In a decision of the 9th Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, numbered 2024/6366 E. and 2024/9427 K., dated 04.06.2024, based on the calculation made by an expert, about a worker who works as a general manager (senior manager) and requests annual leave pay. It ruled that a 50% appreciation discount should be made. The issue of discretionary deduction, which is quite controversial in practice when general managers receive annual leave, has been clarified with the decision of the Supreme Court dated 04.06.2024.
Indeed, as stated in the concrete dispute, the general manager’s admission that the plaintiff has not taken any leave for 9 (nine) years is contrary to the ordinary flow of life, and moreover, the general manager (senior manager) has the authority to have the annual leave certificate issued at the workplace. Although the burden of proof of the use of annual leave belongs to the employer, the Supreme Court’s decision to reduce the amount of annual leave by 50% was quite appropriate due to the uncertainties in the concrete situation. With this decision, we foresee that when senior employees, including many general managers, will take annual leave, a 50% discretionary discount will be applied instead of the 30% discretionary discount given to other workers, and thus this decision will set a precedent.
Çelikbaş Law Office