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Turkish Lira is the official currency of Turkey. Its currency symbol is ₺, TRY.
Turkish is the official language with over 80 million speakers.
The population of Turkey is 85.04 million (based on World Bank numbers as of 2021).
Salary payments are usually paid monthly.
To start growing your team in Turkey, you must establish a local entity- including an account with a local bank, a local office and an address registered as a subsidiary. This
allows you to manage payroll, tax, benefits and compliance for your employees, but can take several months.
Emerald can hire and payroll your workers, quickly and compliantly with their ready to go entity. Make growing your team simple with Emerald as a global partner.
Emerald can hire and payroll your workers, quickly and compliantly with their ready to go entity. Make growing your team simple with Emerald as a global partner.
Businesses expanding into Turkey can capitalise on what is widely recognised as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The country benefits from a young
working population, good geopolitical position, and sought-after business community which tends to attract a good amount of foreign investment.
However, Turkey is not always the easiest country for foreign companies to adapt to. Due to complex bureaucracy and regulatory issues, most international companies tend
to engage with local partners.
Turkey is becoming a more popular destination for remote workers. Employers are required to provide necessary tools and equipment for remote workers to ensure their job
can be done. Employers are also required to provide a remote work contract when relevant outlining working hours etc. Many digital nomads venture to Turkey because of
how accessible co-working spaces are and most major cities have large remote worker communities.
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Contracts in Turkey must include:
For indefinite period contracts, it is legally required to have a written employment contract in place in the local language. The contract should state the terms of the
employee’s compensation, all benefits, and termination requirements. The contract should show the employee’s salary in Turkish Lira.
Under Turkish Labour Law, a maximum two-month probation period may be implemented, during which employment may be terminated without penalty.
Emerald Technology can onboard employees in Turkey within 48 hours.
The healthcare system in Turkey comprises a mixture of compulsory health insurance and private medical insurance. The Ministry of Health is responsible for coordinating
all health and social welfare activities, and according to the Turkish Constitution, all individuals are entitled to social security. The public healthcare system is paid for through
public health insurance which is automatically deducted from employees’ salaries.
Social security premiums must be paid by the employer and the employee at rates defined according to labour categories. For Turkish nationals, the general rates are 20.5% (if certain conditions are satisfied, it is reduced by 5% to 15.5%) for the employer. Foreign nationals who remain covered under their home country’s social security system are not required to pay Turkish social security premiums up to a maximum period of three months (possibly longer if there is a social security treaty between the home country and Turkey).
Pregnant women are eligible to receive 8 weeks of maternity leave preceding and following childbirth. In addition, they are eligible for lump-sum pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing benefits. Fathers are entitled to parental leave of up to 3 days.
Under Turkish Labour Law, all employees are entitled to a maximum of 1 week’s paid sick leave, on presentation of a valid medical report. Employers are not obliged to pay
their employees for time off sick as this is covered by government disability programs. In practice, most employers continue to pay employees their full salary while they are sick and deduct the amount paid by the Social Security Institution from the employee’s salary. Extended sick leave may be granted on an unpaid basis.
As the legal employer, Emerald Technology requires the following employee documents to ensure complete compliance:
Visas in Turkey: In the case of an extension request, the foreign worker shall be granted a maximum of two years’ extension at the first extension application for the same employer, and for further applications, a maximum of three years’ extension shall be granted. Highly qualified foreign workers may have the option of being granted a ‘Turquoise Card’ for a transition period of three years, during which time their activities and commitments will be monitored by a specialist from the General Directorate. The Turquoise Card can then be made indefinite. Foreign workers with a long-term residence permit or a legal work permit with a minimum term of eight years may apply for an indefinite-term work permit, however, there is no automatic entitlement to this.
When an employer dismisses an employee it must be with just cause and they must give them notice. The notice period starts from the day after the employer notifies the employee of the termination. Notice must be given in accordance with the following schedule at a minimum:
Employees who have worked for at least one year (including the probation period) are entitled to paid annual leave. Paid time off is based on years of service, according to the following schedule
Turkey has 16 public holidays, with 15 full days and 2 half-days:
The minimum wage in Turkey is TRY 5,500 per month.
Whilst there is no ‘standard’ work week in Turkey, working hours are set at a maximum of 45 per week and should be equally divided across the number of days worked. If an employee’s weekly working hours exceed 45, they are entitled to overtime pay, which increases their regular hourly rate by 50%. In lieu of payment, employees may be granted 1.5 hours of ‘free time’ for every overtime hour worked. Total overtime hours may not exceed 270 per year.
Salary payments must be made at least once a month. The payment period may be fixed at weekly through the employment contract if desired.
The employee contributes 14% of their salary to Social Security, in addition to between 15.5% and 20.5% contributed by the employer (dependent on certain conditions). The employee contributes 1% of their salary to Unemployment Insurance, in addition to 2% contributed by the employer and 1% by the government.
Similar to other countries, Turkey has strict rules on classifying individual contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassifying your workers can put your business at risk of fines.
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