Employment Contracts in Türkiye: A Guide for Foreign Employers

If you are a foreign company hiring in Türkiye, your employment contracts are governed mainly by the Turkish Labour Law (İş Kanunu No. 4857), with the Turkish Code of Obligations (Türk Borçlar Kanunu, "TBKTBKTurkish Code of Obligations No. 6098The statute behind almost every private agreement in Türkiye — contracts, liability for harm, lease, employment, agency and unjust enrichment.Glossary →") filling the gaps and governing matters like the non-compete clause. The short answer most foreign employers want is this: in Türkiye the default is an indefinite-term contract, many key terms are protected by law and cannot be reduced by agreement, and a clause that conflicts with the Labour Law is simply void — the law applies instead. This guide walks you through the contract types, the written-form rules, probation, essential terms, working hours and overtime, and the limits on non-compete and confidentiality, so you can see where a poorly drafted contract creates real risk.

Which law governs your employment contracts in Türkiye?

Most individual employment relationships in Türkiye fall under the Turkish Labour Law (İş Kanunu No. 4857). Where the Labour Law is silent, the general contract rules of the Turkish Code of Obligations (Türk Borçlar Kanunu) apply — and certain topics, such as the non-compete clause (rekabet yasağı), are governed by the Code of Obligations directly.

Two points matter for foreign employers from the start:

• The law sets a floor. Many rights — notice periods, annual paid leave, overtime premiums, severance pay (kıdem tazminatı) — come from the statute. Your contract can offer more than the legal minimum, but a clause that offers less is void, and the legal minimum applies in its place.
• Choosing foreign law has limits. Even where an international element lets the parties pick a governing law, an employee in Türkiye generally cannot be deprived of the mandatory protections of Turkish law. You should not assume an English-law or home-country template will simply "work" here.

Separately, a foreign national you hire usually needs a work permit under the International Labour Force Law No. 6735 (Uluslararası İşgücü Kanunu) before lawfully working in Türkiye. Signing a contract does not by itself authorise the employment — the permit is a distinct requirement.

Indefinite-term vs fixed-term contracts — and when fixed-term is valid

Under Labour Law No. 4857, the indefinite-term contract (belirsiz süreli iş sözleşmesi) is the default. A fixed-term contract (belirli süreli iş sözleşmesi) is the exception and is only valid where there is an objective reason — for example, work that is tied to a specific project, a defined piece of temporary work, or completion of a particular task.

This distinction is one of the most common places foreign employers get caught out, because in many home jurisdictions fixed-term hiring is freely available. In Türkiye it is not. Key consequences:

• No objective reason = treated as indefinite. If you label a contract "fixed-term" without a genuine objective reason, a court can treat it as indefinite from the start.
• Chained fixed-term contracts. Renewing a fixed-term contract again and again without a fresh objective reason for each renewal can cause it to be deemed an indefinite-term contract — exposing you to job-security and notice rules you thought you had avoided.
• Job security. Job-security protection (the rules on valid reason for dismissal and reinstatement claims) typically applies to indefinite-term employees in workplaces above a size threshold and with a minimum service period. Misclassifying the contract can pull these rules in unexpectedly.

Practical takeaway: do not default to fixed-term because it feels safer. In Türkiye, an unjustified fixed-term label often creates more risk than an honest indefinite-term contract.

Does the contract have to be in writing?

Turkish law does not require every employment contract to be in writing to exist — an employment relationship can arise without a signed document. But written form is required or strongly advisable in several situations, and the gaps in an unwritten or vague contract are usually read against the employer.

• Fixed-term and certain other contracts. Under Labour Law No. 4857, contracts such as fixed-term contracts (and other specific types) are subject to a written-form requirement. If you want to rely on a fixed term, get it in writing.
• Where there is no written contract, the Labour Law requires the employer to give the worker a written document setting out the essential terms within a set period after starting. Failing to do this leaves you arguing about terms you cannot prove.
• Special clauses must be written. A non-compete clause (rekabet yasağı) must be in writing to be valid under the Code of Obligations. A probation clause, to be relied on, should also be set out in writing.

For a foreign employer, the safe rule is simple: always use a clear written contract in a language the employee understands, ideally bilingual (Turkish plus English), so the terms can be proved and so the employee genuinely consented to them.

Probation period (deneme süresi)

A probation period (deneme süresi) lets either side end the contract during an initial trial window without notice and, in principle, without notice compensation. To rely on it, the probation clause must be agreed — and in practice put in writing.

• Under Labour Law No. 4857, the probation period is limited to a maximum of two months, which a collective labour agreement (toplu iş sözleşmesi) may extend up to four months.
• During probation, either party may terminate without observing notice periods; but other accrued rights, such as wages for days actually worked, remain payable.
• You cannot use probation as a way around the law — for example, you cannot set a probation period longer than the statutory maximum, and an over-long "trial" can be treated as ordinary employment.

