Overtime Pay Claims in Antalya

What counts as overtime under Turkish law?

Under the Labour Law no. 4857 the standard working week in Turkey is forty-five hours. Work beyond that threshold is treated as overtime (fazla çalışma), and each hour must be paid at one and a half times the normal hourly rate. Where the contract sets the working week below forty-five hours, work between the agreed figure and forty-five hours is classified differently, as work at extended hours (fazla sürelerle çalışma), and carries a premium of twenty-five per cent instead.

The employee's written consent is required before overtime is worked, and that consent is renewed at the beginning of each year. Overtime is also capped at two hundred and seventy hours in a calendar year. Exceeding this ceiling does not extinguish the right to payment: hours actually worked remain payable even where the statutory limit has been passed.

This distinction matters in Antalya, where seasonal work in hotels, restaurants and guesthouses is widespread. During the high season daily working hours frequently extend, and where those hours are not recorded at the time, difficulties of proof arise later.

How overtime pay is calculated

Calculation starts from the employee's bare hourly rate (çıplak ücret). The gross monthly salary is converted first to a weekly and then to an hourly figure; that hourly rate is multiplied by the number of overtime hours and the premium of fifty per cent is applied. For work at extended hours the same method is used with a premium of twenty-five per cent.

A point often confused: the figure used for severance pay is not the figure used for overtime. Severance is calculated on the salary including fringe benefits (giydirilmiş ücret), which takes in items such as transport and meal allowances. Overtime is calculated on the bare wage, without those additions.

Where the payslip records a wage lower than the one actually paid, the court may establish the real figure through an inquiry into comparable wages. In that inquiry the court asks the relevant professional bodies what an employee doing that work, with that length of service, would ordinarily earn in the sector.

Proving overtime: which evidence carries weight

The burden of proving overtime rests, as a rule, on the employee. The employer, however, is under a duty to keep records of working time. Where the workplace maintains entry and exit records, timesheets, shift rotas or electronic logs, those records are the primary evidence.

Where no records exist, witness evidence becomes decisive. Whether the witnesses worked in the same period and in the same unit is taken into account when their statements are weighed. In settled practice the courts may apply an equitable reduction (hakkaniyet indirimi) to calculations resting on witness evidence, on the view that over a long period not every single day will have been worked at the same intensity.

Notebooks kept by the employee, telephone records, workplace correspondence and vehicle tracking data may be submitted as supporting evidence. Where a signed payslip shows an overtime entry, the contrary can be established only by written evidence for that month.

Signed payslips and release documents

If the payslip contains an overtime column and the employee has signed it without recording a reservation, payment for that month is presumed to have been made. That presumption can be rebutted only by written evidence. Where the payslip shows no overtime entry at all, the fact that it is signed does not by itself defeat a claim.

A release document (ibraname) is signed after the employment relationship ends and records that the employee has received what was owed. The Turkish Code of Obligations subjects such documents to strict conditions: at least one month must have passed since termination, the type and amount of each entitlement must be stated expressly, and payment must be made through a bank.

A release that does not meet these conditions is invalid. Documents recording only a partial payment are not treated as a release at all, but as a receipt for the sum actually paid.

Limitation periods and mandatory mediation

Overtime pay is a wage claim and is subject to a five-year limitation period. Time runs separately for each monthly entitlement, from the date it fell due. In long relationships this means that periods more than five years before the claim is issued may already be out of time.

Limitation continues to run while the employment relationship subsists. Waiting until the relationship ends before raising a claim can therefore result in earlier entitlements being lost.

Before an employment claim can be brought, an application to a mediator is a precondition of the action (dava şartı). This is mandatory mediation (zorunlu arabuluculuk), and a claim filed without it is dismissed on procedural grounds. The mediation process suspends the limitation period until the final record is drawn up, and the period allowed for issuing proceedings after that record should be observed carefully.

Working time and occupational safety

Extended working hours are assessed not only as a matter of pay but also under occupational health and safety legislation, which requires the employer to assess the risks in the working environment and take the necessary measures. A failure to allow rest breaks may become relevant where an accident is said to have followed from fatigue.

Where an occupational accident occurs, notification to the Social Security Institution within the statutory period is required. Claims for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages arising from the accident are brought before the labour courts, and the allocation of fault is determined through expert examination.

Compliance with the rules on night work, rest intervals and weekly rest is examined in the same context. These questions are frequently considered in the same file as a claim for overtime.

Proceedings: court, stages and appeal

Employment claims are heard by the Labour Courts. In Antalya those courts sit at the Antalya Courthouse; the districts of Konyaaltı, Muratpaşa and Kepez have no separate courthouse. As to territorial jurisdiction, either the court of the employer's place of business or that of the place where the work was performed may be chosen. For the general framework of a file, see the page of our lawyer in Antalya.

The final mediation record is attached to the statement of claim. After the exchange of pleadings a preliminary examination hearing is held, and during the investigation stage witnesses are heard and an expert calculation obtained. The period for objecting to the expert report should not be missed: a calculation that goes unchallenged may be adopted as the basis of the judgment.

An appeal lies to the Antalya Regional Court of Appeal. Once an award becomes final and is not paid voluntarily, it is enforced through the enforcement office.

Frequently asked questions

Can time off be given instead of overtime pay? Yes. For each hour of overtime worked, the employee may request one hour and thirty minutes of free time. Exercising this option depends on the employee's request.

Can an employee paid in cash still bring a claim? Yes, although proving the real wage becomes harder. In that situation the inquiry into comparable wages and witness evidence carry particular weight.

Can an employee who resigned claim overtime? Yes. Overtime pay is an entitlement that has already accrued, regardless of how the relationship ended. Resignation affects severance and notice pay, not accrued wages.

Do senior managers have overtime claims? Practice differs for senior managers who set their own working arrangements and are not subject to supervision. This is assessed against the actual scope of the role rather than the job title.

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For further detail on the matters discussed here, see our Employment Law page.

The information on this page is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult a lawyer about your own situation.