In order for workers subject to the Labour Code No. 4857 to be entitled to annual paid leave, their seniority at the workplace must be at least one year. Annual paid leave is granted to workers who have worked for at least one year, starting from the day they started working at the workplace, including the trial period. Workers who have worked for less than one year are not entitled to annual paid leave.
Likewise, the provisions of Code No. 4857 regarding annual paid leaves do not apply to those who work in seasonal or campaign jobs that last less than one year due to their qualifications.
As to underline, in order for annual paid leave to occur, the employee must have worked at the workplace for at least one year. If the employee has worked for one year, he/she is entitled to 14 days of annual leave. A worker who has worked for more than 5 years and less than 15 years will be entitled to 20 days of paid leave, and a worker who has worked for 15 years (inclusive) or more will be entitled to at least 26 days of paid leave.
When calculating the seniority period that will be the basis for calculating the annual paid leave entitlement, the following periods are counted as worked:
- The days when the worker cannot go to work due to an accident or illness (However, no more than the period found after six weeks is added to the notice period according to the worker’s working time at the workplace is counted),
- A total of sixteen weeks (a total of eighteen weeks in case of multiple pregnancy) during which female workers are not employed, including eight weeks before birth (2 weeks in addition to eight weeks in case of multiple pregnancy) and eight weeks after birth,
- Days when the worker cannot go to work while being assigned due to maneuvers or any law other than active military service (more than 90 days of this period per year are not counted),
- Fifteen days of the time spent by the worker without working as a result of the work being closed for more than a continuous week due to compelling reasons in the workplace (provided that the worker starts working again),
- If workers are sent by the employer to work somewhere other than their workplace, the time spent on the road,
- The times required for workers to descend or enter and exit wells, corridors or main workplaces in mines, quarries or in any way underground or underwater work,
- The periods spent idle by the worker, being at his job and ready to work at any time, but not being employed and waiting for work to be done,
- Periods spent by the employee without performing his/her main job by being sent to another place by the employer or being occupied at the employer’s home or office or any other place related to the employer,
- Periods given in accordance with the Labour Code No. 4857 for breastfeeding female workers to breastfeed their children,
- In all kinds of works where workers need to be brought together to workplaces located at a distance from residential areas, such as the construction, protection or repair and modification of railways, highways and bridges, the times spent during collective and orderly transportation of workers,
- Weekend holidays, national holidays and general holidays,
- According to the regulation issued based on the Law No. 3153, half-day leaves other than Sunday should be given to employees in workplaces existing x-ray radiation,
- Workers participate in mediation meetings, take part in arbitration committees, perform their duties as workers’ representatives in these boards, participate as workers’ or union representatives in assemblies, boards, commissions and meetings established in accordance with the legislation regarding working life, or in conferences, congresses or boards of international organizations related to labour issues (the days when they cannot continue their work due to these reasons),
- To the worker, paid leave periods of three days in case of marriage or adoption or death of parents, spouse, sibling or child, and five days in case of spouse giving birth,
- Paid leave periods of up to ten days, given in whole or in parts within a year, based on sickness report and provided that it is used by only one of the working parents, for the treatment of the workers’ children who is disabled at least seventy percent or more or have a chronic disease,
- Other permissions given by the employer,
- Short-work hours of the worker,
- Annual paid leave period given to the worker as a result of the implementation of hte Law No. 4857,
As a note, the annual paid leave period of subcontractor workers who continue to work in the same workplace even though their subemployer has changed is calculated by taking into account the periods they worked in the same workplace.
