According to Article 57 of the Labour Law No. 4857, the employer in Turkey is obliged to pay the wage for the annual leave period in advance or give it in advance to the employee before he/she goes on leave. According to the same provision, some features should be taken into consideration in the calculation of the leave pay:
- According to Article 50 of the Labour Law and Article 21 of the Annual Leave Regulation in Turkey, the calculation of the annual leave pay should be based on the bare wage, and in addition to this, overtime wages, wages received for preparation, completion, cleaning works outside normal hours as a basic worker of the workplace, premiums and social benefits should not be taken into account.
- In cases where a non-definite period and amount are taken as a basis (such as wages per hour, piece rate, profit participation, commission fee, etc.), the holiday pay shall be calculated on the average of the wages earned by the worker in the last year divided by the number of days actually worked in the last year. However, if the wage of the worker has been increased within the last year, the average wage will be found by dividing the wage received between the beginning of the month in which the worker takes leave and the date of the wage increase by the periods worked in the same period.
- In workplaces where the percentage method is applied, the annual leave fee in Turkey must be paid by the employer other than the money collected by percentages.
- Week holidays, national holidays and general holidays that coincide with the annual leave period must be paid separately.
- According to Article 58 of the Labour Law titled “prohibition of working on leave”, if it is determined that the employee who is using his annual paid leave works at another workplace during the leave period, it is possible for the employer to recover the annual leave fee paid to him.
- According to Article 61 of the Labour Law, during the annual leave in Turkey, deductions from the wages of the worker for other insurance branches, except for the premium for occupational accidents and occupational diseases, will continue to be made and paid to the institution.
