Journalist Employment Contract Template (Turkey, Act No. 5953)

Why the Written Contract Is Not Negotiable

Article 4 of Press Labour Act No. 5953 obliges the employer to conclude a written contract with every journalist falling within its scope. Under the general Labour Act, written form is required only for fixed-term contracts or contracts longer than one year; under Act No. 5953 the requirement is unconditional: duration, salary level and position make no difference.

Article 1 defines the scope as follows: persons working for a wage in intellectual and artistic work — that is, outside the definition of "worker" (işçi) in the general Labour Act — at newspapers published in Turkey, internet news sites, mevkute (periodicals) and news and photography agencies. Internet news sites were brought into this scope in 2022 by Act No. 7418.

The Three Elements the Act Makes Mandatory

Article 4 lists the minimum content of the contract under three headings. If any one of them is missing, the contract is not compliant with the Act:

Article 4 also binds two further points: every change in the nature of the work and in the salary must be recorded in the contract, and a journalist who has worked two years at the same publication earns a right to promotion, the promotion being made at the percentage rate set in the contract. In other words, if you do not write the promotion percentage into the contract, the yardstick that makes the statutory right to promotion enforceable disappears.

Contract Template

The template below tracks the relevant articles of Act No. 5953 clause by clause. Fill in the dotted lines and sign two counterparts. The reference in brackets beside each clause shows the provision it comes from.

JOURNALIST EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
(drawn up pursuant to Article 4 of Press Labour Act No. 5953)

PARTIES
Employer   : ....................................... (legal name)
Address    : .......................................
Tax No.    : .......................................
Journalist : ....................................... (full name)
ID No.     : .......................................
Address    : .......................................

CLAUSE 1 - NATURE OF THE WORK   (Art. 4(a))
The journalist shall perform intellectual and artistic work for the
employer at the periodical / internet news site named
....................... in the capacity of ....................... 
(reporter / editor / sub-editor / copy desk secretary /
photojournalist).
Place of work: .......................

CLAUSE 2 - SALARY   (Art. 4(b), Art. 14)
Monthly gross salary: ................... TRY
The salary is paid in advance each month by transfer to the
journalist's account at ................ bank, IBAN
.................................. . Every change in the salary and in
the nature of the work shall be recorded in this contract.

CLAUSE 3 - SENIORITY   (Art. 4(c), Art. 6)
Journalist's date of first entry into the profession : ..../..../........
Commencement date of this contract                   : ..../..../........
Seniority is calculated from the journalist's date of first entry into
the profession.

CLAUSE 4 - TERM AND PROBATION   (Art. 10)
The contract is of indefinite duration.
For journalists entering the profession for the first time the
probationary period is at most three months.
A written contract is mandatory at the end of the probationary period.

CLAUSE 5 - WORKING TIME AND OVERTIME   (Additional Art. 1)
Daily working time is eight hours, in both day and night shifts.
Overtime is paid at the normal hourly rate plus 50%.
Overtime hours falling after 24:00 are paid at double the normal
hourly rate.
Overtime may not exceed three hours per day.
Overtime pay is paid together with the following salary payment.

CLAUSE 6 - WEEKLY REST AND COMPASSIONATE LEAVE   (Art. 19)
One paid rest day is granted following six days of actual work.
In work requiring continuous night duty the weekly rest is two days.
Compassionate leave: birth of a child 3 days; death of a spouse,
child, mother or father 4 days; marriage of a child and death of a
sibling, grandmother, grandfather or grandchild 2 days. This leave is
not counted against annual leave.

CLAUSE 7 - PAID ANNUAL LEAVE   (Art. 21)
Journalist with at least one year's seniority at a daily periodical : 4 weeks
Journalist with more than ten years' seniority in the profession    : 6 weeks
Each six-month period of work at a non-daily periodical             : 2 weeks
Seniority is calculated on total service in the profession.
The right to leave cannot be waived.

CLAUSE 8 - ANNUAL BONUS   (Art. 14, final paragraph)
At the end of each year of service the journalist is paid a bonus of
at least one month's salary.

CLAUSE 9 - PROMOTION   (Art. 4)
A journalist who has worked two years at the publication earns a right
to promotion.
Promotion rate: .......... %

CLAUSE 10 - WORK OUTSIDE THE CONTRACT   (Art. 15)
Separate payment is made for work assigned by the employer outside the
contract and for pieces commissioned or accepted for publication.
Social security contributions are paid on these additional payments.

CLAUSE 11 - TERMINATION AND NOTICE PERIODS   (Art. 6, 7, 8)
Termination by the employer: three months' written notice for a
journalist with at least five years' uninterrupted service at this
workplace, one month for a journalist with less than five years'
service.
Termination by the journalist: at least one month's written notice.
These periods are minimums; they may be extended by contract but not
reduced.
Pay for untaken annual leave is paid in full on termination.

CLAUSE 12 - PROFESSIONAL DIGNITY   (Art. 11)
The journalist's refusal to carry out an act of a nature that would
damage his or her honour and reputation does not give the employer a
right of immediate termination.

CLAUSE 13 - DUTY TO NOTIFY   (Art. 9)
The conclusion of this contract shall be notified by the employer, and
its termination by the terminating party, within fifteen days by
declaration to the Regional Directorate of Labour, to the civil
administrative authority and to the trade union of which the
journalist is a member.

