As it is known, a minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees. The Minimum Wage Determination Commission is the authorized institution to determine the minimum wage in Turkey. Following the meetings held within the scope of determination of the minimum wage to be valid in 2022, the Minimum Wage Determination Commission, which consists of employees, employers and government representatives, has decided to increase the minimum wage in Turkey, by taking into account the factors such as employees’ livelihoods and inflation target for the year 2022.

In the light of this, as per the Minimum Wage Determination Commission’s Decision dated 16 December 2021 and numbered 2021/1, published in the Official Gazette dated 17 December 2021 and numbered 31692, it has been announced that the minimum wage in Turkey has been increased by 50.40% as of 1 January 2022. It has been unanimously decided to determine the daily minimum wage of the employees between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022 as gross TRY 166.80.

Therefore, the new gross minimum monthly wage will reach TRY 5,004 (approximately Euro 380 ^[1]) exclusive of certain social security premiums and unemployment contribution. The said amounts are respectively TRY 775.62 and TRY 100.08. Thereby, the total cost for the employer is TRY 5,879.70 (approximately Euro 450) for a minimum wage employee.

Kindly note that, the Minimum Subsistence Allowance (in Turkish “Asgari Geçim İndirimi” or “AGİ”) is abolished for the wage payments to be made as of 1 January 2022, with the Law Amending the Income Tax Law and Certain Laws numbered 7349, published in the Official Gazette dated 25 December 2021 and numbered 31700.

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