Hiring in Turkey
- Minimum wage
- ₺33,030 / month
- Average salary
- ₺34,642 / month (2024)
- Employer contributions
- 23.8%
- Income tax
- 15–40%
- Paid leave
- 14–26 days
- Public holidays
- 15.5 days
- Probation
- up to 2 months
- Notice period
- 2–8 weeks
General information, not legal or tax advice — confirm with a local adviser before you act.
Contents
A foreign company can hire in Turkey through its own Turkish employer presence, a provider acting as the legal employer where that arrangement qualifies (employer of record in Turkey), or a genuinely independent service contract (hiring contractors in Turkey). The actual working relationship determines whether services are independent, and the label employer of record alone does not bring a provider arrangement under Article 7 temporary labour supply.
4dev.com’s Contractor Platform works with contractors in Turkey where the services are genuinely independent.
Three ways to hire in Turkey
Your Turkish entity can employ staff directly. For a provider arrangement, check who legally employs the worker; for a service contract, check that the work is genuinely independent.
| Route | Legal employer | What you pay on top of salary | How you end it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own entity | Your Turkish entity | 23.75% undiscounted employer contributions for a standard private-sector 4/a employee, subject to the insurable-earnings ceiling; conditional incentives are separate | For an indefinite employment contract, 2–8 weeks of notice by service length; qualifying severance and dismissal-protection rules may also apply |
| Employer of record | The provider only where the actual arrangement makes it the legal employer | The provider's contractual terms, plus the employment costs applicable to the actual structure | The provider and employment contracts govern the route; where the arrangement is regulated temporary supply, Article 7 conditions and its end-of-placement rule matter |
| Contractor | The independent service provider, working in their own name and account | The contractual service amount; the employee 4/a contribution calculation does not describe a genuinely independent engagement | The service agreement governs the end of the engagement; an employee notice period does not follow from a genuinely independent service contract |
The 23.75% statutory employer total for the standard 4/a case is undiscounted. In 2026 the contribution base stops at ₺297,270 a month; two- and five-percentage-point pension discounts and minimum-wage support depend on separate eligibility conditions.
Article 7 recognises temporary labour supply through an İŞKUR-authorised private employment bureau and assignments within a holding or company group. For bureau supply, the listed grounds, written contracts with the worker and user employer, equal-treatment rule and end-of-placement consequences apply. On most permitted bureau-supply grounds, the initial term is no more than four months and may be renewed twice, generally without exceeding eight months; statutory exceptions apply. A within-group assignment requires its own Article 7 assessment; the bureau-supply grounds and duration limits do not automatically carry over.
Use the contractor route only where the work is genuinely independent. Turkish employment law turns on dependent work for an employer, and SGK distinguishes employee 4/1(a) status from qualifying independent 4/1(b) activity; a services label does not settle that question.
The labour market: what the published wages show
Use the published 2024 averages as historical context and the 2026 statutory floor as a legal boundary; neither is a current, city-specific offer benchmark.
Salary reference points
| National mean gross wage | ₺34,642 / month (2024) | TurkStat 2024 wage statistics |
| Information and communication mean gross wage | ₺75,885 / month (2024) | TurkStat 2024 wage statistics |
| National gross minimum wage | ₺33,030 / month | Ministry of Labour 2026 minimum wage |
The national and information-and-communication figures are observed 2024 gross-wage means. Neither is a 2026 market rate or a current offer, and a mean does not show the distribution of pay for an individual role. For a city-specific offer, obtain a current local gross-wage benchmark by role; the national means and statutory floor cannot supply one.
Registering as an employer, step by step
Establish the Turkish employer presence and agree the required employment terms before the first hire. The employee entry notice is ordinarily due before work begins, while the workplace notice is due by the first insured workday; entity formation needs its own timetable.
| Step | What happens | Takes |
|---|---|---|
| Establish the entity or branch | Set up the Turkish employer presence required for the route | Depends on the setup |
| Record the employment terms | Use a written contract for employment lasting at least one year; if unwritten, give a statement of working conditions except for a fixed-term contract of one month or less | Within two months, or by the contract's end if earlier |
| File the employee entry notice | File the 4/a employee’s SGK entry notice electronically | Ordinarily at least one day before work begins |
| File the workplace notice | Notify SGK of the workplace | No later than the first insured workday |
| Run the first payroll | Pay wages | At least monthly, unless the contract or collective agreement shortens the interval to one week |
SGK’s employer-obligations guidance sets out both filing deadlines. Plan entity or branch formation separately; those deadlines do not give a total time to first hire.
Hiring and onboarding
Before the first day, classify the relationship, agree the employment terms, complete the relevant SGK filings and establish whether the worker needs a work-permit route.
