Paid Annual Leave: Entitlement, Use and Unused Leave

This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Yıllık Ücretli İzin Hakkı ve Kullanımı.

To become entitled to annual leave an employee must have worked at least one year for the same employer, including any probationary period (Article 53 of the Labour Act). The entitlement increases with length of service and cannot be reduced by agreement. Unused leave cannot be converted into money while the contract subsists; when it ends, it is paid at the final wage.

Paid annual leave is a basic employee right governed by Articles 53 to 61 of the Labour Act. A common pattern is an employee who was never able to take leave and, on leaving, was not paid for it either — yet the right cannot be waived, cannot be restricted by the employer, and does not evaporate because the employer promised to pay for it “later”.

How Many Days Are You Entitled To?

The entitlement arises when the employee completes one year of continuous work at the same workplace. During the first year no annual leave can be taken (leave for sickness and similar reasons is separate).

The entitlement by length of service:

• From 1 to 5 years (including 5): at least 14 days a year
• More than 5 and less than 15 years: at least 20 days a year
• 15 years or more: at least 26 days a year

These are minimums; they may be increased by the contract or a collective agreement but never reduced. Two important exceptions: for employees under 18 and over 50 the entitlement is at least 20 days, even where their service is between one and five years.

What Happens to Unused Leave?

The Act provides expressly that a claim for annual leave turns into money when the contract of employment ends. An employee cannot demand a cash payment while still working; but once the relationship ends, a money claim arises for every day of unused leave. It is calculated on the final wage and paid like salary.

This does not mean the right can be carried over indefinitely. The Act requires leave to be given within the year; but the fact that unused leave converts into a money claim means the right is not lost. On settled case law, unused days are calculated at the wage in force on the date the employment ended.

“The right to paid annual leave cannot be waived.”

Labour Act (Law no. 4857), Article 53, final paragraph

Can the Employer Postpone Leave?

Deciding when leave is taken is as a rule for the employer, having regard to the needs of the business. That power has limits:

• the employee must notify the dates they wish to take at least 15 days in advance;
• the employer may change the timing for business reasons, but may postpone it only once and by at most 1 year;
• successive postponements are not permitted;
• leave may be split into at most three parts, one of which must be at least 10 days.

Where an employer still refuses to give leave, the employee may apply to the labour court for it to be granted, or recover it as a money claim when the contract ends.

How Is Leave Pay Calculated?

Leave pay is calculated on the daily equivalent of the wage. Not only the basic wage but every payment made regularly to the employee is taken into account.

The basic formula: gross daily wage × number of leave days. The monthly gross wage is divided by 30 to give the daily figure. For an employee on a gross monthly wage of 36,000 lira entitled to 26 days after 15 years' service: 36,000 ÷ 30 = 1,200 lira a day; 1,200 × 26 = 31,200 lira gross.

The deductions differ according to when the payment is made, and this is often misunderstood:

• Leave taken while employed is paid as ordinary wages, so income tax, stamp duty and social security contributions are all deducted.
• Payment for unused leave on termination is subject to income tax and stamp duty but not to social security contributions, because it is not treated as earnings for contribution purposes. It also does not add to your contribution days.