Night Shift in Türkiye
What It Is. What It Is Not.
Night shift is one of those subjects where practice and reality do not always perfectly match each other.
Especially in factories, production lines, logistics, security, healthcare, hotels, and operational businesses working 24/7.
Under Turkish Employment Law, work performed between 20:00 and 06:00 is generally considered night work.
And yes, the famous “7.5 hour limit” usually enters the discussion very quickly. But the practical question most employers ask is usually this:
What happens if the operation realistically cannot stop after 7.5 hours?
Under Article 69 of the Turkish Labor Law, night work should generally not exceed 7.5 hours.
However, in some sectors and positions, extended night work may still appear in practice depending on legal exceptions, operational necessity, shift systems, overtime structure, employee consent, and workplace organization.
Which is exactly where many disputes begin. Overtime During Night Shifts
As a general rule, work exceeding the legal limits may trigger overtime claims. And in employment litigation, night shift overtime claims are extremely common. Especially when:
shift records are inconsistent
entry-exit systems are weak
employees sign standard forms automatically
actual working hours differ from official records
meal and rest breaks exist only on paper
In many lawsuits, the real fight is not the legal rule itself.
It is whether the employer can actually prove what happened.
Night Shift Bonus?
Interestingly, Turkish law does not automatically require a special “night shift salary increase.”
But ( there is always " the but")
employment contracts, collective bargaining agreements ,internal workplace policies , company practices may still create additional payment obligations. And once a workplace regularly starts paying a night premium for years, suddenly stopping it may create a completely different legal discussion.
Health & Safety Side
Night work is not only an employment law issue.
It is also directly connected to occupational health and safety obligations.
Employers are expected to:
monitor employee health suitability
organize proper rest periods
maintain safe working conditions
reduce fatigue-related risks
document health examinations properly
Because after a serious workplace accident, “everyone was tired anyway” is usually not a very strong legal defense.
Practical Reality
In real life, night shift disputes are rarely only about mathematics.
They usually become discussions about:
overtime
evidence
payroll systems
SGK (Turkish Social Security Institution) records
shift organization
workplace safety
employee consent
internal documentation
And once litigation starts, judges generally prefer written records over verbal explanations.
Which means:
if the shift system exists only inside managers’ heads, the company may eventually have a problem.
Full original article is available in Turkish on this website. https://onurpug.av.tr/blog/gece-vardiyas-nedir-ne-deildir
