Legislation Categories
Legislative Updates
Here you can access most recent articles on legislative updates regarding Personal Data Protection Law, Social Security Law, Taxation Law, Occupational Health and Safety Law, Code of Obligations, Labor Law, Turkish Commercial Code, Law on Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency, Foreign Exchange Legislation, and Immigration Law in Türkiye.
Bilateral Treaties
You can access the dates of the most recent international bilateral social security and double taxation treaties made between Türkiye and other countries and relevant documents here.
Salary, which is the main benefit of working, may consist of various elements.
According to local legislation in Türkiye, bringing these elements together in a
conscious way can make a difference in terms of both cost and motivation.
According to the Article 32 of the Labor Law, the general definition of the salary is: "The cash or non-cash benefits provided by the employer or third parties and paid with money in return for the work." Here, the "work" refers to an action performed by physical and mental human activity and its return is salary. Although the definition in the law is like above, salary refers to the sum of the cash and non-cash benefits that can be measured with the money and money paid to a person in return for the work performed in accordance with the instructions of the employer and in a certain period of time.
On the other hand, in accordance with the Article 61 of the Income Tax Law; it is stated as follows: "Salaries are money and goods given in compensation for services to those who work subject to an employer and in association with a specific place of business, as well as benefits derived which are capable of representation in terms of money. The nature of salary is not changed by the fact that it is paid under such titles as subsidy, compensation, cash compensation (compensation for cashier's responsibility), allocation, raise, fees, per diem, premium, bonus, expense compensation, etc., or by the fact that the earnings are established in the form of a particular percentage (provided they are not in the nature of a partnership)."
The significant point in the Turkish law the fact that whether the salary is paid in cash or non-cash/in-kind is an earning that must be taxed with certain exemptions.
Minimum Wage: It is the name given to the salary paid to employees for a regular working day to meet their essential needs at the minimum level at current prices in a sufficient way, which can be counted as housing, food, clothing, health, transportation, and culture.
Bonus: It is a payment added on top of the salary as incentives in cases where the work is done by the employee in a certain period is deemed successful according to various criteria. In order to talk about bonus, these criteria must be measured and evaluated. Bonus payment can be diversified through the employee's performance, per piece as a percentage of the work and according to other certain criteria. Agreement on bonus payment must necessarily be included in the employment contract or in its annexes. Bonus in Türkiye is considered as salary, and subject to the taxes by adding it on top of the base salary. Although there are various exceptions, the SSI premium should also be calculated.
Additional Payment: As it is understood from description of salary above, all payments that provide an earning to the employer are considered as a salary, albeit under different names. For example, making one additional salary payment to employees per year or an additional payment based on the turnover made by a sales manager and a calculation made in proportion to the company's total annual income, does not change its nature of being a salary. Therefore, it is added on top of the base salary and subject to tax. Likewise, SSI premium should be calculated over these payments.
The concept of insurance, which can be defined as the elimination of risks that are likely to occur in the future and the damage of which are is impossible to predict, is subject to a differentiation between mandatory and private in terms of an employment relationship between the employer and the employee. Mandatory insurance appears as a system that meets the essential needs of an employee to benefit from health services provided by the state for the continuity of income during the retirement period and in case of interruption of the salary due to occupational or social risks. In Türkiye, pension payment to be made and health care to be provided to employees are predetermined according to what circumstances and quantities to be made, and long and short-term insurance premiums are collected under these conditions. The social security system, which is regulated by the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 is presented without the consideration of the one-to-one benefit/cost balance different than the private insurances as a condition of the social state.
In practice, private insurances appear mostly as health insurance and private pension insurance. In addition, life insurance and personal accident insurance applications are sometimes included in the benefit packages of the organizations.
Private Health Insurances: In order to cover the various health risks of an employee, employer or employee may take out private health insurance. There are many regulations regarding the taxation of private health insurance premiums in Türkiye. Private health insurance is one of the benefits commonly preferred by employees to benefit from health services and hospitals that are not covered by the mandatory insurance.
Private Pension System (BES): Private pension system, which basically aims to increase personal savings, is divided into two groups. While the first one can be the benefits provided by employees for themselves and/or by employers on behalf of the employee, the second one is the mandatory private pension system (automatic enrollment), which has been introduced by the Law No. 6740 on Amending the Law on Individual Pension Saving and Investment System that entered into force as of 1st January 2017. The system, also called automatic or mandatory private pension (Otomatik BES in Turkish), is a state-subsidized saving system that aims to ensure that employees maintain their living standards both during their active service term and retirement. Failure of the employer to fulfill its obligations in full and on time within this framework will result in administrative fines. Employees can exit the system by using their right of withdrawal within 2 months following the payment of their first contribution.
