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