Pay for the weekly rest day is one of the most frequently miscalculated payroll items in Turkey. There are two reasons: the statute does not say how work performed on the weekly rest day is to be paid, so the method comes from settled case law, and the result differs between employees paid monthly and employees paid by the day. This page separates the weekly rest regime from the public holiday regime and works both through at 2026 rates.
The weekly rest day is paid even when no work is done. Employees must receive at least twenty-four uninterrupted hours of rest within each seven-day period, and that day is paid in full without any work being required in return (Labour Law No. 4857, Article 46).
Work on the weekly rest day produces 2.5 daily wages in total: the one daily wage payable without work, plus one and a half daily wages for the work itself. For a monthly paid employee the first daily wage is already inside the salary, so an additional 1.5 daily wages is due.
Work on a national or public holiday produces 2 daily wages (Article 47): the pay for that day plus one further daily wage for each day worked. For monthly paid staff, one additional daily wage. Unless the contract provides otherwise, working on these days requires the employee’s consent (Article 44).
The numbers that drive the rule
Where the rules come from
| Source | Content |
|---|---|
| Constitution, Article 50 | Rest is a right of employees; paid weekly and holiday rest and paid annual leave are regulated by statute. |
| Labour Law No. 4857, Article 46 | At least twenty-four uninterrupted hours of weekly rest within each seven-day period; the rest day not worked is paid in full without work in return. The same article lists the situations treated as days worked when qualifying for that pay. |
| Labour Law Articles 44 and 47 | Whether work is performed on national and public holidays is set by collective or individual agreement; absent such a clause, the employee’s consent is required. The unworked holiday is paid in full, and where it is worked, one further daily wage is due for each day. |
| Labour Law Articles 41 and 63 | Weekly working time is capped at forty-five hours. Hours beyond it carry a 50% premium; where the contractual week is shorter than forty-five hours, hours between the contractual week and forty-five carry a 25% premium. Annual overtime may not exceed 270 hours. Averaging arrangements are permitted. |
| Law No. 2429 on National and Public Holidays | Sets out the national and public holidays. It describes the weekly rest day as Sunday but expressly reserves the weekly rest provisions of other statutes. |
| Law No. 394 on the Weekly Holiday | No longer in force. It was repealed by Law No. 7033 with effect from 1 July 2017. What was repealed was the requirement for industrial establishments to obtain a municipal licence in order to operate on the weekly rest day; the employee’s right to weekly rest is secured by the Constitution and the Labour Law. |
| Other regimes | Separate provisions apply to journalists, maritime employment and to relationships outside the scope of the Labour Law under the Code of Obligations. |
The weekly rest day need not be Sunday. Labour Law No. 4857 names no particular day; it requires twenty-four uninterrupted hours of rest within a seven-day period. In retail, tourism, healthcare and continuous manufacturing the rest day is routinely placed elsewhere in the week. What matters is not the name of the day but that the rest is given whole and uninterrupted.
Qualifying for the paid rest day
Entitlement requires that the employee has worked on the working days preceding the rest day. The statute also lists situations that count as worked even though no work was performed:
Treated as days worked
- Periods counted as working time although no work is performed
- Up to three days of leave on marriage or adoption
- Up to three days of leave on the death of a parent, spouse, sibling or child
- Five days of paternity leave when the spouse gives birth
- Other leave of up to one week granted by the employer
- Sick and rest leave certified by a physician
- National and public holidays
Commonly confused
- Where compelling reasons suspend operations for more than a week, a different pay regime applies
- Unpaid leave does not, as a rule, count as time worked
- Annual leave is counted in working days, so a rest day falling within leave is not deducted from it and is paid separately
- Unexcused absence in the week puts the rest day payment in dispute
The continuity test
- Rest shorter than twenty-four hours means the weekly rest was not given at all
- The rest period cannot be split into parts
- In shift patterns the rest may start at an hour other than midnight; what is required is twenty-four uninterrupted hours
- For child and young workers the period cannot be less than forty uninterrupted hours
What is payable?
