A new legislative amendment has been introduced to further strengthen the documentation and transparency of wage payments, protect employee rights, combat informal employment, and ensure that all entitlements are traceably delivered to workers. This revision—published in the Official Gazette on June 4, 2025 (No. 32920)—lowers the minimum employee threshold for the mandatory payment of wages via bank transfer from five to three, thereby expanding the scope of worker protection across Türkiye. The new rules will enter into force on July 1, 2025.

The requirement to pay wages, bonuses, premiums, and all kinds of monetary entitlements through bank transfer was initially established by the “Regulation on the Payment of Wages, Bonuses, Premiums, and All Kinds of Entitlements via Banks,” published in the Official Gazette on November 18, 2008 (No. 27058). Under the original regulation, employers with at least five employees, journalists, or seafarers were obligated to make such payments via bank transfer.

With the latest amendment, this minimum headcount has been officially reduced to three. Accordingly, from July 1, 2025, any employer—regardless of sector—who employs at least three persons (including regular employees, journalists, and seafarers) must pay all net wages (after statutory deductions) by bank transfer. Where an employer has both journalists and regular employees, the total is considered jointly; the same applies in the maritime sector.

If a workplace is located in an area without a bank branch, or where payments via bank are practically impossible, the law allows payments to be made through Turkish Post (PTT) branches.

Employers, employer representatives, or third parties who do not comply with this requirement are subject to administrative fines under Article 102 of the Labor Law no. 4857 for regular employees, Article 27 of the Press Labor Law no. 5953 for journalists, and Article 51 of the Maritime Labor Law for seafarers.