Hiring a Turkish citizen in Turkey through an Employer of Record is relatively straightforward.
Hiring a foreign national can be different.
Before the employee can legally work in Turkey, the work authorization situation needs to be reviewed and, when required, a Turkish work permit must be obtained.
This was the situation when Azkan Group supported ZURU with the employment of an employee in Turkey.
The project involved two different but connected services: obtaining the employee’s Turkish work permit and providing an Employer of Record / Umbrella Company solution for the local employment.
The client: ZURU
Client: ZURU
Industry: Toys / Consumer Products
International presence: Global
Country of employment: Turkey
Services provided by Azkan Group: Work Permit + Employer of Record / Umbrella Company
ZURU is a global toy company whose products are distributed through major retailers in more than 120 countries.
Its portfolio includes internationally known brands such as Mini Brands, XSHOT, Fuggler and Bunch O Balloons.
With an international business comes an international workforce, and sometimes a company needs to employ someone in a country where the employment and immigration process is not familiar to its internal HR team.
Turkey was one of these situations.
The challenge: employing a foreign employee in Turkey
ZURU needed to employ a foreign national in Turkey.
In this type of situation, having an employment solution is only one part of the problem.
There is another important question:
Does the employee have the legal authorization to work in Turkey?
A foreign national being physically present in Turkey does not automatically mean that he or she is authorized to work in Turkey.
The immigration situation therefore had to be considered together with the employment arrangement.
This is where Azkan Group supported ZURU.
Step 1: Obtaining the Turkish work permit
Azkan Group assisted with the Turkish work permit process for the employee.
Work permit applications require coordination between the employee, employer and the relevant Turkish administrative procedures.
The documentation and process can also depend on the employee’s individual situation.
Our role was to manage and coordinate the work permit process so that ZURU did not have to understand and manage the Turkish procedure alone.
The work permit was successfully obtained.
This allowed us to move forward with the local employment arrangement in Turkey.
Step 2: Employer of Record in Turkey
Once the work authorization requirements were addressed, Azkan Group also provided the local Employer of Record / Umbrella Company solution for the employee.
This meant that ZURU could have its employee working in Turkey while Azkan Group managed the local employment framework.
As part of an Employer of Record arrangement, the local support can include areas such as:
- Turkish employment documentation;
- employee onboarding;
- payroll calculation;
- salary administration;
- payslips;
- SGK / social security administration;
- statutory payroll obligations;
- leave and absence administration;
- HR administration;
- and ongoing employee support.
ZURU could therefore concentrate on managing the employee’s role and professional activity while Azkan Group handled the local employment administration in Turkey.
One provider for immigration and employment
This case also shows why combining work permit and Employer of Record services can make sense.
When a foreign company wants to employ a foreign national in Turkey, the different parts of the project are connected.
You cannot look only at payroll.
You need to look at the complete situation:
Can this person legally work in Turkey?
Which work permit procedure applies?
Who will employ the person locally?
Who will prepare the employment documentation?
Who will register and manage the employee?
Who will calculate payroll and social contributions?
Who will support the employee after the employment starts?
Instead of coordinating one provider for immigration, another provider for employment and another one for payroll, the objective is to manage the process as one project.
Work permit support doesn’t stop with submitting documents
International companies sometimes imagine a Turkish work permit as a simple administrative formality.
In reality, every situation can be different.
The employee’s nationality, current immigration status, location and supporting documentation can affect the procedure.
Documents also need to be collected from different parties and the application needs to be coordinated correctly.
For an HR Manager located outside Turkey, this can become time consuming very quickly.
Having a local team that understands both the immigration side and the employment side makes the process much easier to follow.
And after the work permit?
Obtaining the work permit is not the end of the relationship.
Actually, it is the beginning.
The employee will then have a normal working life in Turkey.
There will be monthly payroll.
Maybe expenses.
Holidays.
Questions about benefits.
Salary discussions.
Administrative questions.
And sometimes HR problems.
This is why our role continues after the employee has been successfully onboarded.
Azkan Group remains the local point of contact for the employment administration and HR matters covered by the Employer of Record service.
Suggested testimonial from ZURU
« Azkan Group supported ZURU with the work permit process and the local employment of our employee in Turkey. Their team coordinated the work permit procedure and subsequently managed the Employer of Record and payroll administration locally. Having one local partner managing both the immigration and employment aspects made the process easier for our international team. »
— ZURU
What we learned from this case
The ZURU project illustrates something important for international companies hiring foreign nationals in Turkey:
Immigration and employment should not be treated as two completely separate subjects.
Before confirming a starting date, the company should understand whether the employee can legally work in Turkey and which authorization will be required.
This is particularly important when headquarters is located outside Turkey.
A candidate may already live in Turkey or may be able to enter Turkey without a visa, but this should not be confused with authorization to work.
Checking the work permit situation early can prevent problems later in the onboarding process.
Can a foreign company employ a foreign national in Turkey without opening a subsidiary?
Depending on the circumstances and applicable Turkish requirements, an Employer of Record structure can provide a solution for an international company that needs to employ someone in Turkey without establishing its own Turkish subsidiary.
When the employee is a foreign national, however, the work permit situation must also be reviewed.
This creates two questions:
Employment: How will the employee be legally employed in Turkey?
Immigration: Is the employee legally authorized to perform the work?
Our role is to help international companies address these questions together.
Employer of Record and Work Permit Services in Turkey
The ZURU case is an example of how Azkan Group can support an international company throughout the different stages of employing a foreign national in Turkey:
Work Permit Assessment → Documentation → Work Permit Process → Local Employment → Onboarding → Payroll → HR Administration → Ongoing Employee Support
For the international HR department, this means having one local point of contact for the Turkish side of the project.
A practical approach to international employment in Turkey
Our objective is not simply to obtain a permit or generate a payslip.
The real objective is to make it possible for an international company to employ and manage somebody in Turkey without having to become an expert itself in Turkish payroll, employment administration and work permit procedures.
Sometimes the client already knows exactly who they want to hire.
Sometimes they need recruitment support first.
Sometimes the employee is Turkish.
Sometimes the employee is a foreign national and a work permit is required.
Every situation is a little different.
This is why we prefer looking at the complete employment situation rather than selling a standard package without understanding the project.
Need to hire a foreign employee in Turkey?
Azkan Group supports international companies with:
- Employer of Record (EOR) in Turkey
- Umbrella Company services in Turkey
- Turkish Work Permit applications
- Payroll in Turkey
- Recruitment in Turkey
- HR administration and employee support
Whether you have already selected your employee or are still evaluating how to hire someone in Turkey, our team can review the situation and help determine the appropriate local employment and work permit process.