Worked example at 2026 minimum wage
Gross daily wage TRY 1,101 and hourly wage 1,101 / 7.5 = TRY 146.80. Amounts are gross; deductions apply separately.
| Scenario | Calculation | Paid monthly | Paid daily |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly rest day, not worked | 1 × 1,101 | Within the salary | TRY 1,101 |
| Weekly rest day, full day worked | 2.5 × 1,101 | Extra TRY 1,651.50 | TRY 2,752.50 |
| Weekly rest day, 4 hours worked | Day counts in full, 1.5 × 1,101 | Extra TRY 1,651.50 | TRY 2,752.50 |
| Public holiday, not worked | 1 × 1,101 | Within the salary | TRY 1,101 |
| Public holiday, full day worked | 2 × 1,101 | Extra TRY 1,101 | TRY 2,202 |
| Public holiday, 10 hours worked | 2 daily wages plus 2.5 hours overtime (146.80 × 1.5) | Extra 1,101 + 550.50 | 2,202 + 550.50 |
| 5 hours beyond 45 in an ordinary week | 5 × 146.80 × 1.5 | TRY 1,101 | TRY 1,101 |
One hour of work makes the whole day payable. Where the weekly rest day is worked, the entitlement arises regardless of whether forty-five hours were reached that week, because the twenty-four hours of uninterrupted rest were broken and the rest day therefore counts as not given. Hours beyond the normal daily working time are then treated as overtime on top.
Working on national and public holidays
Consent
Whether work is performed on these days is settled by collective or individual agreement. Where the contract is silent, the employee’s consent is required, and declining is not treated as unexcused absence.
Pay
An unworked public holiday is paid in full. Where it is worked, one further daily wage is due for each day. This is a separate entitlement, not overtime pay.
Half days
Some holidays begin in the afternoon of the preceding day. Where a half day is worked, the calculation has to be made in proportion to the hours falling within the holiday.
Overlap with the rest day
Where a public holiday falls on the weekly rest day, two separate holiday payments do not arise unless the contract provides otherwise. If that day is worked, which regime produces the higher result is assessed on the facts.
The mistakes that show up in payroll audits
Relying on an “overtime included in salary” clause
A contract may provide that overtime pay is included in the monthly salary, but that clause is treated as covering 270 hours a year at most, and it does not extend to weekly rest day or public holiday pay. Those items must be calculated and paid separately.
Over or underpaying monthly staff
A monthly salary covers thirty days, so the rest day is already paid. Paying a monthly employee 2.5 daily wages for working the rest day overpays; paying only one underpays. The correct amount is an additional 1.5 daily wages.
Breaking the rest period
A one-hour call-out on the rest day destroys its continuity, so the rest day counts as not given and payment falls due. In organisations that operate on-call rotas the exposure becomes systematic rather than occasional.
Not itemising the payslip
Weekly rest, public holiday and overtime pay should each appear as a separate accrual line. Lump-sum payment makes it difficult to prove which entitlement was settled if a claim follows.
Overlooking time off in lieu
An employee who works overtime may take time off instead of premium pay: one hour thirty minutes for each overtime hour, and one hour fifteen minutes for each hour of the shorter premium band.
Keeping no records
Without entry and exit records, shift rosters and signed consent forms, the employer’s position in a dispute rests largely on witness evidence.
Evidence and time limits
Burden of proof
The employee bears the burden of proving that the rest day or holiday was worked; the employer must document that payment was made. Workplace records, access data and witness evidence are weighed together.
Effect of a signed payslip
Where the relevant item was accrued on the payslip and the payslip was signed without reservation, a claim for that period is generally not entertained. The content and signature discipline of payslips is therefore decisive in practice.
Reasonable reduction
Where calculations span long periods and rest on witness evidence, courts routinely apply a reasonable reduction to the amount awarded. This is not a rejection of the claim.
Limitation
Claims for weekly rest, national and public holiday and overtime pay are subject to a five-year limitation period, running from the date each payment fell due.