BES contribution is an amount that corresponds to 3% of the employees' earnings subject to social security premium and is paid monthly. Employees can contribute higher than this rate in line with their demands. The state subsidy is 25% of the contribution amount and the total of the state subsidy can be maximum 25% of the gross minimum wage for a (calendar) year.
Cars allocated to employees and used for business purposes in Türkiye should be handled in two separate categories.
Within the scope of the Labor Law, it is not a legal obligation for the employer to pay for meal allowance; yet, if payment is to be made, this matter shall be specified in the employment contract. According to the Article 23 of the Income Tax Law No. 193 as amended with the Article 16 of the Law No. 4108, the benefits occurring from providing meal to the employee by the employer will be exempted from income tax. In this article, with the provision given in brackets, it is exempted from income tax within certain limits if it is done through a catering company (which is a taxpayer in Türkiye) who provides food service to the employee (this amount varies every year) and the amount staying above this exception limit is taxable. Also, this exempted amount is not subject to social security employee and employer premiums. If the employer pays the allowance to the employee in cash, except through a catering company, or by providing the meal in the workplace, the meal allowance is taxable. In-cash meal allowance is subject to social security employee and employer premiums with certain exemptions.
Within the scope of the Labor Law, it is not mandatory for the employer to provide transportation allowance to the employee. This allowance should be agreed between the employer and employee and specified in the employment contract or procedures. In practice, it is seen that transportation allowance is applied in different ways. One of these methods is the provision of shuttle service by the employer. Another method is to provide it in the form of public transportation card, ticket or payment means to be used for this purpose. In case of providing transportation allowance in this way, tax is exempted in the amount of up to a daily transportation cost per working days, which is determined by the ministry every year. In case it exceeds the exemption amount, the exceeded amount should be processed as salary/additional benefit and income tax should be calculated over that. For example, if the employee is provided with "Istanbul Kart" (the public transportation card provided by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and can be used throughout Istanbul), the amount to be obtained by multiplying the daily number of exemptions announced by the ministry for the days worked will be exempted from income tax. It is also a common practice to pay transportation allowance to the employee in-cash. In this case, it should be included in the tax calculation without any tax exemptions. Transportation allowance payment in-cash is also subject to social security employee and employer premiums.
By company policy, various additional benefits can be provided to reward the employee for his/her high performance, overachievement in a project or duty or for completing a certain work period. While these benefits can sometimes come as a rise in the salary, they can also come as in cash or in-kind benefits.
In accordance with the Article 80/b of the Law No. 5510;
All payments other than these exceptions, regardless of the name under which they are made, are subject to premium. To sum up, apart from the exceptional cases, all cash payments are subject to SSI premium, while in-kind payments are not. Although in-kind benefits such as fuel, supplies and furniture are subject to income tax, they are not subject to SSI premium.
If a reward is given to the employee in gold, it should be considered as a cash payment and both income tax and social security premium should be calculated on it. Therefore, it is important to consider the commentary that the delivery of valuable gifts (watch, gift card etc.) to the employee that can be converted into cash can be subject to social security premium, even if they are given as in-kind benefit. Since the main point in gifts is the sentimental value, the higher will be the material value, the stronger will become the comment that they will be subject to income tax. The reward should never be more than of a sentimental value.
For example, if an employee is to be rewarded with a tablet computer due to his/her superior performance, the entire amount paid for this device must be grossed up on the employee's payroll (including Value Added Tax). In other words, the income tax of this reward must be paid. However, since this is not a benefit in-cash, social security premium will not be calculated. The fact that these payments can be performed as net (without grossing up) in various countries, raises different questions. Apart from exceptional circumstances, practices in Türkiye do not allow gifts to be added on top of the payroll without grossing them up.
The entitlement of annual leave is regulated by the Labor Law No. 4857. The conditions, durations and right of leave are specified in detail in the Law.
One of the fundamental rights of the employee is the right to have rest and vacation from the work. These rights are regulated by the law with rest breaks, annual leave, weekends, and other similar provisions. These rights are untransferable and inalienable. In other words, it is a legal requirement to use annual leave.
The employee is entitled to annual leave (including probationary period) one year after the employment. In practice, it is common that, employees, who have not yet completed their first year, are also given annual leave to be deducted from their entitlement in the form of advance leave.
The annual leave periods according to service term (seniority) are as follows.
