Annual Paid Leave: Entitlement, Leave Periods and Pay for Unused Leave (Labour Act Arts. 53–59)

Annual paid leave is regulated by Articles 53 to 59 of the Labour Act No. 4857. The questions asked most often are: when does the right arise, how many days are due, can leave be settled with money, and what happens to unused leave when the employment contract ends? This article summarises the answers in light of the statute and decisions of the 9th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation.

1. When does the right arise?

Workers who have worked at least one year, probation included, from the day they start at the workplace are given annual paid leave (Art. 53/1). Periods worked at one or several workplaces of the same employer are added together (Art. 54/1). The provisions do not apply to seasonal or campaign work that by nature lasts less than a year (Art. 53/3).

Certain periods are counted as worked, such as days off work through accident or illness (within the statutory limit), days not worked before and after childbirth, weekly rest days, national holidays and public holidays (Art. 55). If attendance is interrupted for other reasons, service equal to the gap is added (Art. 54/2).

2. Leave periods

Length of service	Annual leave (at least)
1 to 5 years (5 years included)	14 days
More than 5, fewer than 15 years	20 days
15 years or more	26 days

• For underground work the periods are increased by four days each.
• For workers aged eighteen or under and fifty or over, leave cannot be less than twenty days.
• These are minimums; they can be increased by an employment contract or collective agreement (Art. 53/4–7).

3. How is leave granted?

• Leave is, as a rule, granted by the employer in one continuous block. If the parties agree, it may be taken in parts, but one part must not be less than ten days (Art. 56/1–3).
• National holidays, weekly rest days and public holidays falling within the leave are not counted as leave days (Art. 56/5). The Court of Cassation states that this provision must be taken into account when calculating leave pay (9th CC, E.2021/12910, K.2022/41).
• The employer cannot offset other paid or unpaid leave, rest or sick leave given during the year against annual leave (Art. 56/4).
• The employer must keep a leave record showing the annual leave of the workers (Art. 56/6).
• A worker spending the leave away from the workplace's location may, on request and with documentation, ask for up to four days of unpaid leave in total for travel (Art. 56/6).
• The employer must pay the leave-period wages in advance before the leave starts, or give them as an advance; pay for weekly rest days, national holidays and public holidays falling within the leave is paid in addition (Art. 57).

4. Leave cannot be waived or converted into money

Under Art. 53/2, the right to annual paid leave cannot be waived. The 9th Civil Chamber applies this as follows: annual leave cannot be converted into money while the worker is employed, even with the worker's consent; leave that was earned but not granted turns into a wage claim only when the employment contract ends (E.2016/28612, K.2020/17068). Another decision states that a worker giving up the right to take leave before the contract ends and claiming its monetary value is contrary to the mandatory provision of the law (E.2022/5351, K.2022/6538).

In other words, paying "leave money" instead of leave does not count as having granted the leave while the worker continues to work.

5. Leave pay when the contract ends

Under Art. 59/1, if the employment contract ends for any reason, the pay for annual leave the worker earned but did not take is paid to the worker or beneficiaries on the basis of the wage at the date the contract ended. According to the Court of Cassation, termination of the contract is required for the right to turn into pay; how the contract ended, and whether it relied on just cause, is irrelevant (9th CC, E.2022/8548, K.2022/15198). So even a worker who resigns can claim pay for unused leave.

On termination by the employer, the notice period under Art. 17 (see our article on notice pay) and the job-search leave under Art. 27 cannot be run concurrently with annual leave (Art. 59/2).

6. Who proves the leave was granted, and how?

According to the 9th Civil Chamber, it is the employer who must prove that annual paid leave was granted to the worker in accordance with the law. The proof is made with a leave form signed by the worker, a leave book or an equivalent written document (E.2022/8548, K.2022/15198; E.2022/7679, K.2022/8427). Where no document showing leave was taken was submitted, the leave pay calculated by the expert was accepted (E.2022/7679, K.2022/8427; E.2025/6489, K.2025/7834).

The presence of "leave pay" accruals in unsigned payrolls was also not treated as sufficient by itself; the Chamber said those accruals must be examined in detail (E.2024/9573, K.2024/15629).

7. Limitation period

Under Art. 59/1, the limitation period for leave pay starts from the date the employment contract ended. The Court of Cassation accepts that leave pay is subject to a five-year limitation period; for wage claims the five years rests on Art. 32/8 (E.2024/7213, K.2024/9012). In another decision the period was likewise counted from the date of termination, and a claim brought more than five years after termination was held time-barred (E.2024/13393, K.2025/797).

8. What to do

• Work out which year of service you are in and how many leave days you have earned from your start date.
• For each period of leave, ask for a signed leave form and keep a copy.
• If you are offered money instead of leave, remember that while you are employed this may not count as leave granted.
• When leaving, check your unused leave days and your final wage; the limitation period runs from the date of termination.
• For other employment claims, see our articles on severance pay, notice pay and overtime pay.
• If you would like your file assessed, you can book an appointment or reach us on the contact page.

This article is prepared for general information and does not replace legal advice. Every file is different, and rights can be lost if time limits are missed.