Article 59 of the Labour Law No. 4857 regulates the issue of unused leave payment in Turkey in case of termination of the employment contract. Accordingly, if the employment contract is terminated by the employee or the employer for any reason (justified or unjustified termination, receiving old age pension, etc.), the amount of the unused annual leave fee (fees) in Turkey of the employee over the wage on the date of termination of the contract must be paid to the employee himself, or if the employment contract is terminated due to the death of the employee, to his legal heirs.
According to the same article, in the event of termination of the employment contract according to Article 17, the notice period and new job search leave periods to be used by the employee should not be intertwined with the annual leave period. Accordingly, the employee must first use his/her annual leave in Turkey, then his/her notice period and new job search leave within the notice period. The practical manifestation of this situation guarantees the acquisition of certain time-based rights. For example, in the termination of the employment contract of an employee whose seniority at the workplace has exceeded 11 months and 16 days but has not completed 365 days, the severance pay and annual leave fee will also have to be paid, since the seniority of the employee exceeds 365 days.
Taking days off: what good practices to adopt in Turkey?
Disconnection is a right and it is crucial for your well-being to enforce it. For a peaceful holiday on both sides, do not hesitate to prepare your colleagues:
Don’t leave urgent files backlogged or important data hidden in a file known only to you.
If necessary, prepare a short brief on the progress of your tasks and the procedure to follow in your absence…
In short, make sure that your collaborators do not need to interrupt your precious time off !