Duration of Service Term in the Company | Duration of Leave |
---|---|
1-5 Years (5th year is included) | 14 Workdays |
5-15 Years (15th year is not included) | 20 Workdays |
15 Years and more | 26 Workdays |
The statement "5th year is included" should be considered in the calculation in the following way: For example, an employee with a service term of 5 years and one day will be entitled to 14 workdays, while an employee with a service term of 6 years and a day will be entitled to 20 workdays.
The paid annual leave should not be less than 20 days for employees under the age of eighteen and over fifty. The duration of paid annual leave can be increased by employment contracts and collective labor agreements.
Annual leave cannot be paid as a salary, but if the employment contract of the employee is terminated, the unused leaves will be added on top of the payment.
You can review all detail about the annual leave regulation in Türkiye by clicking the link.
Unpaid leave rules of the employees are regulated by the Labor Law under certain criteria. There are no specific provisions set forth in the Labor Law regarding employees' use of unpaid leaves due to any needs.
It is regulated by the law that employees who will spend their annual leave far from the workplace can be given unpaid leave for travel of up to four days. On the other hand, after the legal maternity leave, it is required to give unpaid leave of up to six months upon the request of the employee. Other leaves given by the employer are specified in the Article 55 of the Labor Law.
You can find the leave types effective in Türkiye sorted out in the following table.
LEAVE TYPES | CONDITIONS | DURATION | |
---|---|---|---|
01 | (PAID) ANNUAL LEAVE | From the day they start working at the workplace, employees who complete their one-year working period, including the probationary period, are entitled to paid annual leave. | Employees gain annual leave rights when their employment term within the company reaches one full year. Annual leave entitlements based on the employment term: a. 1-5 years of employment; minimum 14 days of paid leave/annually. b. 5-15 years of employment; minimum 20 days of paid leave/annually. c. 15+ years of employment; minimum 26 days of paid leave/annually. *Employees aged 18 years or younger and those who aged 50 or over cannot have less than 20 days of paid annual leave. |
02 | MATERNITY LEAVE | As of the 32nd week of the female employee's pregnancy, she has a right to have her maternity leave. The beginning of the leave can be delayed until the 37th week with the doctor's approval. | Maternity leave period is 16 weeks in total. (8 weeks prior to the birth and 8 weeks after the birth). In multiple pregnancy cases, the pre-birth leave period is set as 10 weeks. |
03 | MARRIAGE LEAVE | Employees gain marriage leave rights following their marriage. | 3 days of paid leave is provided. |
04 | PATERNITY LEAVE | Male employees gain paternity leave rights if their spouse gives birth. | 5 days of paid leave is provided. |
05 | DEATH LEAVE | Employees gain death leave rights in cases where first-degree relatives (mother, father, spouse, children, sibling) pass away. | 3 days of paid leave is provided. |
06 | SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE FOR DISABLED CHILD | Employees gain rights to this leave type in cases of having a 70% disabled child or in cases of having a child with a chronic disease. Only 1 parent shall be able to have the right of leave within the scope of this leave. | 10 days (at once or spread over time) of paid leave are provided. |
07 | MATERNITY HEALTH CONTROL LEAVE | Pregnant employees have the right to take leave for physician controls regarding maternity health during the pregnancy period. | Time period is not provided within the scope of the leave. Paid leave shall be provided to the employee by the employer when required. |
08 | BREAST-FEEDING LEAVE | Female employees gain the right to take leave for breastfeeding purposes. The leave entitlement is valid until the child/children reach(es) 1 year of age. | 1.5 hours of nursing leave per working day shall be provided to the actively working employee. |
09 | CHILD ADOPTION LEAVE | The employee gains right of leave in cases of child adoption. | 3 days of paid leave is provided. One parent of the adopted child is given 8 weeks of leave under the name of "maternity leave" when the child is at or below the age of 3; as of the date when the adoption process is legally finalized. |
10 | JOB SEEKING LEAVE | Employees who are serving their notice period have the right to seek new employment. | 2 hours for each workday is provided. Upon the request of the actively working employee, the employer shall provide the leave period as a bulk. |
11 | CASUAL LEAVE | Casual leave rights that are given to the employees through the employer's initiative. | The employer is not legally obliged to provide casual leave rights, though these can be arranged through the contracts and agreements with the employees. |
12 | ½ DAY PARENTAL LEAVE | This leave is provided to the employees, in cases of when their maternity leave period is over. Upon the demand of the either one of the parents of the adopted child, who is younger than the age of 3. | The length of this leave is dependent on the number of the children: -60 days for the birth of the first child, -120 days for the birth of the second child, -180 days for the birth of the third child, shall be given to the employee. |
The most commonly used unpaid leave in Türkiye is the maternity leave and you can review all details about the maternity leave by clicking the link.
