What counts as a public holiday in Turkey, and how is it different from the weekly rest day?
Foreign companies operating in Turkey often mix up three types of rest day: the weekly rest day, national holidays and general (public) holidays. Under Labour Law No. 4857 (İş Kanunu), an employee who completes the weekly working time is entitled to at least 24 hours of uninterrupted weekly rest. National holidays and general holidays are set separately by Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and General Holidays and apply across the whole country. Articles 44, 46 and 47 of the Labour Law regulate pay for these days and the extra pay owed when employees work on them.
In everyday language, "bayram" (festival) usually refers to the religious festivals, Ramadan Feast and Feast of Sacrifice. Legally, however, national days such as Republic Day, New Year's Day, 1 May and the religious festivals all fall under the same heading. For payroll purposes, what matters is whether the day is listed as a general holiday in the law and whether the employee actually worked that day.
Which days are public holidays, and where should you check the dates?
The list of general holidays is set out in Law No. 2429. Some days are fixed to the calendar, while the religious festivals follow the lunar calendar and therefore move to different dates every year. For that reason, this guide does not list dates for any specific year. When you build your annual plan, take the dates from the official calendar published by the Presidency and the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), and check the Official Gazette (Resmi Gazete) for any administrative leave decisions.
Two details deserve attention. First, the eve of each religious festival (arife) is a half-day holiday from the afternoon; work during that half day is treated in the same way, on a half-day basis. Second, administrative leave (idari izin) announced for public institutions does not automatically become a general holiday for private sector workplaces. Unless your contract or workplace practice says otherwise, a private sector administrative leave day is treated as an ordinary working day. Confirm the current rules from the official source.
Do employees get paid for a public holiday they do not work?
Yes. Under Article 47 of the Labour Law, employees receive their full pay for the general holidays listed in the law even if they do not work. For an employee on a fixed monthly salary, the salary already covers the whole month, so no separate calculation is needed and the payslip does not change.
For hourly or daily paid employees, the holiday pay is calculated as a separate line. In the timesheet, mark the holiday as a "paid holiday" and include it in the SGK (Social Security Institution) premium day count.
How much do you pay an employee who works on a public holiday?
The law says an employee who works on a general holiday receives, on top of the pay they would get anyway for that day, one additional day's wage for each holiday worked. In practice this is called "one additional daily wage". For a monthly paid employee the calculation is:
- Daily gross wage = monthly gross salary / 30
- Holiday work pay = daily gross wage x number of holidays worked
- For half-day holidays such as the eve of a religious festival, half a daily wage is used for the hours worked
This extra payment is gross pay. It is subject to SGK premiums, unemployment insurance premiums, income tax and stamp duty, exactly like the monthly gross salary, and it increases the cumulative income tax base. To track bracket changes, see the current brackets on our payroll parameters page.
How is public holiday pay calculated? A worked example
Take an employee on a gross monthly salary of TRY 60,000. The daily gross wage is 60,000 / 30 = TRY 2,000. If the employee works one general holiday in January, they receive an extra TRY 2,000 gross on top of their salary; if they work two holidays, they receive TRY 4,000. The table below is for January, where the cumulative tax base stays in the first bracket and the minimum wage exemption applies (monthly income tax exemption TRY 4,211.33, stamp duty exemption TRY 250.70).
