What Can an Employee Do When Wages Are Late or Short? Wage Claims and the Right to Resign in Turkey

1. When and how must wages be paid?

The Labour Act sets these rules for paying wages (Labour Act art. 32 [1]):

• Frequency: Wages are paid at least once a month. An employment contract or collective agreement may shorten this to as little as one week. The payment date is usually stated in the employment contract.
• Method: Wages, bonuses and similar entitlements are, as a rule, paid in Turkish lira, at the workplace or into a bank account opened for this purpose. An employer that is required to pay through a bank may not pay these amounts in any other way. Wages may not be paid by promissory note, coupon or a similar instrument.
• When employment ends: The employee's wage and all monetary entitlements arising from the contract and the law must be paid in full.

With every payment the employer must give the employee a pay slip showing the payment date and period, additions such as overtime, weekly rest day and public holiday pay, and each deduction, such as tax, social security premiums, advances, maintenance and enforcement deductions (Labour Act art. 37 [1]).

2. What counts as underpayment?

Underpayment is not only a salary that is partly unpaid. The main situations regulated by law are:

3. Can I stop working if my salary is late?

Yes, under the conditions in the law. An employee whose wage is not paid within 20 days of the payment date, other than because of force majeure, may refuse to perform their work (Labour Act art. 34 [1]). Force majeure means an extraordinary, unavoidable event beyond the parties' control. The law protects this right as follows:

• The employee's contract cannot be terminated because they did not work, no new employee may be hired in their place, and their work may not be given to others.
• Even if several employees refuse to work for this reason, it is not treated as a strike.
• Unpaid wages carry interest at the highest rate applied to bank deposits.

4. Can I resign over unpaid wages and still receive severance pay?

When does the right to terminate arise?

Under the Labour Act, if the employer does not calculate or pay the employee's wage in line with the law or the contract, the employee may terminate the contract, whether fixed-term or indefinite, without waiting for the notice period (Labour Act art. 24(II)(e) [1]). This is called immediate termination for just cause.

• Waiting period: The law does not require the wage to be late for a set time before the employee can terminate; the 20-day period in art. 34 applies to the right to refuse work. Whether a short, one-off delay is enough for termination depends on the circumstances; the length, frequency and amount of the delays matter.
• Deadline to terminate: This kind of termination right must be used within six working days of learning of the situation, and in any case within one year of the event (Labour Act art. 26 [1]). How this period is counted where non-payment continues for months is assessed separately. It is therefore sensible not to delay the decision unnecessarily and to keep a record of the dates.
• Form of notice: Under the Labour Act, any notice that results in termination of the employment contract must in all cases be in writing; it can be delivered against signature or, if the employee has agreed in writing, by registered electronic mail (KEP) (Labour Act art. 109 [1]). The duty to state the reason for termination clearly and precisely is set out in the law for the employer (art. 19). In an employee's notice too, stating the reason clearly (for example, which months' wages were not paid and art. 24(II)(e)) and being able to prove that the employer received it are important as evidence later.

What can be claimed after termination?

• Unpaid wages and other employment receivables such as overtime.
• Pay for unused annual leave: However the contract ends, pay for leave earned but not taken is paid at the final wage (Labour Act art. 59 [1]).
• Severance pay: Where the employee terminates under Labour Act art. 24, severance pay of 30 days' wages is due for each full year of service with the same employer, and periods beyond one year are paid at the same rate. At least one full year of service is therefore required. It is calculated on the final wage, is limited by the statutory ceiling, and if paid late carries interest at the highest rate applied to bank deposits (Law No. 1475 art. 14 [2]; Labour Act provisional art. 1).
• Unemployment benefit: An insured employee who terminates the contract under Labour Act art. 24 may also receive unemployment benefit (Law No. 4447 art. 51 [5]). This requires employment under a contract during the last 120 days before termination and at least 600 days of unemployment insurance premiums in the last three years (art. 50), and an application to the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) within 30 days from the day after termination; except in cases of force majeure, any delay in applying is deducted from the benefit period (art. 48).

Notice pay: In an immediate termination for just cause, no notice period applies. Notice pay is compensation paid by the party that ends the contract without observing the notice period (Labour Act art. 17 [1]). An employee who terminates for just cause therefore owes no notice pay to the employer and, since they ended the contract themselves, as a rule cannot claim notice pay from the employer either.

5. How do I claim unpaid wages?

Mediation first

For employee claims based on the law or on an individual or collective employment contract, applying to a mediator before suing is a precondition of the lawsuit; a lawsuit filed without it is dismissed on procedural grounds (Law No. 7036 art. 3 [3]). A mediator is a neutral person who tries to help the parties settle and has no power to decide.

• Where? The mediation office at the employer's place of residence or where the work was performed; where there is no office, the designated civil court of peace registry (art. 3(5)).
• How long? The mediator concludes the process within three weeks of appointment and may extend this by at most one week where necessary (art. 3(10)).
• First meeting: If mediation ends because a party did not attend the first meeting without a valid excuse, that party is liable for half of the litigation costs the other side would otherwise pay, even if it later wins the case in whole or in part, and any attorney fee awarded to it is halved (art. 3(12)).
• If you settle: No lawsuit can later be filed on the matters agreed (Law No. 6325 art. 18(5) [6]). Read carefully which claims and amounts the settlement covers before signing.
• If you start enforcement proceedings: If the employer objects to an enforcement claim for wages, mediation is also required before the resulting action to set aside the objection (art. 3(1)).