Legal limits
An employment contract is dependent work for an employer; calling the arrangement a service contract does not replace that assessment. Employment contracts lasting at least one year must be written. If no written contract is made, the employer must give the employee a statement of working conditions within two months, except for a fixed-term contract of one month or less. If a covered contract ends before two months, the statement is due by its end date.
An agreed probation period lasts up to 2 months, or up to four months under a collective agreement. Either party may end an agreed probation period without notice or compensation, while pay for days already worked remains due.
For a foreign employee, confirm the relevant work-permit route before fixing the start date. A first employer-tied permit may run for up to one year, and the Ministry evaluates a complete application within 30 days from completion or from receipt of requested additional documents; those are permit validity and evaluation rules, not a universal onboarding timeline. For the same employer, the first renewal may run up to two years and later renewals up to three years; a renewal application opens 60 days before expiry.
The Ministry’s assessment criteria include limited, conditional exceptions. A qualifying in-country applicant with at least one year of lawful stay in the preceding three years may receive an employment- and financial-criteria exception for up to three workers, subject to the Turkish-citizen headcount condition, while the salary criterion remains. A separate eight-year lawful-stay exception covers employment, financial-capacity and salary criteria but does not grant a permit automatically.
Onboarding checklist
- Classify the work as employment or genuinely independent services from the actual relationship.
- Agree the wage, working conditions and contract form; include probation only if it is agreed.
- For a foreign worker, confirm the applicable work-permit route and the information needed for a complete application before setting the start date.
- File the employee entry and workplace notices on their statutory deadlines.
- Set the wage-payment cycle and provide the required employment terms.
Minimum wage in 2026
Turkey’s statutory gross monthly floor is ₺33,030 / month from 1 January to 31 December 2026; the net figure is what remains after the employee deductions, while the gross figure is the legal wage floor.
| Gross monthly minimum wage | ₺33,030 / month — 1 January–31 December 2026 | Ministry of Labour 2026 minimum wage |
| Net monthly minimum wage | ₺28,075.50 | Ministry of Labour 2026 minimum wage |
| Daily gross minimum wage and SGK assessment floor | ₺1,101 | SGK 2026 earnings limits |
The net figure reflects the employee’s 14% SGK and 1% unemployment deductions. Employer contributions are a separate cost and do not explain the difference between the gross and net amounts.
The historical table shows the gross monthly rate in force at each year end, with the July effective dates shown for 2022 and 2023.
| Effective date | Gross monthly minimum wage | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2017 | ₺1,777.50 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 January 2018 | ₺2,029.50 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 January 2019 | ₺2,558.40 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 January 2020 | ₺2,943.00 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 January 2021 | ₺3,577.50 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 July 2022 | ₺6,471.00 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 July 2023 | ₺13,414.50 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 January 2024 | ₺20,002.50 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 January 2025 | ₺26,005.50 | Ministry of Labour minimum-wage history |
| 1 January 2026 | ₺33,030 | Ministry of Labour 2026 minimum wage |
Taxes and contributions
For a standard private-sector 4/a employee, start with gross pay and add the undiscounted 23.75% employer contribution rate up to the SGK ceiling; wage-income tax is a separate employee-side calculation.
Wage income is taxed progressively at 15–40%: 15% to ₺190,000, 20% to ₺400,000, 27% to ₺1.5m, 35% to ₺5.3m, and 40% above that. Those marginal bands should not be added to the employer’s statutory contribution rate.
| Pension, old-age and death insurance | 12% employer share | SGK employer premium rates 2026 |
| General health insurance | 7.5% employer share | SGK employer premium rates 2026 |
| Short-term insurance | 2.25% employer share | SGK employer premium rates 2026 |
| Unemployment insurance | 2% employer share | SGK employer premium rates 2026 |
| Standard 4/a total | 23.75% undiscounted employer share | SGK employer premium rates 2026 |
What an employee actually costs you
The four monthly examples apply the undiscounted 2026 employer rate to each stated gross amount. The two 2024 wage observations are fixed nominal illustrations under those rates, while the 2026 minimum and SGK ceiling are statutory boundaries. None of the four rows is a current market-wage quote.
| Scenario and date | Gross monthly pay | Employer contributions | Total monthly employer cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 statutory gross minimum wage | ₺33,030.00 | ₺7,844.63 | ₺40,874.63 |
| 2024 national mean, held nominal under 2026 rates | ₺34,642.00 | ₺8,227.48 | ₺42,869.48 |
| 2024 information/communication mean, held nominal under 2026 rates | ₺75,885.00 | ₺18,022.69 | ₺93,907.69 |
| 2026 SGK earnings ceiling, statutory boundary illustration | ₺297,270.00 | ₺70,601.63 | ₺367,871.63 |
Each row assumes a standard private-sector 4/a employee. The totals exclude conditional discounts, minimum-wage support, bonuses, severance accrual, benefits, provider fees and tax withholding; add any applicable items when preparing a compensation budget.
