Türkiye has formally established the legal framework for hybrid working, allowing employees to split their working time between the workplace and remote locations, according to a decree published Friday.
The decree in the Official Gazette officially integrates the mixed working model into the country's labor legislation.
The amendment to Article 9 of the Remote Working Regulation, issued in March 2021, sets out the rules for arrangements in which work is performed partly at the workplace and partly remotely.
The hybrid model has been widely practiced since the COVID-19 pandemic, but lacked a clear definition in Turkish labor law.
Under the new rules, employers and employees can agree to a hybrid working arrangement. Employment contracts must specify which days employees will work at the workplace and which days remotely, as well as their daily working hours.
The change provides a formal contractual basis for hybrid work, which combines workplace-based and remote working rather than requiring employees to work entirely from either location.
The regulatory change follows growing government emphasis on more flexible working arrangements.
Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said last week that the government was considering more flexible working models, particularly as part of programs targeting young people who are neither in education nor employment.
"For these categories, a more flexible working model is in Türkiye's interest," Şimşek said.
Şimşek had also previously said the government would further develop flexible and remote-working models in the public sector.
Flexible working was also included in the government's Medium-Term Program for 2027-2029, which calls for work arrangements to be developed with a focus on work-life balance and employee productivity, including adjustments to working days and flexible-duration employment models.
Hybrid work is an employment model in which employees divide their working time between a physical workplace and a remote location. Unlike fully remote work, it combines office-based and remote working according to an arrangement agreed between the employer and employee.
The new regulation means such arrangements can now be explicitly incorporated into employment contracts, with working days, locations and daily hours defined in advance.