Lawsuit

• Competent court: The labour court; where none has been established, the civil court of first instance (Law No. 7036 arts. 2 and 5 [3]).
• Venue: The court where the employer is domiciled or where the work was performed; agreements to the contrary are invalid (art. 6).
• If the exact amount is unclear: The "action for an undetermined claim" in art. 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure was repealed with effect from 31 July 2026 (Law No. 7589, Official Gazette 31.7.2026 [7]). Since then, a partial claim can be filed for part of the receivable, and the amount can be increased once in the same case until the end of the evidence stage; for the increased part, the limitation period is also treated as interrupted from the filing date (Code of Civil Procedure art. 109(4) [8]). For cases filed before 31 July 2026, the repealed art. 107 continues to apply (Law No. 7589 provisional art. 1(10)).

Complaint to a labour inspector while still employed

While the employment contract continues, labour inspectors of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security may investigate an employee's application concerning individual receivables under the law or the contract (Labour Act art. 91 [1]). This route is not available after the contract has ended, and it does not replace mediation and litigation for enforcing payment.

If the employer becomes insolvent: the Wage Guarantee Fund

Where the employer declares concordat (a court-supervised restructuring), a certificate of insolvency is obtained against it, or it is declared bankrupt, up to three months' unpaid wages may be paid from the Wage Guarantee Fund set up within the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The employee must have worked at the same workplace during the year before the employer became unable to pay; payment is based on the basic wage and may not exceed the statutory ceiling (Law No. 4447 additional art. 1 [5]). The application procedure is set out in a regulation; current information is available from İŞKUR.

6. How far back can unpaid wages be claimed?

• Five years. The limitation period for wage claims is five years (Labour Act art. 32 [1]; Code of Obligations art. 147 [4]). Limitation means that once the period has passed, the claim can no longer be enforced through the courts if the debtor raises it as a defence.
• Each month separately. The limitation period starts when the claim becomes due (Code of Obligations art. 149). For a monthly wage, the period for each month's wage runs separately from that month's payment date.
• It also runs during employment. Apart from domestic workers, there is no rule suspending the limitation period while the employment relationship continues (Code of Obligations art. 153).
• Suspension and interruption: The limitation period is suspended from the application to the mediation office until the final mediation report (Law No. 7036 art. 3(17)); filing a lawsuit or starting enforcement proceedings interrupts it (Code of Obligations art. 154).

7. Which documents matter?

Burden of proof: Unless the law provides otherwise, the burden of proof lies with the party who derives a right from the fact alleged (Code of Civil Procedure art. 190 [8]). Under this general rule, an employer claiming to have paid must prove payment, and an employee claiming that their real wage was higher than shown on the payroll must prove the real wage.

It is useful to keep:

• The employment contract and pay slips
• Statements of the bank account into which the salary is paid
• The social security (SGK) service record, available via e-Devlet
• Correspondence, e-mails and messages with the employer; data in electronic form also counts as documentary evidence under the law (Code of Civil Procedure art. 199 [8])
• The names of colleagues who know about payment dates and delays (as witnesses)

8. Hypothetical example

This example is entirely hypothetical. B has worked for a logistics company for two and a half years under an indefinite-term contract; under the contract, each month's wage is paid on the 5th of the following month. The July 2026 wage is not paid on 5 August and still has not been paid by 25 August. After that date, B could notify the employer in writing and refuse to work (art. 34). To terminate the contract instead, B does not have to wait for the 20 days to pass, but must keep the time limits in art. 26 in mind. B chooses termination: in a notice sent through a notary, B states clearly that the July wage has not been paid and relies on Labour Act art. 24(II)(e). B then applies to the mediation office for the unpaid wage, severance pay and pay for unused annual leave, and, meeting the premium requirements, applies to İŞKUR for unemployment benefit within 30 days. If mediation fails, B can sue in the labour court with the final mediation report.

9. Frequently asked questions

Can an advance I received be deducted from my salary?

Yes. An advance is part of the wage paid early and can be set off against a later payment. The employer must show this deduction separately on the pay slip (Labour Act art. 37).

I resigned without giving a reason. Can I still claim my unpaid salary?

Yes. Wages for the period you worked can be claimed however the contract ended (Labour Act art. 32). Not stating a reason mainly causes problems for a severance pay claim.

My salary is subject to a garnishment order. How much can be deducted?

Under the Labour Act, no more than one quarter of an employee's monthly wage may be attached or assigned to others; the rights of maintenance (alimony and child support) creditors are reserved (Labour Act art. 35). The deduction is made according to the enforcement office's letter to the employer; if you think more than ordered is being deducted, you can have it checked at the enforcement office.

I work for a subcontractor. Can I claim my salary from the main employer?

The main employer is jointly liable with the subcontractor towards the subcontractor's employees for obligations arising from the law and the employment contract in connection with that workplace (Labour Act art. 2). In addition, the main employer must check, on the employee's application or monthly on its own initiative, whether the subcontractor's employees have been paid, and pay any unpaid wages into the employees' bank accounts by deducting them from the subcontractor's progress payments (art. 36).

My employer says "the company is in difficulty". Does that justify not paying wages?

The law contains no general provision treating an employer's financial difficulties as a reason that cancels its wage obligation. For the right to refuse work, only force majeure is reserved (art. 34); whether a situation counts as force majeure depends on the facts.