In short
Annual leave depends on the years of service completed on the entitlement date (the anniversary of the start date): 14 days for 1–5 years (5 included), 20 days for 6–14 years and 26 days for 15 years or more (Labour Law No. 4857, Article 53(4)). Employees aged 18 or younger or 50 or older get at least 20 days, and underground workers get 4 extra days. The first entitlement requires at least one year of service, probation included.
Key points
- The first entitlement arises after one year of work, probation included; each later one arises a year after the previous one (Articles 53(1) and 54(3)).
- Service on the entitlement date decides the tier: 14 days on the 5th anniversary, 20 on the 6th, 26 on the 15th (Regulation, Article 9).
- Employees aged 18 or younger or 50 or older get at least 20 days; underground work adds 4 days (Article 53(4)–(5)).
- Absences not listed in Article 55, such as unpaid leave, push the entitlement date forward (Article 54(2)).
- Weekly rest days and public holidays are not counted as leave; leave can be increased by contract but never reduced (Articles 56(5) and 53(6)).
Who is entitled to annual leave?
Under the Labour Law, employees who have worked at least one year from their first day at the workplace, including the probation period, are entitled to paid annual leave (Labour Law No. 4857, Article 53(1)). The probation period counts towards that year, so there is no extra waiting time. The right to annual leave cannot be waived (Article 53(2)): a contract clause in which the employee "gives up" annual leave has no effect.
After the first entitlement, each new entitlement arises at the end of a further year of service, counted from the day the previous one arose (Article 54(3)). Service at different workplaces of the same employer is added together (Article 54(1); Annual Paid Leave Regulation, Article 4).
The annual leave rules do not apply to seasonal or campaign work that by its nature lasts less than a year (Article 53(3)), but the Regulation does apply to permanent staff at such workplaces (Regulation, Article 12). Part-time and on-call employees benefit from annual leave in the same way as full-time staff and may not be treated differently as to the length of their leave (Regulation, Article 13).
Leave by length of service
The law sets minimum durations in three tiers (Article 53(4)). Which tier applies depends on the length of service on the date the leave is earned (Regulation, Article 9(1)).
| Years of service on the entitlement date | Minimum annual leave | Wording of the law |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | No entitlement yet | "worked at least one year" (Art. 53(1)) |
| 1–5 years (5 included) | 14 days | "from one year up to five years (five years included)" |
| 6–14 years | 20 days | "more than five years and less than fifteen years" |
| 15 years or more | 26 days | "fifteen years (included) or more" |
Why the boundaries confuse people
Because entitlement arises on anniversaries, in-between states such as "5 years and 1 day" never occur in the calculation. The entitlement that arises on the 5th anniversary is still 14 days, because the law says "five years included". The 20-day tier starts on the 6th anniversary and the 26-day tier on the 15th.
Example: moving between tiers
For an employee who started on 15 March 2021 and has had no absences that fail to count as service:
- 15 March 2022: 1st year of service completed → 14 days
- 15 March 2026: 5th year completed → still 14 days
- 15 March 2027: 6th year completed → 20 days
- 15 March 2036: 15th year completed → 26 days
Age and underground work
Employees aged eighteen or younger and those aged fifty or older may not receive less than 20 days of annual leave (Article 53(5)). Because the law says "eighteen and younger" and "fifty and older", ages 18 and 50 are both included. This is a floor, not a replacement: an employee whose service already gives 26 days keeps 26 days on turning 50.
The law does not say on which date age is assessed. Taking the age on the entitlement date, in line with the Regulation's "date on which the leave is earned" rule (Article 9(1)), is a common interpretation, but there is no express provision on the point.
Example: the age-50 threshold
An employee born on 20 May 1976 who started on 1 September 2022:
- 1 September 2025: 3rd year of service, age 49 → 14 days
- 1 September 2026: 4th year of service, age 50 (turned 50 on 20 May 2026) → at least 20 days
Example: the age-18 threshold
An employee born on 1 March 2007 who started on 1 July 2024 is 18 when the first entitlement arises on 1 July 2025, so they get at least 20 days. On 1 July 2026 they are 19, the age rule no longer applies, and the 2nd year of service brings 14 days (on the interpretation that age on the entitlement date counts).
Underground work
For employees working underground, annual leave is increased by four days (Article 53(4), sentence added by Law No. 6552). An underground worker with 7 years of service, for example, gets 20 + 4 = 24 days. The law does not say how the underground increase combines with the age floor. The employee-favourable reading is to take the higher of the service tier and the 20-day age floor and then add 4 days; no settled court decision on this combination has been found.
When does the entitlement date move?
