Weekly rest day

The weekly rest day is an uninterrupted rest period that must be granted within every seven-day span. An employee who has worked on the preceding working days receives full pay for the rest day without performing any work.

The rest day need not fall on Sunday; another day of the week may be designated according to the nature of the work. Where the employee is made to work on the rest day, Turkish courts compensate that work at the increased overtime rates.

Because the entitlement goes to the core of the right to rest, persistent denial of the weekly rest day can give the employee just cause to terminate. In disputes, workplace records and witness accounts are decisive, and long-term rest-day work is a significant item in post-termination wage claims.