What is overtime under Turkish Labour Law?

Why keep overtime on record?

Overtime is both a cost and an obligation. The Turkish Labour Law, Article 41, requires overtime to be paid at a premium or, if the employee asks, given back as time off, and it sets an annual cap; the Regulation on Overtime and Extra-Hours Work under the Labour Law also requires, as a rule, the employee's written consent. Without records, you cannot show that pay was right or that the cap was respected.

Records protect the team as well. When it is visible who works how much extra, the load does not fall on the same few people, and managers spread shifts accordingly. In a dispute, employee and employer look at the same record.

How is overtime approved and tracked?

Overtime is planned in advance or requested by the employee, and the manager approves it before the work starts; the employee's written consent is taken separately from this approval. The actual time is read from clock-in and clock-out records and compared with the plan. The hours go into the timesheet as overtime and are paid at a higher rate or given back as time off.

1. Request or plan

   Overtime is planned in advance or requested by the employee. The manager sees the reason.

2. Manager approval

   The manager approves the overtime before the work starts. This is separate from the employee's legal consent, which is collected in writing on its own.

3. Measurement

   Actual time is read from clock-in and clock-out records and compared with what was planned.

4. Compensation

   The time goes on the timesheet as overtime and is paid at the premium rate or, if the employee asks, given as time off (Labour Law, Article 41).

An example

Which misconceptions about overtime are common?

The most common overtime mistakes concern whether the yardstick is the day or the week, how the employee's consent works, and how much weight an attendance record carries as proof. Each item gives the common belief, what the Labour Law, the Overtime Regulation, or a Court of Cassation decision says, and a link to the official source; for payroll practice ask your accountant, and for a dispute ask your lawyer.

• Myth: Every hour beyond the normal working day is overtime.

  Fact: The yardstick is weekly: overtime is work beyond forty-five hours a week, and where averaging applies the weekly average counts (Labour Law Article 41(1) and 63). Labour Law, Articles 41 and 63

• Myth: Once employees consent to overtime, they cannot withdraw it.

  Fact: Employees can withdraw their consent by giving the employer written notice thirty days in advance (Overtime Regulation Article 9(2)). Overtime Regulation, Article 9

• Myth: Giving time off instead of overtime pay is the employer's choice.

  Fact: Time off depends on the employee's wish: if the employee asks, each overtime hour is compensated with one and a half hours of free time instead of the premium (Labour Law Article 41(4)). Labour Law, Article 41

• Myth: An attendance (PDKS) record alone is conclusive proof of overtime.

  Fact: The Court of Cassation treats entry and exit records as evidence of overtime, but whether they are fit for the calculation is assessed one by one; if they are not, witness statements are used, and a claim of tampering is examined by an expert panel (9th Civil Chamber, E. 2017/15487, K. 2020/4561; 7th Civil Chamber, E. 2015/16311, K. 2015/12203). Court of Cassation decision search

• Myth: An electronic entry and exit record without the employee's signature is not evidence.

  Fact: The Court of Cassation notes that it is physically impossible to obtain the worker's signature on an electronically kept record; the lack of a signature does not by itself exclude the record, which is assessed unless the worker shows a valid reason (9th Civil Chamber, E. 2017/12791, K. 2019/20981). Court of Cassation decision search

How it looks in Corex360

In the Corex360 Human Resources module, overtime approvals and overtime tracking run in the same place. The attendance device connects to the core, and clock-in records land on the staff card. Every approval is logged with who gave it, when, and from which device.

Corex360 Human Resources→What a time and attendance system is→

Terms often confused with it

Related terms: Timesheet (puantaj), Time and attendance system (PDKS), Company asset tracking

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