If you want to live in Turkey, having a job there is a must. This is especially true if you want to have certain rights in Turkey. When you work in Turkey, you are basically treated as a citizen not just a visitor or tourist. You can vote, have social security, open up bank accounts with ease, get citizenship or residency for your family etc. These are the basic rights that comes with having a job in Turkey. But what worker rights do you have in Turkey?

Although finding a job might be hard for a expat in Turkey, if you find one you see that it was worth the trouble. If you work in Turkey, by law, you have certain rights in the workplace that no employer can take it away. here is the list of worker rights in turkey:

• You can not be discriminated against based on your race, gender, political beliefs or sexual orientation in the work place. If you are discriminated against, you can easily sue your employer.
• Your employer can not force you to work against your will. The work place conditions must be humane and safe.
• Employer must provide you with insurance.
• Employer must pay you on time and based on the amount written in your contract. otherwise a judge will make them pay you.
• By law, you are entitled to a day off in a week. Your employer can not stop you from taking your day off.
• Employer is in charge of the safety of workplace, not you.
• You can join a union and you employer cant say boo.
• If you are fired based on unjust reasons, employer must pay your salary up to that point and they can not hold it.
• You can easily sue for harassments in workplace.
• Women can not work more than 7.5 hours in a day. Your employer can not force you to work more than this hour dictated by law.
• Women (especially pregnant women and new mothers) can not be employed in night shifts. If they are, the employer is in charge of providing a safe method of transportation for their female workers.
• You can enjoy a 16 week paid pregnancy leave (8 weeks before and 8 weeks after).
• If a woman has a child less than 1 years old, they can spend 1.5 hours of their work with their child.

The rights a worker can enjoy in Turkey makes some countries look like doo doo! (looking at you USA🙄).
It must be noted that even if you have a work permit in Turkey, as a foreigner, you are prohibited to work at certain professions.