Use probation deliberately and document it. A common foreign-employer mistake is to assume a long, open-ended trial is possible; it is not.

Essential terms every contract should cover

Beyond the legal floor, a good Turkish employment contract should clearly state the terms so there is no later dispute. At a minimum, address:

• The parties and the job — employer, employee, job title and duties, and place of work.
• Start date and contract type — indefinite or fixed-term (and, if fixed-term, the objective reason).
• Wage and benefits — gross/net salary, payment intervals, and any bonuses or allowances. Wages must meet the applicable minimum wage; you cannot contract below it.
• Working hours and rest — daily/weekly hours, breaks, and weekly rest day.
• Annual paid leave — at least the statutory minimum, which increases with length of service.
• Notice and termination — referencing the statutory notice periods, which scale with seniority.
• Probation, confidentiality, and (where justified) non-compete — drafted within legal limits.

Remember the floor principle: where the contract is silent or tries to give less than the law, the statutory minimum governs. Drafting clearly does not let you reduce protected rights — it just removes ambiguity and protects you in a dispute.

Working hours and overtime

Working time is regulated by Labour Law No. 4857 and its implementing regulations. The headline rules foreign employers should plan around:

• Normal weekly working time is in principle a maximum of 45 hours per week, which may, by agreement, be distributed unevenly across the working days of the week.
• Overtime (fazla çalışma) is work beyond 45 hours per week. Overtime is generally paid at the normal hourly wage plus a 50% premium. Work beyond the contractual hours but within 45 hours per week ("fazla sürelerle çalışma") carries a smaller premium.
• Annual overtime cap. Total overtime is capped at 270 hours per year per employee.
• Employee consent. Overtime generally requires the employee's consent, and in some cases the employee may take time off in lieu instead of extra pay.
• Night work and special groups. There are separate, stricter rules for night work and for protected groups; do not assume the standard rules apply uniformly.

Unpaid or undocumented overtime is a frequent source of claims. Keep accurate records of hours worked — in disputes, missing records tend to hurt the employer.

Non-compete and confidentiality — and their limits

A non-compete clause (rekabet yasağı) that restricts an employee after the job ends is governed by the Turkish Code of Obligations (Türk Borçlar Kanunu, m.444–447). It is enforceable only within strict limits:

• Validity conditions. The clause must be in writing, the employee must have legal capacity, and the employee must have had access to customer information or the employer's production/business secrets such that competition could seriously harm the employer.
• It must be limited in time, place, and scope. The restriction cannot unfairly endanger the employee's economic future. As a general guide, the duration should not exceed a small number of years except in special circumstances, and the geographic and subject-matter scope must be reasonable.
• Courts can cut it down. Under the Code of Obligations, a judge may narrow an excessive non-compete (in time, place, or scope) rather than enforce it as written — so an overbroad clause is not just risky, it is often partially unenforceable.
• It can fall away. The post-termination non-compete may end where, for example, the employer terminates without a justified reason attributable to the employee, or the employee terminates for a justified reason attributable to the employer.

Confidentiality obligations are more flexible: a duty to keep genuine business and trade secrets confidential is generally enforceable both during and after employment, and is far less likely to be struck down than a broad non-compete. For most foreign employers, a well-drafted confidentiality and IP-assignment clause does more practical work than an aggressive non-compete.

The risks of getting the contract wrong

For a foreign employer, the cost of a poor contract usually shows up at termination — when claims are filed and records are tested. Common, avoidable risks include:

• Misclassification. An unjustified "fixed-term" label or a sham "consultant/independent contractor" arrangement can be re-characterised as an indefinite-term employment relationship, bringing in notice, severance, and job-security exposure.
• Void clauses. Any clause giving less than the statutory minimum (on leave, overtime, notice, severance) is unenforceable, and the legal minimum applies regardless of what was signed.
• Unenforceable non-compete. An overbroad rekabet yasağı may be narrowed or set aside, leaving you with little real protection — and possibly liable if you tried to enforce it improperly.
• Work-permit gaps. Employing a foreign national without the required permit under the International Labour Force Law No. 6735 can trigger administrative fines and other consequences.
• Severance and notice on dismissal. Severance pay (kıdem tazminatı), rooted in the still-applicable Article 14 of the former Labour Law No. 1475, and statutory notice obligations apply by operation of law where their conditions are met — the contract cannot simply waive them.

Disputes are heard by the specialised labour courts (iş mahkemeleri), and many claims must first go through mandatory mediation before a case can be filed. Because outcomes turn heavily on documents and records, the time to get the contract right is before the first day of work — not after a dispute begins.

Frequently asked questions