Employer checklist
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Put the working pattern in writing
Weekly hours, the rest day, the shift pattern and whether averaging applies should be set out in the employment contract and internal rules.
-
Renew consents annually
Written employee consent is required for overtime and renewed at the start of each year. Where the contract has no clause on it, separate consent is needed for public holiday work.
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Build the record base
Keep entry and exit records, shift rosters and leave requests in one system, and feed payroll from those records.
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Itemise the payslip
Accrue weekly rest, public holiday and overtime pay on separate lines, and pay salaries through banks.
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Monitor the 270-hour cap
Track overtime per employee and consider time off in lieu or additional headcount as the annual cap approaches.
Frequently asked questions
Does the weekly rest day have to be Sunday in Turkey?
No. Labour Law No. 4857 names no particular day; it requires at least twenty-four uninterrupted hours of rest within each seven-day period. Law No. 2429 describes the weekly rest day as Sunday but reserves the provisions of other statutes, so under the Labour Law the rest day may fall on another day.
How much is payable when the weekly rest day is worked?
For a daily paid employee, 2.5 daily wages in total: the one daily wage payable without work and one and a half daily wages for the work. For a monthly paid employee the first daily wage is already in the salary, so an additional 1.5 daily wages is due.
What if only a few hours are worked on the rest day?
The twenty-four hours of uninterrupted rest are broken, so the rest day counts as not given and the full day is calculated. Whether the week reached forty-five hours is irrelevant. Hours beyond normal daily working time are treated as overtime in addition.
Is working on a public holiday compulsory?
No. Whether work is performed on national and public holidays is settled by collective or individual agreement; where the contract is silent, the employee’s consent is required. If the day is worked, one further daily wage is due for each day on top of the holiday pay.
Is Law No. 394 on the Weekly Holiday still in force?
No. It was repealed by Law No. 7033 with effect from 1 July 2017. What ended was the requirement for industrial establishments to hold a municipal licence to operate on the weekly rest day. The right itself rests on Article 50 of the Constitution and Article 46 of the Labour Law.
Our contract says overtime is included in the salary. Does that cover rest day pay?
No. Such a clause is treated as covering at most 270 hours of overtime a year and does not extend to weekly rest day or public holiday pay. Those entitlements must be calculated separately and shown on the payslip.
Is the rest day falling within annual leave paid separately?
Yes. Annual leave is counted in working days, so a weekly rest day falling within a leave period is not deducted from the leave entitlement and is paid separately.
How long do employees have to bring these claims?
Claims for weekly rest, national and public holiday and overtime pay are subject to a five-year limitation period, running from the date each payment fell due.
How does the rule work in shift operations?
The rest period may begin at an hour other than midnight, provided twenty-four uninterrupted hours are actually given. If a shift changeover reduces the rest below twenty-four hours, the weekly rest counts as not given.
Do child and young workers have a different entitlement?
Yes. Their weekly rest may not be less than forty uninterrupted hours, compared with twenty-four hours for adult employees.
Primary sources
- Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, Article 50 — the right to rest
- Labour Law No. 4857 — Article 41 (overtime), Article 44 (work on national and public holidays), Article 46 (weekly rest pay), Article 47 (public holiday pay), Article 63 (working time and averaging), Article 69 (night work)
- Law No. 2429 on National and Public Holidays
- Law No. 7033 (Official Gazette, 1 July 2017) — repeal of Law No. 394 on the Weekly Holiday
- Press Labour Law Article 19, Maritime Labour Law Article 41, Code of Obligations Article 421
- 2026 minimum wage: gross daily TRY 1,101.00, gross monthly TRY 33,030.00
Payroll and working time compliance
Weekly rest, public holiday and overtime items are the most frequently litigated part of Turkish payroll. What we do:
- Review of working time and shift patterns against the legislation
- Restructuring of payroll items and quantification of retrospective exposure
- Review of contracts and internal rules, and design of consent forms
- Monthly payroll, filings and salary payment processes
Related pages: working hours, payroll services, employment contracts, Turkish labour law. Contact us.
