The right to rest is a right which is specifically regulated in the Turkish Labour Law. It has been defined as an inalienable right for workers not to work for certain periods and to rest as to protect their physical and psychological well-being.
Likewise, according to the Turkish Labour Law, wages are generally defined as the money paid for the work done or the effort put forth. Calculation and payment of wages are defined in detail in the law.
The right to rest is regulated by the Article 46 of the Turkish Labor Code No. 4857. Accordingly, in workplaces, it is obligatory to give workers at least twenty-four hours of uninterrupted rest (week vacation) within a seven-day period, provided that they have worked on working days before the holiday. Likewise, the employer has to pay the full wage of that day, without any compensation, for the weekdays not worked.
On the other hand, there is no clear provision in the law as to how a worker who works during the weekend will receive wages and how this will be calculated.
According to the sub-legislation and the high judicial jurisprudence of the Turkish Labour Law, if the worker has been worked on a weekday, he/she will be entitled to the wage for his work, namely one day’s wage, in addition to the weekly holiday wage. In addition, if the weekly holiday work is more than 45 hours within one-week period, this work is considered as “overtime work” and in this case, the weekly holiday wage of the worker must be paid with an increase of 50%.
The rules mentioned above also apply to public and religious holidays. The public and religious holidays are being defined in the Act No. 2429 Regarding National Holidays and General Holidays. Accordingly, the following rules apply to the work of workers on holidays:
- If the worker does not work on public holidays, he/she will receive full wages for that day of work.
- If the worker works on public holidays, he/she will also receive an additional full day’s wage for that day of work.
- If the worker works even one hour on public holidays, he/she is entitled to an additional full-day wage. The worker will be paid a full-day wage regardless of the period of time he/she worked during the 7.5-hour period in a day on public holidays.
- Work on public holidays is not always counted as overtime, but overtime should be counted for any period in which the weekly working time is exceeded.
- Wages for overtime work should be calculated with a fifty percent increase to the normal daily wage-rate.
- The account in favour of the worker is used in the calculation of full-time pay for overtime work on weekends and on holidays.