| Item | No holiday work | 1 day worked | 2 days worked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly gross salary | TRY 60,000.00 | TRY 60,000.00 | TRY 60,000.00 |
| Holiday work pay | TRY 0.00 | TRY 2,000.00 | TRY 4,000.00 |
| Total gross | TRY 60,000.00 | TRY 62,000.00 | TRY 64,000.00 |
| SGK employee share (14%) | TRY 8,400.00 | TRY 8,680.00 | TRY 8,960.00 |
| Unemployment employee share (1%) | TRY 600.00 | TRY 620.00 | TRY 640.00 |
| Income tax base | TRY 51,000.00 | TRY 52,700.00 | TRY 54,400.00 |
| Income tax payable | TRY 3,438.67 | TRY 3,693.67 | TRY 3,948.67 |
| Stamp duty payable | TRY 204.70 | TRY 219.88 | TRY 235.06 |
| Net pay | TRY 47,356.63 | TRY 48,786.45 | TRY 50,216.27 |
| Employer cost (non-manufacturing, 21.75%) | TRY 73,050.00 | TRY 75,485.00 | TRY 77,920.00 |
As the table shows, an extra TRY 2,000 gross for one day adds about TRY 1,430 to the employee's net pay and costs the employer TRY 2,435 (2,000 x 1.2175). The calculation assumes the 2026 employer SGK rate of 21.75% reduced by the 2-point Treasury discount available outside manufacturing (19.75% paid), plus 2% employer unemployment insurance. In manufacturing the Treasury discount is 5 points (16.75% paid), so the employer cost in the table becomes TRY 71,250, TRY 73,625 and TRY 76,000, and one holiday costs the employer TRY 2,375. Later in the year, once the cumulative base moves into higher brackets, the net effect of the same gross amount falls. Try your own figures with the salary calculator and the employer cost calculator.
How does the calculation change for hourly and daily paid staff?
A daily paid employee who does not work on a general holiday still receives that day's wage. If they do work, they receive that day's wage plus one additional daily wage, so the payslip shows two days' wages for that date. For hourly paid staff, the daily wage is the hourly rate multiplied by the normal daily working hours. For part-time staff, holiday pay is based on the hours they would normally have worked that day; see our part-time employment guide for details.
Is working on a public holiday treated as overtime?
Working on a general holiday is not overtime in itself. Overtime in Turkey is work above 45 hours per week, paid at a 50% premium for each hour. Holiday work earns one additional daily wage; if total working time in the same week still exceeds 45 hours, overtime pay is owed separately for the excess hours. For example, if an employee works 50 hours in a week that contains a general holiday, you pay the holiday work pay plus 5 hours of overtime. See our overtime guide and the overtime calculator.
Some workplaces ask staff to work longer than the normal daily hours on a holiday. Those extra hours are assessed against the weekly total. Recording holiday hours under a separate code in the timesheet keeps these two calculations apart.
What happens when a public holiday falls on the weekly rest day?
If a general holiday falls on the weekly rest day, no extra payment arises for a monthly paid employee; the two rest entitlements simply fall on the same day. Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) case law includes decisions stating that, where an employee works on such a day, pay for both weekly rest work and holiday work should be considered. Review these special cases together with your collective agreement and legal adviser.
Do you need the employee's consent for holiday work?
Under Article 44 of the Labour Law, whether work is performed on general holidays is decided by the collective labour agreement or the employment contract. If neither contains a provision, the employee's consent is required. The safest approach is to include a clear clause on holiday work in the employment contract and to collect written or electronic consent for each period.
In continuous operations such as healthcare, security, hospitality, retail and process manufacturing, holiday work is routine. In these workplaces, build the shift plan together with the holiday calendar and document in advance who works on which day. Look at your shift and timesheet processes together.
Can you give time off instead of holiday pay?
The law defines compensation for holiday work as one additional daily wage. Unlike overtime, where time off in lieu is regulated, replacing holiday pay with time off is not expressly provided for. Settling holiday work with leave instead of pay can therefore lead to wage claims later. Since the limitation period for employee receivables is 5 years, claims can build up. If you plan a different practice, confirm the current rules from the official source.
How should it appear in payroll and timesheets?
The burden of proving holiday work and its payment lies with the employer. Timesheets and payroll records should show clearly how many hours were worked on which day and what was paid. Showing holiday work pay as a separate line on the payslip is the clearest method for both employees and inspectors. General contract clauses stating that the monthly salary already includes holiday pay are not always accepted in a dispute.
Before you close the payroll period, check that holidays are coded correctly in the timesheet, that the premium day count is complete and that the extra pay has been added to gross. If there are overlaps with unpaid days or leave, our unpaid and sick leave payroll guide explains how to handle them.