Remote and hybrid working, which began with the pandemic and has become a permanent model, has unsettled the traditional concepts of workplace and working time. Employers save on office costs, but the flexibility they gain does not translate into flexibility under employment law.
Looking at the claims now reaching the Turkish courts and at inspection findings, we see that the remote and hybrid working policies operated by technology companies and larger groups carry significant legal risk. We set out below the employer's principal obligations and the practical steps that address them.
The Legal Framework: A Verbal Arrangement Is Not Enough
Remote working is regulated by Article 14 of Labour Act No. 4857, with the detail set out in the Remote Working Regulation.
What happens in practice: Many companies move an office-based employee to permanent remote work by way of a message on a chat application.What the rules require: The remote working arrangement must be made in writing, whether in the employment contract or an addendum. It should specify the job description, working hours, the place where the work is performed, the equipment provided and the methods of communication. An employee moved to remote work without such an agreement may argue that their working conditions were changed unilaterally and terminate for cause, claiming severance.Five Obligations That Are Frequently Overlooked
1. Health and Safety: The Home Is Now a Workplace
The most common misconception is that accidents occurring in the employee's home do not concern the employer.
The rule: Under Article 12 of the Remote Working Regulation, the employer must, taking into account the nature of the work, inform the employee about occupational health and safety measures, provide the necessary training, arrange health surveillance and monitor compliance with the measures taken.Workplace accidents: An injury sustained at home, during working hours and in connection with the performance of the work, may qualify as a workplace accident under Article 13 of Law No. 5510, in which case the social security institution may seek recourse against the employer in proportion to fault. The boundaries of this area are not yet settled in case law. Whether an accident at home relates to the performance of the work or to the individual's private sphere (an incident in the kitchen during a break being the contested example) is assessed on the facts. That uncertainty makes it all the more important for the employer to define the working area and working hours clearly in the contract.Limits on inspection: The employer may verify health and safety conditions, but constitutional protection of the home means that no inspection team may be sent without the employee's prior consent. Verification is carried out through declarations, photographs and remote assessment.2. Working Time, Overtime and the Right to Disconnect
The problem: Emails sent at 10pm and impromptu weekend calls, on the reasoning that the employee is at home anyway.The rule: The statutory 45-hour weekly limit applies to remote work as it does to office work. Login and logout records from company systems such as VPN or messaging tools are kept as logs and may serve as evidence of overtime actually worked.The right to disconnect: Turkish law has no standalone provision under that name; France, Belgium and Spain have express statutory bases. In Türkiye the result is reached through existing concepts: if an expectation of availability outside working hours in fact generates working time, it gives rise to overtime pay; where it becomes systematic, the protection of the employee's personality (Article 417 of the Code of Obligations) and the rules on rest periods come into play. On that basis, penalising an employee, or marking their performance down, for not answering messages outside agreed hours is not defensible.3. Internet, Electricity and Heating Costs
The rule, and a frequent misquotation: Article 8 of the Remote Working Regulation reads: "Matters relating to the determination and coverage of mandatory expenses directly connected with the production of goods or services arising from the performance of the work shall be specified in the employment contract."Note what it does not say. The Regulation does not provide that these costs are borne by the employer. The obligation it creates is that the contract must address how the costs are determined and who bears them. If the contract is silent, the result is not an automatic payment obligation but a gap, resolved in a dispute by reference to the employer's duty to provide what is necessary for the work and the principle that costs cannot be pushed onto the employee: an unpredictable outcome.
What to do: Closing that gap in the contract works in the employer's favour. Specify which portion of internet, electricity and heating costs is covered, and by what method (a fixed monthly allowance, a proportion of the bill). Note separately that under Article 7 of the Regulation, unless otherwise agreed, the materials and work equipment needed to perform the work are to be provided by the employer, a distinct and clearer obligation than cost sharing.4. Digital Monitoring, Privacy and Data Protection
The problem: Screen-time trackers, mouse-movement monitoring and always-on webcam requirements.The rule: Under the decisions of the Personal Data Protection Board, camera or ambient monitoring without a legitimate legal basis breaches the privacy of private life, giving rise to substantial administrative fines and to criminal exposure under the Turkish Penal Code.Do not rely on consent: The most common error here is to base monitoring on a consent form signed by the employee. Because of the dependency inherent in an employment relationship, consent is not treated as freely given, so it does not as a rule constitute a valid basis for processing staff data. Where monitoring is to be carried out, the basis should be legitimate interest under Article 5/2(f), supported by a documented balancing test, and the existence and scope of the monitoring must be clearly notified to staff in advance.5. Equal Treatment and Proximity Bias
Remote workers have the same rights as colleagues working in the office. Excluding an employee from promotion or bonus decisions because they work remotely, or withdrawing the equivalent of meal and travel allowances on the basis that they are at home, conflicts with the equal treatment principle in Article 5 of the Labour Act and may give the employee grounds to terminate for cause.
On the Agenda: Working Remotely From Abroad
The issue: IT or marketing staff working for months from Bali, Lisbon or Dubai, with or without telling the company.The consequences: Spending more than 183 days abroad raises questions of tax residence. Withholding in Türkiye may prove insufficient, and the authorities in the country concerned may require the employer to register a presence there. Social security is equally problematic: which country's contributions apply depends on whether a bilateral social security agreement is in place.The answer: HR policy should state that the place of remote work is within Türkiye and that travel abroad is subject to prior written approval and to a time limit.This guide provides general information on current employment law and does not replace a legal opinion on specific employment contracts.
Last updated: 10 August 2026.
