Annual Leave Pay Calculator

What Is Annual Paid Leave?

Annual paid leave is a fundamental employee right, secured by the Constitution and Labour Law No. 4857, which enables the employee to rest in return for one year of work. Regulated in Articles 53 to 60 of the Labour Law, this right is intended to protect the employee's health and sustain their productivity. The law expressly states that the right to annual leave cannot be waived; in other words, even if an employee were to sign an agreement stating "I will not take leave, I want pay in return," that agreement is deemed invalid for as long as the employment relationship continues.

The basic condition for leave is that the employee has worked at least one year at the workplace. This one-year period is calculated from the date the employee started work, including the probationary period. An employee who completes one year earns their first annual leave and earns leave again in each following year of service.

Annual Leave Periods by Seniority

The Labour Law ties the annual leave period to the employee's seniority at the workplace. The periods set out in the law are minimums; they may be increased by the employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement, but cannot be reduced. The basic periods are as follows:

• An employee with seniority of 1 to 5 years (5 years included) is granted at least 14 days per year,
• An employee with seniority of more than 5 years but less than 15 years is granted at least 20 days per year,
• An employee with seniority of 15 years or more is granted at least 26 days of leave per year.

There are two important exceptions in the law. First: for employees working in underground jobs (in mines), the annual leave periods are applied by adding four days to the periods above. Second: the annual leave to be granted to employees who are under 18 and over 50 cannot be less than 20 days, regardless of their seniority. That is, a young employee under 18 is entitled to 20 days of leave even with one year of seniority.

How Are Leave Days Counted?

When counting annual leave days, the weekly rest day, national holidays and general public holidays that fall within the leave period are not counted as leave days; leave is added separately for these days. For example, if an employee taking their 14-day leave has two weekly rest days (Sunday) during the leave period, these days are considered outside the 14 days and the employee actually rests longer. In addition, if the employee requests it, up to four days of unpaid additional leave may be granted for travel.

How Is Unused Leave Pay (Leave Entitlement) Calculated?

While the employment relationship continues, annual leave cannot be exchanged for money; however, when the employment contract ends for any reason (resignation, justified/unjustified termination, retirement, etc.), the pay for the annual leave days the employee has earned but not used must be paid to them. In practice this is called "leave entitlement" or "unused leave pay" and is regulated in Article 59 of the Labour Law.

The wage taken as the basis for the calculation is the last gross bare wage as of the date the contract ended (that is, additional payments such as overtime, bonuses and premiums are as a rule not included). The basic formula is as follows:

• Daily gross wage = Monthly gross bare wage ÷ 30
• Leave entitlement (gross) = Total unused leave days × Daily gross wage

The net amount payable is determined by deducting legal deductions such as income tax and stamp tax from the gross amount found. The point to note here is that, because leave entitlement is considered a wage, it is subject to tax; unlike severance pay, current legislation and case law must be taken into account regarding social security (SGK) premiums.

A Short Example Scenario

Consider an employee who has worked for 7 years at a workplace. Because their seniority exceeds 5 years, they are entitled to 20 days of leave per year. Let us say that over the last three years they left the job without using a total of 18 days of leave, and their last gross monthly wage was TRY 30,000. In this case, their daily gross wage is 30,000 ÷ 30 = TRY 1,000. Unused leave pay is calculated, gross, as 18 × 1,000 = TRY 18,000. After legal deductions are subtracted from this amount, the net figure must be paid to the employee. (This example is only to illustrate the method; the actual amount varies according to current tax brackets and contract terms.)

Points to Pay Attention To

• Leave book / document: The employer is obliged to keep annual leave records for each employee. The burden of proving that leave was granted rests with the employer; without a signed leave document, the employer will struggle to prove that leave was granted.
• Division limit: Annual leave, as a rule, cannot be divided. By agreement of the parties, part of it may be used divided into at most three parts, provided that one part is at least ten days uninterrupted.
• Statute of limitations: The claim for unused leave pay is subject to a five-year statute of limitations from the date the employment contract ended. An important detail: the right to leave does not become time-barred while working; the period only begins to run after the job ends.
• Transfer of the workplace: In the event that the workplace is transferred, the employee's seniority continues uninterrupted; leave periods are also calculated on total seniority.

Commonly Made Mistakes

• Miscalculating seniority: The leave period is determined according to the seniority of the total completed years of service, not the current year. Whether the threshold years (the 5th and 15th year) are "included or excluded" is frequently confused.
• Converting leave to money while working: Not granting leave in return for pay while employment continues is contrary to the law and restores this right to the employee.
• Adding extra payments to the wage: When calculating leave entitlement, the bare (basic) wage is taken as the basis; including items such as premiums and overtime in the formula gives an incorrectly high result.
• Counting public holidays as leave: Deducting the weekly rest day and official holidays that coincide with the leave period from the leave causes the employee to rest less than they are entitled to.

Conclusion

Annual paid leave, both in terms of use and in terms of being converted into pay when the job ends, is one of the employee's most fundamental rights and cannot be removed by contract. The tool and explanations above allow you to foresee approximately the leave you are entitled to based on your seniority and the unused leave entitlement. However, since in your specific situation the calculation of seniority, the nature of the wage and the deductions may differ, the healthiest way to avoid loss of rights is to seek support from a labour law attorney.