Do Saturdays count as annual leave?

Where the question comes from

National holidays, weekly rest days and public holidays that fall within annual leave are not counted as leave days (Labour Law No. 4857, Article 56(5)). Saturday is not mentioned among them. The Labour Law does not tie the weekly rest day to a particular day either: employees get at least 24 uninterrupted hours of rest within each seven-day period (Article 46). The rule in Law No. 2429 that "the weekly rest day is Sunday" expressly preserves the weekly rest provisions of the labour laws (Law No. 2429, Article 3). As a result, Saturday is not a statutory holiday in the private sector; if a workplace does not work on Saturdays, that comes from the contract or from practice.

At a workplace that works Monday to Friday, the question is this: should a Saturday that falls within someone's leave be skipped because nobody works that day, or treated as a working day and counted as a leave day?

What the Court of Cassation says

The settled view since 2021

In 2021 the Court of Cassation's 9th Civil Chamber changed its practice. In its words, "as a rule, Saturday is a working day", and Saturdays that are contractual days off are not added on to the annual leave period (9th Civil Chamber, E.2021/897, K.2021/5272, 2 March 2021). In other words, the fact that nobody works on Saturday does not make it a weekly rest day; a Saturday within the leave counts as a leave day, and leave is calculated on a Monday-to-Saturday basis, excluding Sunday.

In the same decision the Chamber noted that Saturday can also be agreed as a weekly rest day. It did not, however, treat a collective agreement clause reading "Employees are rested on Saturday. Sunday is the weekly rest day." as making Saturday a weekly rest day, and it overturned the lower court's judgment.

The Chamber repeated this view word for word in a decision of 21 April 2026 (9th Civil Chamber, E.2026/4159, K.2026/3577). The former 22nd Civil Chamber had also counted Saturday as leave in a case where the collective agreement treated Saturday as a working day (22nd Civil Chamber, E.2019/7906, K.2019/22313).

The old view

Before 2021, the 9th Civil Chamber held that at workplaces working five days a week, neither Saturday nor Sunday counted as leave (9th Civil Chamber, E.2015/16428, K.2015/21565). That view has been abandoned, so relying on older decisions is risky today. Some legal writers argue that a Saturday that is not worked should not count, but the Chamber decisions that guide practice point the other way.

The exception: Saturday as a contractual weekly rest day

If the individual employment contract or the collective agreement expressly makes Saturday a weekly rest day together with Sunday, Saturday falls under Article 56(5) and does not count as leave. Even then, if the contract expressly provides that Saturday counts as a working day for leave purposes, that provision applies.

What matters is how explicit the wording is. According to the Court, the fact that Saturday is a contractual day off, or a phrase such as "employees are rested on Saturday", is not enough to make Saturday a weekly rest day.

Weekly rest days and public holidays never count

Weekly rest days, national holidays and public holidays are always excluded from leave. Collective agreement clauses that count these days as leave have been held contrary to Articles 55 and 56, even where the agreement gives more leave days overall (9th Civil Chamber, E.2016/1177, K.2016/15294). For how half-day eves and holidays are counted, see public holidays and half-day eves.

The press's "Saturday ruling" mix-up

Decision E.2025/9525, K.2026/757 of the 9th Civil Chamber (3 February 2026), given on an appeal in the interest of the law and published in the Official Gazette, was reported in some news as a "Saturday ruling". In fact it confirms that Sundays do not count as leave at a workplace working six days a week; it does not change the Saturday rule.

Worked example: 14 days under both approaches

At a workplace that works Monday to Friday, an employee entitled to 14 days starts leave on Monday 2 November 2026. There are no public holidays in this period.

The difference is two days for every 14 days of leave. Over the years and across all employees it adds up, which is why the choice matters. The example in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security's question-and-answer booklet (14 days of leave taking 16 days in practice because two weekly rest days fall within it) also assumes a calculation in which only Sunday is excluded. No published official Ministry opinion on Saturdays has been found.

Which approach do companies take?

Three approaches are seen in practice:

1. Not counting Saturday (employee-favourable): Even if your contracts do not make Saturday a weekly rest day, the employer can choose, in the employee's favour, not to deduct Saturdays. It is the most cautious route and never leaves anyone short of leave; the trade-off is that leave runs longer on the calendar. Because the statutory durations are minimums, an employee-favourable practice is always allowed (Article 53(6)).
2. Counting Saturday (the Court's rule): This follows the Court of Cassation's settled view, provided your contracts and any collective agreement do not define Saturday as a weekly rest day. Check all your contract templates and any collective agreement before choosing it.
3. Saturday as a contractual weekly rest day: If the contract or collective agreement makes Saturday a weekly rest day, Saturday cannot be counted as leave, and the employer cannot unilaterally start counting it.

Why the setting must be explicit

The right answer does not come from the statute but from the wording of your own contracts. That is why the rule should not be left to a silent software default; it should be a deliberate, written decision applied to everyone in the same way. A wrong choice cuts both ways. Counting Saturday where the contract makes it a weekly rest day leaves employees with less leave than they are due, which creates a risk under the "grants less leave than due" limb of Article 103. The opposite simply means longer leave than strictly required. For how the length of annual leave itself is set, see How is annual leave calculated?

How İzin360 handles it

• In Settings, under "Saturday and annual leave", you choose one of three options: Saturday is not counted (employee-friendly, the default), Saturday counts as a working day, or Saturday is a weekly rest day under the contract or collective agreement.
• Choosing "Saturday counts as a working day" asks you to confirm that your contracts and any collective agreement do not define Saturday as a weekly rest day. Once the weekly rest day option has been saved, you can no longer switch to counting Saturday.
• The setting only affects annual leave, and only where Saturday is not a working day in your working week. If your working week includes Saturday, it already counts as a working day in every leave.
• Weekly rest days, public holidays and company days are excluded whichever option you choose. The request form calculates the leave days for the selected dates using these rules, and employees see the effect on their balance before submitting.

See annual leave entitlement and balances for details.