When the SGK ceiling and discounts matter
The 2026 monthly SGK insurable-earnings ceiling is ₺297,270. Above it, contributions under this ordinary model stop rising with gross pay; the last row shows the ceiling itself.
Eligible private-sector employers outside manufacturing may receive a two-percentage-point Treasury discount on the employer pension share; eligible manufacturing workplaces may receive a five-point discount through 31 December 2026. Timely filings and premium payment, an appropriate SGK debt position, and no unregistered or fictitious insured workers are among the conditions, so neither discount is deducted from the table. Minimum-wage support is separate: TRY 42.33 per reported premium day, or TRY 1,270 for a full month, subject to the stated earnings and employer conditions; it is also excluded from every scenario.
Working time and overtime
The ordinary limit is 45 hours a week; extra hours change the employee’s entitlement only after identifying whether the work exceeds that limit or a shorter contractual week.
| Ordinary working time | At most 45 hours a week | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
| Uneven distribution by agreement | At most 11 hours in a day | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
| Weekly rest | At least 24 consecutive hours in each seven-day period | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
| Overtime above 45 hours | 150% of the normal hourly wage | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
| Hours between a shorter contractual week and 45 hours | 25% premium over the normal hourly wage | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
| Overtime consent and annual limit | Worker consent; at most 270 hours a year | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
Where a contract sets a week shorter than 45 hours, hours worked up to 45 carry a 25% premium. Work above 45 hours is overtime at 150% of the normal hourly wage, subject to the annual cap and consent requirement.
Holiday work follows the employment or collective agreement. Where neither contains a holiday-work term, the worker’s written consent is required.
Leave, sick pay and parental leave
Paid annual leave begins after the qualifying service period. Public holidays do not reduce that leave balance, while sickness income depends on the employee meeting SGK benefit conditions.
Annual leave and public holidays
| Annual paid leave after one year of service, including probation | 14–26 days: 14 days at 1–5 years, 20 days after 5 and before 15 years, 26 days at 15 years or more | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
| Age exception | At least 20 days for workers aged 18 or younger, and 50 or older | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
| Leave split | By agreement, one part must be at least 10 days | Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 |
| Statutory national and general holidays | 15.5 days, including half-day eves | Ministry of Labour textile working-conditions guide |
Weekly rest days and statutory holidays that fall during annual leave do not reduce the annual-leave balance. The religious-holiday dates move each year; only 29 October requires private workplaces to close.
Sickness and family leave
For an eligible insured employee with a certified absence, the SGK temporary-incapacity benefit for illness begins on the third day. It is half of daily earnings for inpatient treatment and two-thirds for outpatient treatment, subject to the insurance conditions.
Law 7578 changed private-sector family leave from 1 May 2026: maternity leave is 24 weeks in total, with eight before birth and sixteen after; paid paternity leave is ten days; and a foster-parent worker may request ten days of unpaid leave after placement. Check any maternity cash benefit and employer top-up separately from these statutory leave periods.
Termination: notice and payments
For an indefinite employment contract, notice follows tenure from 2–8 weeks, while valid-reason protection and severance each have separate qualifying conditions.
Notice and valid reason
| Service length | Statutory notice period |
|---|---|
| Under 6 months | 2 weeks |
| 6 months to under 1.5 years | 4 weeks |
| 1.5 years to 3 years | 6 weeks |
| More than 3 years | 8 weeks |
An employer may end the contract by paying the notice-period wage in advance; without notice, the relevant party owes compensation equal to that wage. For an indefinite contract, an employer with at least 30 workers must give a valid reason when dismissing a worker with at least six months of service, subject to statutory exceptions.
Severance and other exit routes
For a qualifying termination after at least one year of service, statutory severance is 30 days’ pay per full service year, prorated for part years and subject to the applicable cap. The cap is ₺64,948.77 per service year for 1 January–30 June 2026 and ₺73,729.87 for 1 July–31 December 2026. A resignation cannot be treated as universally severance-eligible; the qualifying ground still matters.
In practice, a valid mutual termination agreement generally provides the employee with benefits beyond the statutory entitlements.
— N. Engin Sokullu, Ceren Deniz Yüksel and Zeynep Ceren Bekar, coauthors, Özay Law Firm
A mutual termination agreement still calls for separate statutory notice and severance checks. After an employment contract ends, the SGK employee departure notice is normally due electronically within 10 days.