CLAUSE 14 - DISPUTES   (Additional Art. 4)
The labour courts have jurisdiction over disputes arising from this
contract.

CLAUSE 15 - RESERVED PROVISIONS   (Art. 25)
The provisions of Act No. 5953 that are favourable to the journalist
apply even if they are not set out in this contract. This contract
may not be construed so as to reduce the journalist's statutory
rights.

This contract has been drawn up in two counterparts on
..../..../........ and signed by the parties.

EMPLOYER                              JOURNALIST
Name / Title / Signature              Name / Signature

The Critical Clauses Explained

Seniority Follows the Profession, Not the Employer

This is the provision of Act No. 5953 most often applied incorrectly. Article 6 says it plainly: "The right to seniority is calculated from the journalist's date of first entry into the profession." Under the general Labour Act seniority looks at time served with the same employer; under Act No. 5953 what counts is the journalist's total time in the profession. A reporter who has worked ten years in total across three different newspapers has ten years' seniority, not the two years spent with the current employer.

Article 6 also sets one limit: where a journalist has once received severance pay, seniority is calculated from the date of entry into the new job. But the same paragraph states that a contract to the contrary is valid — meaning the parties may depart from the rule in the journalist's favour.

Notice Periods Are Measured Differently From Seniority

Here lies a fine but expensive distinction. Severance pay is calculated on total time in the profession, whereas the notice period looks at uninterrupted service at the same workplace. The text of Article 6 runs: dismissal of a journalist whose employment relationship with the employer, under one or several contracts, has lasted uninterruptedly for at least five years takes effect three months later; for those with less than five years' service the period is one month.

Overtime: 50% Premium, Double After Midnight

Additional Article 1 caps daily work at eight hours and prices overtime at the normal hourly rate plus 50%. For overtime hours falling after 24:00, pay is double the normal rate. Overtime may not exceed three hours per day. At newspapers that print overnight and at news sites operating around the clock, these two rates must be calculated separately; paying everything at 50% is underpayment.

Annual Leave: Four Weeks as the Floor

Article 21 grants a journalist with at least one year's seniority at a daily periodical four weeks of paid leave a year, and a journalist with more than ten years in the profession six weeks. Set against the 14-to-26-day scale of the general Labour Act, the difference is substantial. Under Article 29, an employer who does not grant the leave pays an administrative fine of three times the wages corresponding to the leave period, and the wages due to the journalist are paid at double rate.

Clauses That Cannot Be Put in the Contract

Many journalist contracts circulating in the market contain clauses that are void as a matter of law. The following produce no legal effect even if written into the contract:

• Post-employment non-compete. Article 13 is unambiguous: provisions restricting the journalist's freedom to practise the profession after the employment contract has ended are void. A clause reading "may not work for a competing publication for two years after leaving" is unenforceable.
• Waiver of annual leave. Under Article 21 the right to leave cannot be waived.
• Shortening the statutory notice periods. Article 8 treats the periods as minimums; they may be increased but not reduced.
• Reduction of acquired rights. Article 25 provides that the obligations imposed by the Act may not be used as a ground for lowering the journalist's salary and other entitlements; a breach is punishable under Article 30.
• An absolute ban on outside work. Article 13 states that, unless the contract provides otherwise, the journalist is free to take other work outside. If a restriction is to be imposed, it must be limited to the duration of the employment relationship and written out expressly.

After Signature: The Fifteen-Day Rule

This is the step most publishers overlook. Under Article 9, the conclusion of the contract is notified by the employer and its termination by the terminating party, in each case by declaration within fifteen days. The notifications go to the Regional Directorate of Labour, the civil administrative authority, and the journalist's trade union if he or she is a member — failing that, the professional body with the largest membership. The civil administrative authorities forward a copy of the declaration to the relevant authority for the purpose of establishing the journalist's seniority.

Article 3 additionally imposes a written notification duty within one month on anyone who begins operating, takes over, closes down or changes the line of business of an undertaking within the scope of the Act.

Internet News Sites Are Covered Too

Act No. 7418 of 13 October 2022 added the phrase "internet news sites" to Article 1 of Act No. 5953, and the amendment entered into force on 18 October 2022. An editor, reporter or sub-editor producing content for a news site for a wage now falls indisputably within Act No. 5953: the written contract, the four weeks' leave, the 50% overtime premium, the annual bonus and severance pay based on seniority in the profession all apply to them as well.

Checklist Before Signing

• Is the contract in writing and signed in two counterparts?
• Are all three of the nature of the work, the gross salary and the date of first entry into the profession written in? (Art. 4)
• Is the promotion percentage stated? (Art. 4)
• Does it say the salary will be paid into a bank account, and is the IBAN written in? (Art. 14)
• Is the annual leave entitlement correct against seniority in the profession — 4 weeks or 6 weeks? (Art. 21)
• Are the 50% rate and the double rate for hours after 24:00 written out separately for overtime? (Additional Art. 1)
• Is there a clause on the year-end bonus of at least one month's salary? (Art. 14)
• Have the notice periods been left at or above the statutory minimum? (Art. 8)
• Has the post-employment non-compete clause been removed? (Art. 13)
• Was the notification made within 15 days of the contract being concluded? (Art. 9)