Annual Leave, Severance Pay, and Notice Pay in Part - Time Employment Contracts 30 July 2025

According to Article 6 of the Regulation on Working Hours Related to the Labor Code, part-time work refers to work performed at a rate of up to two-thirds of the comparable work performed under a full-time employment contract at the workplace. When both regulations are considered together, if the normal weekly working hours, which are set at 45 hours for comparable employees, are agreed upon by the parties to be 30 hours or less, it will be considered a part-time employment contract.
 

Article 13 of the Labor Law No. 4857 continues as follows: "... An employee working under a part-time employment contract cannot be treated differently from a full-time employee solely because of the part-time nature of the employment contract, unless there is a valid reason for such differentiation. The wages and divisible benefits of an employee working under a part-time employment contract shall be paid in proportion to the time worked, compared to a full-time employee." In accordance with this provision, an employee working under a part-time employment contract shall not be subject to different treatment compared to a full-time employee, unless there is a valid reason justifying such discrimination, and the wages and divisible monetary benefits of an employee working under a part-time employment contract must be paid in proportion to the time worked, compared to a full-time comparable employee.
 

In accordance with the Annual Paid Leave Regulation prepared based on Article 60 of the Labor Law No. 4857, part-time employees are also entitled to annual paid leave like full-time employees and cannot be subject to different treatment in this regard. In this context, part-time employees will use their earned annual leave by not working on the part-time workdays falling within the leave period. Therefore, the required one-year period of employment to qualify for annual leave will also apply to part-time employees. Within this scope, part-time employees will be entitled to annual leave upon the completion of one year from the date they started work, without being subject to any different application. It will not be necessary for the actual period of work to reach one year. No distinction will be made between part-time employees and other employees in determining the annual leave entitlement of part-time employees. They will be entitled to annual leave in accordance with the periods specified in Article 53 of the Labor Code, based on the duration of their employment at the workplace. Part-time employees will use their annual leave entitlement by not working on the working days that fall on their leave days. For example, an employee who works three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) for six hours a day and begins using their 14 days of annual leave on Monday will have used a total of six days (three days x two weeks) of actual leave by not working on the two Mondays, two Wednesdays, and two Fridays included in this period. When calculating the payment for the unused 14-day leave period for the same employee, the calculation is based on the 6 working days corresponding to this period.
 

There is no clear regulation in the legislation regarding severance and notice pay for part-time employees.

The 22nd Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court, in its decision dated March 26, 2019, with case number 2019/21402 and decision number 2019/6676, ruled that the employee may be entitled to severance pay and leave after one year from the date they began working at the workplace.

As can be understood from the Supreme Court decision, the right to severance pay will arise one year after the employee starts working at the workplace. In this context, pursuant to the provisions of Article 14 of Law No. 1457, the employer is required to pay the employee severance pay equivalent to 30 days' wages for each full year of service from the date the employee began working until the termination of the employment contract.
 

"...it has been accepted by our Chamber that the employee is entitled to severance pay and leave after one year from the date they started working at the workplace. The wage to be used as the basis for calculation should be the wage the employee receives for part-time work....." (Supreme Court of Appeals, 9th Civil Chamber, February 19, 2018, Case No. 2015/24276E., Decision No. 2018/3224K.)
 

Considering both Article 14 of Law No. 1475 currently in force and established Supreme Court precedents, the calculation of severance pay for part-time employees shall be made by taking into account the wages received for part-time work for each 30-day period during the term of the employment contract. For example, in the calculation of severance pay for a part-time employee who works 15 days per month at the workplace, the calculation will be made based on the wage equivalent to 15 days for every 30 days.
 

The notice periods for employees working under part-time employment contracts will also be calculated in accordance with the periods specified in Article 17 of the Labor Law No. 4857. However, the notice period compensation will be calculated based on the wages the employee is entitled to receive during this period according to their part-time work, or the employee working during the notice period will fulfill their obligation to perform work according to their own part-time work days and hours during the notice period. If notice period compensation is to be paid (in cases where termination occurs without the notice period being used), the wages the employee is entitled to receive based on their part-time work period will be the basis for calculation.