Notification!
Contents provided in this article serve to informative purpose only. The article is confidential and property of CottGroup® and all of its affiliated legal entities. Quoting any of the contents without credit being given to the source is strictly prohibited. Regardless of having all the precautions and importance put in the preparation of this article, CottGroup® and its member companies cannot be held liable of the application or interpretation of the information provided. It is strictly advised to consult a professional for the application of the above-mentioned subject.
Please consult your client representative if you are a customer of CottGroup® or consult a relevant party or an expert prior to taking any action in regards to the above content.
Designing better ways to work through cutting-edge products, premium services and exceptional experiences that enable people to reach their full potential. HR, Talent, Benefits, Payroll and Compliance informed by data and designed for people.
Learn more at www.adp.com
ADP, ADP logo and the slogan "Always Designing for PeopleTM" belong to the registered trademark of ADP, LLC.
Awards for CottGroup® Services
(*) Services Exporters' Association - 2021
(**) Bilişim 500 - 2021
Let's Get Started.
Get a Quote for Your Service Needs.
Privacy Policy
CottGroup® companies' network ("CottGroup®") includes independent companies with separate legal entities that provide various sections of this website and other websites in the CottGroup® member network; and this Personal Data Protection and Processing Policy applies separately for each CottGroup® member company.
Thank you for visiting our website and reading our privacy and security statement.
Basic Information About Our Approach to Data Security and Privacy
CottGroup®'s network of companies (CottGroup®) has dedicated itself to ensuring the security of your personal data in all of its information systems. For CottGroup®, privacy and security matters form the basis of the relation between us and our customers. CottGroup® understands your particular concern about your confidentiality and security and place utmost importance on that matter.
CottGroup® consists of multiple independent members which provide various sections of the websites in CottGroup®'s network of members. Please click here to see our current member companies. New members to be added to the CottGroup®'s network of members in future will also be viewable by clicking the same link.
Information that you will be disclosing when using this website may also be controlled by any other firm among the members of CottGroup®'s network in order to enable us to secure the control, inspection and security of the said data at the utmost level. Each independent member shall be legally liable for any data controlled and inspected by it.
CottGroup® Privacy Statement is applicable to all data processed by CottGroup®, including Personal Data collected or transmitted via our websites in CottGroup®'s network, our software and self-service applications, mobile applications or social media accounts and other online or off-line channels.
Protection of Personal Data
CottGroup® acts in the capacity of a data controller and data processor in line with the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK) no. 6698 and provisions of any other legislation applicable to the protection of personal data. Accordingly, personal data shall be processed only by CottGroup® personnel authorized to implement any privacy and security policy as well as services falling within the scope of duty of CottGroup®'s management office and the personnel named in the privacy and security authorization matrices, and those natural/legal persons authorized by CottGroup® for such purpose by fulfilling the condition of informing the data subjects. For details, please click the Personal Data Protection and Processing Policy.
Electronic Messages
Subject to communication consents provided by you during your communication with us regarding electronic (e-mail) messages and through any other CottGroup® channel, you will be deemed to have accepted to receive e-mail messages through your contact details, for the promotion of services offered by CottGroup® and its business partners, information on new products and services, announcements on issues regarding legislation, and other matters that may be of interest for you. In this respect, you may contact CottGroup® to request that messages are no longer sent to you through one or more than one communication channel.
Log Data, Cookies and Web Beacons
Cookies are program bits that are usually in the form of text files that may be embedded in laptops, desktop PCs and mobile devices, which collect various data.
Cookies may be used to collect the following data:
Please click Cookie Policy for details.
Purpose of Using Your Data
We may use your personal data which we record during your visits to our website, via automated or non-automated means, or which you may disclose to us in communication forms, e-mails or via other electronic transactions, primarily for the purpose of satisfying your requests and subsequently for ensuring improvement of the services offered to you. Overall purposes of use of such data may be listed as follows:
Please do not disclose such data that you would not want us to collect for the purposes above. Please remember that unless you provide such data, we will be unable to contact you, and that your certain data may still be collected by means of cookies during your visit to this website.
Data Security
CottGroup® places utmost importance on the security of your data. CottGroup® places utmost importance on the security of your data. We take measures conforming to sector standards to prevent unauthorized collection and use of your data. Exchange of information on the İnternet is not generally secure. Therefore, we recommend you exercise due care by user when exchanging information through our websites and online systems. If you do not take this care, CottGroup® cannot guarantee you about security of your information and communication on the website or capture them by third parties.