To complete the year, an employee does not need to have worked every single day. The law treats certain periods as if worked for annual leave purposes (Article 55). The main ones are:
- days off due to accident or illness (any part beyond the Article 17 notice period plus six weeks does not count)
- maternity leave before and after birth
- military manoeuvres or legal duties (anything over 90 days a year does not count)
- a stoppage of more than a week due to force majeure (up to 15 days)
- weekly rest days, national holidays and public holidays
- excuse leave under Additional Article 2 (marriage, bereavement, paternity and similar)
- other leave granted by the employer and short-time working periods
- annual leave taken
For absences not on this list, such as unpaid leave, unexcused absence or sickness beyond the limit, enough service is added to cover the gap and the entitlement date moves forward (Article 54(2)). For unpaid leave of up to six months after birth, the law says so expressly: that period is not taken into account when calculating annual leave (Article 74(6)). The Court of Cassation has also held that unpaid leave does not count as service (9th Civil Chamber, E.2021/3890, K.2021/11056), although views in legal writing differ. See our unpaid leave guide for more.
Example: a shift after unpaid leave
An employee who started on 1 April 2025 and took 30 days of unpaid leave in the first year of service earns the first entitlement on 1 May 2026 rather than on 1 April 2026. The next year of service runs from that new date (Article 54(3)), so with no further non-counting absences the next entitlement arises on 1 May 2027.
How are leave days counted?
National holidays, weekly rest days and public holidays that fall within annual leave are not counted as leave days (Article 56(5)). Fourteen days of leave means 14 leave days; Sundays and public holidays in between are not part of that number. Whether Saturday counts in a five-day week is a separate question that depends on the wording of your contracts; we cover it in Do Saturdays count as annual leave?
Sick leave, excuse leave and other paid or unpaid leave granted by the employer during the year cannot be set off against annual leave (Article 56(4)). Three days on a medical report, for instance, are never deducted from the annual leave balance.
Can you give more by contract?
Yes. Annual leave can be increased by individual employment contracts and collective agreements (Article 53(6)). The statutory durations are minimums and cannot be reduced. Unused leave keeps accumulating as long as employment continues and never expires; for how to plan it, see scheduling and splitting annual leave.
How İzin360 handles it
- İzin360 calculates entitlement automatically: starting from the start date (probation included), 14, 20 or 26 days are added to the balance on each entitlement date. Previous service with the same employer can be added through the "Seniority start (prior service)" field.
- If the employee record has a birth date, anyone aged 18 or younger or 50 or older on the entitlement date gets at least 20 days. If the birth date is missing, a warning says so.
- For employees marked as "Underground worker", 4 days are added on top of the higher of the service tier and the age floor.
- Leave types that do not count towards entitlement, such as unpaid leave, move the entitlement date forward under Article 54(2); the number of days it moved is shown on the employee page.
- Unused annual leave carries over with no expiry. Every accrual, usage and adjustment appears in the balance history with its date, and extra days you grant by contract can be added as a balance adjustment with a reason.
- When moving from a spreadsheet or another system, you enter days carried over from earlier years as an opening balance.
See annual leave entitlement and balances for details.
Frequently asked questions
Does the probation period count towards annual leave?
Yes. The law states expressly that the one year of work is counted including the probation period (Labour Law No. 4857, Article 53(1)). There is no additional year to wait once probation ends.
How many days does an employee get after exactly 5 years?
14 days. The law defines the 14-day tier as 'from one year up to five years (five years included)'. The 20-day tier starts on the 6th anniversary, once service exceeds five years (Article 53(4); Annual Paid Leave Regulation, Article 9).
Do part-time employees get less annual leave?
No. Part-time and on-call employees benefit from annual leave like full-time staff and may not be treated differently as to its length. They take the leave by not working on their own part-time working days in the following year (Annual Paid Leave Regulation, Article 13).
Does unpaid leave affect annual leave entitlement?
Yes. Unpaid leave is not among the periods Article 55 treats as worked, so the entitlement date moves forward by the length of the unpaid leave (Article 54(2)). The Court of Cassation's 9th Civil Chamber has also held that unpaid leave does not count as service (E.2021/3890, K.2021/11056).
Do days on a medical report delay entitlement?
As a rule, no: days off due to accident or illness count as worked for annual leave purposes. However, any part exceeding the Article 17 notice period plus six weeks does not count and moves the entitlement date forward (Articles 55(a) and 54(2)).
Legal basis
- Labour Law No. 4857, Articles 53, 54, 55 and 56(4)–(5)
- Labour Law No. 4857, Article 74(6)
- Annual Paid Leave Regulation, Articles 4, 9, 12 and 13
- Court of Cassation, 9th Civil Chamber, E.2021/3890, K.2021/11056 (29 June 2021)