WEEKEND SALARY AND WEEKEND WAGE

The right of employees for Weekend Salary is a constitutional right. Indeed, the article 50 of Turkish Constitution. Indeed, the article 50 of Turkish Constitution states that “Rest is the right of workers. The rights and conditions for the paid week-end and holidays and the paid annual leave are regulated by law”.

Conditions for Entitlement to Week-End and General Principle for Week-End in the Labor Law

For being entitled to the Weekend Salary, it is not sufficient that service contract is maintained and not suspended, but also it is required that such worker must have worked on the work days before the week-end (as described in article 63 of Labor Law).

The article 46/3 of the Labor Law specifies the days deemed worked in respect of the entitlement to the week-end. Accordingly,

Times that are deemed as working hours despite not worked and the nonbusiness days that arise out of the law or contract whether or not daily wage is paid,

Days off that must be granted for up to three days in case of marriage and up to three days in case of death of mother or father, spouse, siblings or children,

Other days off granted by the employer for up to one week, sick leave granted by a doctor report and rest leave shall be taken into account as if they were days worked.”

It must be allowed to use the week-end for continuous 24 hours. Making a worker work for 1 hour at the week-end will interrupt the week-end, therefore the wage for the week-end must be considered full even in case of working for 1 hour. The week-end leave is continuously minimum twenty-four hours. If the week-end leave is less than twenty-four hours, it is not possible to say that week-end leave is dully used. The week-end may not be used by dividing it. Accordingly, if the week-end used is less than twenty-four hours, the week-end will be deemed not used at all.

The beginning and ending days of the week-end is based on the principle that a period of twenty-four hours (from 00:00 to 24:00) from one midnight to the other midnight. However, the week-end day may be started at a time other than midnight in a business that continuously operates for day and night and where the workers work in shifts, provided that workers are allowed to have a rest for continuous 24 hours. Based on this, the Supreme Court of Appeals has resolved that if the worker starts a shift at 24:00 on Saturday and works until 08.00 on Sunday in a business where workers work in three shifts, then this shall not be deemed Sunday (week-end) working and the worker shall not be entitled to a wage.

The week-end leave of child labor and young workers may not be less than continuous forty hours. In addition, to pay for the week-end wage, it must not be necessarily in return for a service.

The employer must pay in full for the week-end day not worked, i.e., Weekend Salary does not have be for a service. The week-end wage is 7.5 times the hourly wage for the workers who work on hourly wage.

Working at the Week-End and Obligation for Paying the Wage

It may not be agreed in the service contract or collective labor contract that workers work at the week-end days. Such a contract is strictly void and null. Although labor law states that workers may not be forced to work at week-end days, this is sometimes violated in the business life. A wage shall be necessarily paid for working at the week-end although it is obvious such working is illegal.

The supreme-court has passed a variety of decisions in respect of charging the week-end working: “Although the laws do not regulate how to calculate the wage of a worker working at the week-end, the supreme-court has adopted that working at the week-end must be considered overworking, and the wage must be paid by increasing fifty percent.

Payment of Week-End Wage

The week-end wage should be paid on the date when the regular wage of the worker is paid. So, if the wage is paid once a week or once a month, the week-end wage must be paid on the same date. The Week-End Law No. 394 establishes that work time is six days during the week, and the worker must be allowed to have a rest for not less than twenty-four hours at the end of each six days of working. The Labor Law No. 4857 provides that weekly working hours are maximum forty-five hours a week, and unless otherwise agreed, forty-five hours must be equally distributed to the worked days of the week. In a business covered by the Law No. 4857, the workers shall be allowed to have a rest for minimum continuous twenty-four hours (week-end) within the period of time of seven days provided that they have worked on the given days prior to the day off according to article 63; and the employer must pay in full for the week-end day not worked without a service rendered.

Coincidence of Week-End with Other Legal Bank Holidays

Of the week-end coincides with other legal bank holidays, (unless there is a legal or contractual rule on contrary) the worker shall not be paid for two different days off. However, as a legal exception in the business, a separate week-end wage will be paid for week-end days that coincide with annual leave since annual leave days are the work days, the week-end that coincides with the leave phase shall not be deemed annual leave.