Recent changes that affect a 2026 hire
- 1 January 2026 — wage and SGK boundary. The national gross minimum wage became ₺33,030 a month, and the monthly SGK insurable-earnings ceiling became ₺297,270. Use those figures in the current statutory cost model; the ceiling does not establish a market salary.
- 1 May 2026 — family leave. Law 7578 made private-sector maternity leave 24 weeks in total, raised paid paternity leave to ten days and introduced ten days of unpaid leave for a foster-parent worker after placement.
- 1 July 2026 — severance cap. The cap moved from ₺64,948.77 for 1 January–30 June to ₺73,729.87 per service year for 1 July–31 December. It applies only where the termination qualifies for statutory severance.
- 3 August 2026 — in-country permit assessment. A qualifying applicant with at least one year of lawful stay under a work permit, residence permit or international protection in the preceding three years may receive an employment- and financial-criteria exception for an in-country application, limited to three workers at a workplace and subject to the Turkish-citizen headcount condition. It does not waive the salary criterion or grant a work permit automatically.
- 3 August 2026 — separate eight-year assessment exception. A foreign national with at least eight years in Turkey under the listed lawful permit or residence statuses, documented through public-authority records, may be exempt from employment, financial-capacity and salary assessment criteria. This is a distinct person-level exception and does not itself grant a work permit.
What a mistake costs and who pays
The applicable administrative penalty depends on the breach and the party responsible. The listed amounts attach to distinct employment, subcontracting and temporary-supply rules.
| Party | Risk | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Employer | Failing to pay or underpaying minimum wage | ₺2,734 per affected worker per month in 2026 |
| Employer | Failing to pay overtime, give due compensatory time, or obtain consent for extra hours | ₺4,815 per affected worker in 2026 |
| Employer | Breaching working-time rules | ₺26,620 in 2026 |
| Principal-employer representative and subcontractor representative, separately | Registering a sham subcontracting workplace | ₺302,484 each in 2026 |
| Employer using a temporary worker contrary to Article 7 | Noncompliant regulated temporary supply | ₺4,235 per affected worker in 2026 |
In a sham subcontracting arrangement, the subcontractor’s workers are treated as the principal employer’s workers from the start. The Article 7 amount concerns regulated temporary supply; it cannot be carried across to every independent-service or provider arrangement.
The official 2026 penalty schedule is the practical check for the listed administrative amounts. Wage, notice and severance exposure depends on the employment facts. The listed amounts cannot be treated as a single contractor-misclassification fine.
Questions people actually ask
Can I hire someone in Turkey without setting up a company there?
Yes, if the arrangement fits a provider-led employment route or genuinely independent services; the answer depends on the actual working relationship. An arrangement marketed as employer of record does not automatically fall within Article 7 temporary labour supply, while an independent-service label cannot settle an employment question by itself.
What is the minimum monthly salary in Turkey in 2026?
The statutory gross minimum is ₺33,030 / month from 1 January to 31 December 2026. The stated net minimum is ₺28,075.50 after the employee’s 14% SGK and 1% unemployment deductions; the daily gross floor is ₺1,101.
What is the average salary in Turkey?
The national gross mean was ₺34,642 / month (2024), and the information-and-communication mean was ₺75,885 / month (2024). These historical observations are neither a 2026 offer benchmark nor a city-specific range; a mean also differs from a median.
How much does it cost to employ someone in Turkey?
At the 2026 gross minimum, the undiscounted standard 4/a scenario is ₺33,030.00 gross plus ₺7,844.63 employer contributions, for ₺40,874.63 a month. That calculation excludes conditional discounts, minimum-wage support, bonus, severance accrual, benefits, provider fee and tax withholding.
What are the maximum legal working hours?
The ordinary weekly limit is 45 hours, with an agreed uneven distribution limited to 11 hours in a day and at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest. Work above 45 hours is overtime at 150% of the normal hourly wage; where a contract sets a shorter week, the hours up to 45 carry a distinct 25% premium and the annual overtime cap and consent rule still apply.
Is an employee entitled to severance pay if they resign?
Statutory severance applies to qualifying terminations after at least one year of service, at 30 days’ pay per full year subject to the applicable cap. Resignation alone does not establish entitlement; assess the particular ground before treating severance as due.
Do foreign employees need a work permit in Turkey?
A first employer-tied permit may be valid for up to one year, and the Ministry evaluates a complete application within 30 days from completion or requested additional documents. The limited one-year and eight-year lawful-stay assessment exceptions do not grant a permit automatically, and the one-year exception does not waive the salary criterion.
Sources
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