When your information arrives at CottGroup®, it is protected in accordance with our security and privacy standards. Your data are stored for the purposes set out above and only for the durations required by the needs of our business process or as prescribed by law.
Data Transfer
We may transfer the personal information we collect about you to other countries different from the country we collect the data, as we use their services of the internet service providers, hosting companies, e-mail providers, domain providers (for example: Microsoft 365). Data protection laws and regulations applied in these countries may differ from the laws applicable in Türkiye.
Hereby, we will protect your information in accordance with the applicable law as described in this Privacy Policy while transferring to other countries.
Protection for Children's Online Activities
We support parents willing to supervise and control online activities of their children. In no event do we ask children on purpose to share their personal data. If we come to know that a person whose personal data are collected by us is younger than 13 years old, we may use such data to try to promptly inform his/her parents. This rule shall be applicable for age 16 under the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Designing New Processes in Line with Privacy Rules
CottGroup® takes the most appropriate technological and organizational measures to ensure confidentiality when developing new systems and applies necessary developments for the processing of personal data in line with their intended purposes (Privacy by design).
Should you have any queries about this Privacy Policy, please click the link.
CottGroup® website: https://www.cottgroup.com
Online Visitor Clarification Text On The Processing Personal Data
Data Controller: Boss Yönetişim Hizmetleri A.Ş.
Address: Astoria Towers Büyükdere Cad. No: 127 B Kule Kat: 8 34394 Şişli, İstanbul, Türkiye
Boss Yönetişim Hizmetleri A.Ş. ("Company") prepared this Clarification Text as the data controller to inform you, our valuable online visitors, about your personal data that we process in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Personal Data (hereinafter referred to as "KVKK") and the relevant legislation.
1. Your Personal Data Processed and The Scope of The Processing
Personal data is any data that identifies you or makes you identifiable. For example, your name, surname, eye color, phone number or bank account information are considered personal data. On the other hand, processing your personal data refers to all kinds of processes such as obtaining, amending, registering, storing, retaining, deleting, disclosing, and transferring your data. We have provided the following information about the personal data we process:
ID Data
Your Processed ID Data | Purposes of Processing Your ID Data |
Collection Methods of Your ID Data |
Legal Reasons Behind Our Data Processing Activities |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Contact Data
Your Processed Contact Data | Purposes of Processing Your Contact Data | Collection Methods of Your Contact Data | Legal Reasons Behind Our Data Processing Activities |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Personnel Data
Your Processed Contact Data | Purposes of Processing Your Contact Data | Collection Methods of Your Contact Data | Legal Reason of Our Data Processing Activities |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Customer Transaction Information
Your Processed Customer Transaction Information | Purposes of Processing Your Customer Transaction Information | Collection Methods of Your Customer Transaction Information | Legal Reasons Behind Our Data Processing Activities |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Transaction Security Information
Your Processed Transaction Security Information | Purposes of Processing Your Transaction Security Information | Collection Methods of Your Transaction Security Information | Legal Reasons Behind Our Data Processing Activities |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
2. Our Retention Period for Storing Your Personal Data
We store your personal data for a period of time stipulated in the relevant legislation or for the periods of time required by the processing purposes. We will delete, destruct or anonymize your data by ex officio or upon your request, if legal reasons requiring data processing disappear.
3. Your Rights Regarding Your Personal Data
Data subject refers to the natural persons whose personal data are processed. As a data subject, you, our valuable online Visitors, have the following rights regarding your personal data processed under KVKK:
4. Methods To Follow to Exercise Your Rights
You can share your application and requests regarding your personal data with Boss Yönetişim Hizmetleri A.Ş. via Data Subject Application Form,
You, as a data subject, should include your name and surname, your signature if the application is in written form, your Turkish ID Number if you are a Turkish citizen, your nationality and passport number (or if you have an ID number) if you are foreigner, place of residence or business address for notifications, your e-mail address and fax number if you have one, and lastly, the subject of the request in your application with respect to legal requirements regarding the applications to data controllers. In addition, you should add documents and information confirming your identity to your application.
In order for us to operate the process in the most effective way for you, you should clearly and understandably indicate in your request which right you want to use and the details of the transaction you request.
We would like to emphasize that the request should concern the data subject itself. If the application is made on behalf of someone else, the person making the request should rely on a specially documented authorization for the requested transaction (power of attorney). Unauthorized applications will not be evaluated.
5. Evaluation of Your Application
By evaluating your applications, we respond to you as soon as possible and within 30 days of receipt as of the date of your application.