in the signed pay payslips that national holiday and general holiday wages were paid, it is not possible for the worker to claim that he/she worked more than the payslip. However, if there is a reservation record that the worker’s receivable is more than what is shown on the pay slip, proof of national holiday and general holiday work can be made with any kind of evidence. On the other hand, even if the payslips are signed and without reservations, the worker must prove with a valid written document and written evidence that he/she worked on national holidays and general holidays other than what is written on the pay slip.
