Especially following the coronavirus pandemic, many workplaces have implemented part-time working hours for their employees. Although this situation has caused various losses of rights for workers, it has also led to specific issues regarding severance pay.
Severance Pay for Part-Time Workers
Under the current Labor Law No. 1475, the conditions for entitlement to severance pay are defined. Article 14 states that, if the employment contract continues, the employer must pay the employee severance equal to 30 days’ wages for each full year of service counted from the date the employee started work. There is no requirement that the employee must have worked full-time in order to be eligible for severance pay.
The key point is that part-time workers can be entitled to severance pay just like full-time employees, provided they meet the necessary conditions. A worker who has been employed for at least one year from the start date and who leaves or is dismissed in circumstances that qualify for severance should receive severance calculated proportionally based on the days worked per month, even if they were working part-time. In practice, the severance due to a part-time employee should be calculated according to their daily wage equivalent for the days they actually worked each year. Article 14 further explains that the last wage is used as the basis for severance calculation. When pay is not fixed—such as piecework, commission, lump-sum, or percentage-based pay—the average wage is calculated by dividing the total wages paid during the last year by the number of days worked in that period; that average is then used to compute the severance. Therefore, part-time workers who leave their jobs under qualifying conditions are entitled to severance pay.
Weekly Rest Rights for Part-Time Workers
Another common question concerns weekly rest for part-time workers. The weekly rest entitlement of part-time employees can be explained within the framework of Labor Law No. 4857. According to Article 13, if employees work on the days defined under Article 63, they must be given at least 24 hours of uninterrupted rest within any seven-day period, during which no work can be required. The employer must pay the employee for the rest day and cannot make deductions for it.
Because the standard weekly working time is set at 45 hours, those who work at least 45 hours per week are entitled to a 24-hour weekly rest. Part-time work is defined relative to full-time employment: work performed at a rate less than two-thirds of full-time is considered part-time. Therefore, employees who work up to 30 hours per week (or less) fall within the part-time category.
No Weekly Rest for Less Than 45 Hours
Since the provision for weekly rest requires working 45 hours or more per week, part-time employees—whose weekly hours are typically up to 30 hours—do not automatically have the weekly rest entitlement. If an employer requires more than 30 hours of work per week and the arrangement effectively exceeds the part-time threshold, the employee no longer falls under part-time status and may request weekly rest like a full-time worker. Such a request implies a change of employment status, and the person should be included under a full-time employment contract. However, in cases of short-term increases above 30 hours where the contract is not changed, the weekly rest entitlement may still not apply.