The day and conditions of the paid week holiday in Turkey, which is expressed in the Constitution, are specified in the Labour Law, the Code of Obligations and the Law on National Holidays and General Holidays.
According to Article 46 of the Labour Law, workers in the workplaces must be given at least twenty-four hours of uninterrupted rest (week holiday in Turkey) within a seven-day period, provided that they have worked on working days determined in accordance with Article 63 regulating the working days before the holiday. Taking into account the mandatory provision in Article 13 of the Labour Law No. 4857, part-time workers who work under the conditions required by the law in the 6 working days preceding the day of the week holiday will also be entitled to a week holiday and wages as long as they work partially during the day.
In Article 421 of the Code of Obligations, it is stipulated that employers are obliged to give their employees a holiday every week, as a rule on Sunday, or one full working day if the situation and conditions do not allow this.
There is no determination in the Labour Law regarding the day of the week holiday. Article 3 of the Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and General Holidays stipulates that Sunday is a week holiday. As mentioned above, it is required by Article 421 of the Code of Obligations that Sunday is a week holiday in Turkey as a rule.
However, as stated in the relevant provision of the Code of Obligations, if it is necessary to work on Sunday or if the workplace is a workplace that is open on Sunday, according to the mandatory provisions of the Law No. 4857, employees must be given a paid week holiday on a day other than Sunday.
Another issue that should be mentioned in relation to week holidays is the use of collective leave. In practice, it is observed that in workplaces such as road construction, mining, fuel stations, etc. far from the centre, workers accumulate their week holidays and use them for 4 days at the end of the month with their consent. This is contrary to the essence of the phenomenon of week holiday in Turkey, therefore it is not accepted. In such a case, the first day of the 4 days in question is considered as the week holiday in Turkey of that week, and the other 3 days are considered as paid leave. In such a case, if the employer has employed the employee in the first three weeks of the month, it is concluded that the employee works on the weekends of those weeks and is entitled to overtime wages for these days.
