Supreme Court rules overtime pay for workers

ANKARA

The Supreme Court has ruled that employees who work more than 11 hours a day and seven and a half hours a night should receive overtime pay, even if the weekly working hours limit does not exceed.

According to local media, a group of dismissed workers knocked on the door of the Regional Directorate of Labor, where inspectors prepared a report on the overtime practice at workplace.

The report emphasized that work exceeding 11 hours per day should be included in overtime. Company lawyers applied to the court for the report’s annulment.

On the other hand, the defendant organization’s lawyers argued that it was not possible to annul the inspection report since the contrary of the report could only be proved with an equivalent written document and asked for the dismissal of the lawsuit. The court ruled to cancel the report.

The decision was appealed to the Regional Court of Appeals, which ruled that the objections were rejected. When the decision was appealed, the Supreme Court took a precedent-setting decision.

The decision stated that breaks are organized by considering the climate, season, local customs and the nature of the work, taking into account the mandatory rest period of 12 hours in 24 hours without interruption.

“It should be accepted that the legal regulations regarding the daily working hours are mandatory. Even if the weekly working time of the employee does not exceed 45 hours, if it exceeds 11 hours per day, overtime wages must be paid for these works,” the decision said.

With the decision, every worker who works more than 11 hours a day or seven and a half hours at night will be able to receive overtime pay even if they do not exceed the weekly hours.

It was also emphasized that according to the regulation, the breaks given in accordance with the law would not be counted as working time.