Employment claims in Turkey: what rights can a dismissed employee claim, and within what time limits?

What lawsuits can a dismissed employee file?

An employee whose employment contract is terminated by the employer may, where the conditions are met, make 5 main claims: invalidity of the termination and reinstatement (Labour Law Articles 18–21), severance pay (Law No. 1475, Article 14), notice pay (Article 17(4)), receivables such as unpaid wages and overtime (Articles 32 and 41), and pay for unused annual leave (Article 59).

In addition, an employee outside the scope of job security may claim bad-faith termination compensation equal to 3 times the notice period if the right of termination has been abused (Article 17(6)), and compensation of up to 4 months' wages if there has been discrimination in the employment relationship (Article 5).

These lawsuits are heard by the labour courts; where no labour court has been established, the same lawsuits are heard by the civil court of first instance (asliye hukuk mahkemesi) under the procedure laid down in Law No. 7036 (Labour Courts Law No. 7036, Articles 2(3) and 5). The court with territorial jurisdiction is summarized in the table below (Article 6).

What conditions apply to a reinstatement lawsuit?

Reinstatement requires 4 conditions to be met together: 30 or more employees working at the workplace, at least 6 months' service by the employee, an indefinite-term contract, and the employee not being one of the employer's representatives (işveren vekili) who manage and direct the business or the workplace as a whole (Labour Law Article 18(1) and Article 18, final paragraph). For employees working underground, the length-of-service condition does not apply.

An employer that terminates the contract of an employee within this scope must rely on a valid reason (geçerli sebep) arising from the employee's competence or conduct, or from the requirements of the business, the workplace or the work; trade union membership, applying to the official authorities against the employer, pregnancy and similar grounds do not constitute a valid reason (Article 18(3)). The burden of proving that the termination was based on a valid reason lies with the employer (Article 20(2)).

If the court finds the termination invalid, the employer must, upon the employee's application, put the employee back to work within 1 month; if it does not, it pays compensation of at least 4 and at most 8 months' wages. For the period in which the employee is not employed until the judgment becomes final, wages and other entitlements of up to 4 months are also paid (Articles 21(1) and 21(3)).

Who is entitled to severance pay, and how is it paid?

Severance pay amounts to 30 days' wages for each full year that has elapsed since the employee started work; for periods exceeding a full year, payment is made at the same rate (Law No. 1475, Article 14(1)). In practice, at least 1 year of service is required for the compensation.

The entitlement arises if the contract ends in the following cases: termination by the employer for a reason other than conduct contrary to morality and good faith (Labour Law Article 25(II)); termination by the employee for just cause (haklı neden) (Article 24); compulsory military service (muvazzaf askerlik); leaving in order to receive an old-age, retirement or invalidity pension or a lump-sum payment; leaving after completing the insurance period and premium-day requirements for an old-age pension other than the age requirement; a female employee leaving of her own will within 1 year of the date of her marriage; and the employee's death (Law No. 1475, Article 14(1)).

The calculation is based on the last wage, and in addition to the wage, money and benefits measurable in money that are provided to the employee under the contract and the law are also taken into account. If severance pay is not paid on time, the judge awards the highest interest rate applied to deposits for the period of delay (Law No. 1475, Article 14).

What are notice pay and the notice periods?

Before an indefinite-term employment contract is terminated, the other party is notified; the notice period is 2 weeks for an employee whose employment has lasted less than 6 months, 4 weeks for 6 months to 1.5 years, 6 weeks for 1.5 to 3 years and 8 weeks for more than 3 years (Labour Law Article 17(2)). These periods are minimums and may be increased by contract.

The party that fails to comply with the notice requirement pays compensation equal to the wages for the notice period (Article 17(4)). The employer may terminate the contract immediately by paying the wages for the notice period in advance (Article 17(5)). The notice pay calculator can be used for an approximate amount.

In immediate termination for just cause (Articles 24 and 25), no notice period has to be observed and no notice pay arises. The right of termination based on conduct contrary to morality and good faith cannot be exercised once 6 business days have passed from the day on which the other party's conduct became known, and in any event once 1 year has passed from the act; if the employee obtained a material benefit from the incident, the 1-year period does not apply (Article 26).

How are overtime, annual leave and other employee receivables claimed?

Overtime is work exceeding 45 hours per week, and each overtime hour is paid at the normal hourly wage plus 50 percent; if the employee wishes, instead of the increased wage, the employee may take 1 hour 30 minutes of free time for each overtime hour (Labour Law Article 41); overtime may not exceed 270 hours in total per year.

Paid annual leave is granted to an employee who has worked for at least 1 year; the leave may not be less than 14 days for service of 1 to 5 years (including 5), 20 days for service of more than 5 and less than 15 years, and 26 days for 15 years or more; for employees aged 18 and under and 50 and over, it is at least 20 days (Article 53). When the contract ends for any reason, pay for unused leave is paid on the basis of the last wage (Article 59).

An employee who works on national holidays and public holidays is paid an additional 1 day's wage for each day worked (Article 47); weekly rest day pay is governed by Article 46. Where more than one claim is asserted together, the burden of proof for each claim is assessed separately (Labour Courts Law No. 7036, Article 7(2)).

Is mediation compulsory, and how does the process work?

Yes; in lawsuits concerning employee or employer receivables and compensation based on the law or on an individual or collective employment agreement, and in reinstatement lawsuits, having applied to a mediator is a precondition to suit (Labour Courts Law No. 7036, Article 3(1)). Actions for annulment of objection (itirazın iptali), negative declaratory actions (menfi tespit) and actions for restitution (istirdat) relating to these receivables are also covered; compensation actions arising from work accidents and occupational diseases, however, are excluded (Articles 3(1) and 3(3)).

The application is made to the mediation office at the other party's place of residence or at the place where the work is performed (Article 3(5)). The mediator concludes the application within 3 weeks from the date of appointment, and in cases of necessity this period may be extended by at most 1 week (Article 3(10)); from the application until the final minutes, the limitation period is suspended and time limits for the forfeiture of rights (hak düşürücü süre) do not run (Article 3(17)).

A party who fails to attend the first meeting without a valid excuse is held liable for half of the litigation costs even if that party prevails in the lawsuit, and only half of the attorney's fee is awarded in that party's favor (Article 3(12)). If no agreement is reached, the final minutes are attached to the statement of claim; if they are not attached, the court grants a peremptory period of 1 week (Article 3(2)).

What is the limitation period for employment claims?

Severance pay, notice pay, bad-faith termination compensation, compensation arising from termination in breach of the principle of equal treatment and annual leave pay are subject to a 5-year limitation period (Labour Law Additional Article 3). The limitation period for wage claims is also 5 years (Article 32); in practice, overtime and holiday pay are treated as wage claims subject to this period.

For annual leave pay, the limitation period starts from the date on which the employment contract ends (Article 59). Reinstatement, however, is subject not to a limitation period but to the 1-month period for applying to a mediator, counted from service of the notice of termination (Article 20(1)).

How should an employer carry out a termination?

The employer must give notice of termination in writing and state the reason for termination clearly and precisely (Labour Law Article 19(1)). Before a termination for a reason related to the employee's conduct or performance, the employee's defense against the allegations is obtained; the right of immediate termination for conduct contrary to morality and good faith is reserved (Article 19(2)).

In termination with notice, the notice period of 2–8 weeks depending on length of service is observed, or the wages for this period are paid in advance (Article 17).

After termination, a reinstatement claim comes first to the mediator; if the agreement does not determine the date of return to work and, in monetary terms, the pay for the idle period and the compensation for failure to reinstate, no agreement is deemed to have been reached (Article 21).