Termination of the Employment Contract and Separation Processes
Termination is one of the stages of the employment relationship that gives rise to the most disputes. The correct characterization of the reason for termination should be examined separately in terms of obtaining a defense, written notice, the notice period, just cause or valid reason, the principle of last resort, the duty of equal treatment and the payments tied to termination.
Our work in this area:
- Immediate termination by the employer for just cause
- Termination by the employee for just cause
- Termination for valid reason under job security
- Termination for performance or conduct
- Operational decisions, downsizing, restructuring and elimination of a position
- The employee’s health, absence or force majeure
- Termination for non-payment of wages or failure to apply working conditions
- Validity of the intention to resign
- Mutual termination agreement (ikale) and reasonable-benefit review
- Termination by retirement, military service and marriage
- Expiry of a fixed-term contract
- Collective dismissals and notifications to authorities
- Preparation and service of the termination notice
- Post-termination calculation of wages, compensation and leave
- Legal review of releases (ibraname), settlements and handover documents
are covered. Termination is not merely the notification of an outcome; the events leading to termination, the records, the performance criteria and similar practices in the workplace must be documented in advance and consistently.
Severance, Notice and Termination-Related Compensation Claims
Whether severance or notice pay is owed is not determined by length of service alone. Who ended the employment contract, for what reason and on what date; whether the period of service was interrupted; the transfer of the workplace (işyeri devri), a change of subcontracting employer (alt işveren), the actual amount of the wage and the effect of regular benefits on the wage used as the basis for compensation are examined together.
In this context:
- Severance pay (kıdem tazminatı)
- Notice pay (ihbar tazminatı)
- Bad-faith compensation
- Job security compensation and pay for the period of non-employment
- Trade union compensation
- Discrimination compensation
- Pay for time off to look for work
- Claims for material loss arising from unjust termination
- Determining the full (grossed-up) wage used as the basis for compensation
- Length of service and liability among employers
- Defenses of set-off, payment, release and offset
- Type of interest and the interest start date
are assessed. Compensation may not be calculated solely on the bare wage in the payroll; the nature of regular, monetarily measurable benefits is determined on the facts of the specific case.
Reinstatement Actions and Job Security
A reinstatement claim does not apply automatically to every termination. The employee’s length of service, the number of employees at the workplace, the type of contract, whether the person is an employer’s representative, the content of the termination notice and the application deadlines are examined together. Because the periods that begin with service of the termination notice may be short and of a preclusive nature, the file must be assessed without delay.
In this context:
- Examination of the conditions of job security
- Whether the reason for termination is clear and definite
- Cases in which a defense must be obtained
- Review of the criteria in terminations for performance and conduct
- Examination of an operational decision for consistency, arbitrariness and proportionality
- The principle that termination must be a last resort
- Mandatory mediation for a reinstatement claim
- Invalidity of the termination and the reinstatement action
- Pay for the period of non-employment and other rights
- Compensation for failure to reinstate
- The employee’s timely application and the employer’s invitation
- Genuine intention to reinstate and the conditions for starting work
- Liability in the case of a subcontracting employer or joint employment
are addressed. A reinstatement judgment is not the end of the process; after the judgment becomes final, the employee’s application, the employer’s invitation and the actual conditions of reinstatement also produce separate legal consequences.
Critical Checks Before and After Termination
One month and two weeks for reinstatement
An employee seeking reinstatement under Art. 20 of Law No. 4857 must apply to a mediator within one month from service of the termination notice. If no agreement is reached, an action may be filed within two weeks from the date the final record is issued. These periods are not the same as the statute of limitations for a receivables action.
As to job security, as a rule the conditions of an indefinite-term contract, at least six months of seniority and thirty employees are examined together with the calculation of the employer’s workplaces in the same line of business and the employer’s representative exception. The six-month seniority requirement is not applied to underground workers. Merely writing “manager” in the contract does not automatically remove job security.
Application and reinstatement after the judgment
From service of the final reinstatement judgment, the employee must apply to the employer within ten business days. The employer’s obligation to reinstate within one month of the application and the actual working conditions of the invitation are assessed. Winning the case does not mean that later notices are unnecessary.
Resignation, mutual termination (ikale) and release (ibra) are not the same transaction
Leaving for just cause, ordinary resignation and mutual termination produce different consequences. For severance, as a rule at least one year of service is required in addition to a qualifying reason for termination. It should not be assumed that notice pay arises on termination for just cause. Who made the offer of mutual termination, the intention of the parties and the reasonable benefit are examined.
In an employee’s release under Art. 420 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, the requirement of writing, at least one month after termination, the clarity of the type and amount of the receivable and complete payment through a bank are assessed together. The special regime of a mediation agreement is examined separately; not every signature shows that all rights have validly ended.
A single period is not applied to every event in immediate termination
The six business days and one-year periods in Art. 26 of Law No. 4857 relate to the right to terminate for conduct contrary to morality and good faith. The authorized person who learned of the event, the date of the event and the exception where the employee obtained a material benefit are assessed. These periods do not apply automatically to terminations for health or force majeure reasons.
Preparing for the Consultation
Prepare the employment period, contract, termination or application documents and the related records. Mention missing documents and any approaching deadline at the first consultation.