Employment and Social Security Law

An employee must apply to a mediator with a reinstatement request within one month of service of the notice of termination (Labour Act (İş Kanunu, Law No. 4857) art. 20 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). If no agreement is reached, an action may be brought before the labour court within two weeks of the date on which the final report was drawn up. As a rule, job security covers employees with at least six months' seniority working under an indefinite-term contract at workplaces employing thirty or more employees (Labour Act art. 18 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). The burden of proving that the termination is based on a valid reason lies with the employer. Please refer to the official text for the current position.

If the employment contract of an employee who has worked for at least one year is terminated by the employer for a reason other than conduct contrary to morality and good faith, severance pay (kıdem tazminatı) becomes due; this entitlement is based on Article 14 of the former Labour Act (İş Kanunu, No. 1475), which was kept in force (Former Labour Act (İş Kanunu, Law No. 1475) art. 14 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). Severance pay is also due if the employee terminates for just cause, leaves for military service or retirement, if a female employee leaves within one year of the date of her marriage, or if the employee dies. As a rule, a resignation outside these cases does not give rise to severance pay. Severance pay is calculated on the basis of thirty days' wages for each full year of service; the annual amount is subject to a ceiling. Please refer to the official text for the current position.

Yes. Before bringing actions for employee or employer receivables and compensation based on the law or on an individual employment contract or collective labour agreement, and before bringing reinstatement actions, applying to a mediator is a precondition for bringing the action (Labour Courts Act (İş Mahkemeleri Kanunu, Law No. 7036) art. 3 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). The application is made to the mediation office at the place of residence of the opposing party or at the place where the work is performed. The mediator concludes the file within three weeks; this period may be extended by one week at most. Compensation actions arising from work accidents and occupational diseases are excluded from this requirement. Please refer to the official text for the current position.

The limitation period for wage claims is five years (Labour Act (İş Kanunu, Law No. 4857) art. 32 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). Severance pay, notice pay, bad-faith compensation, compensation for breach of the principle of equal treatment and annual leave pay are also subject to a five-year limitation period (Labour Act additional art. 3 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). The limitation period for pay in lieu of unused annual leave starts on the date the employment contract ends (Labour Act art. 59 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). The limitation period is suspended from the application to the mediation office until the final report is drawn up (Labour Courts Act (İş Mahkemeleri Kanunu, Law No. 7036) art. 3 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). Please refer to the official text for the current position.

A party wishing to terminate an employment contract of indefinite duration must give the other party prior notice (Labour Act (İş Kanunu, Law No. 4857) art. 17 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). The notice period is two weeks for an employee whose employment has lasted less than six months, four weeks for six months to one and a half years, six weeks for one and a half to three years, and eight weeks for more than three years. These periods are minimums and may be extended by contract. A party that does not comply with the notice requirement pays compensation equal to the wages for that period. Please refer to the official text for the current position.

An employee whose wages are not calculated in accordance with the law or the contract, or are not paid, may terminate the contract immediately for just cause (Labour Act (İş Kanunu, Law No. 4857) art. 24 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). An employee whose wages remain unpaid for twenty days after the payment date, other than due to force majeure, may refuse to work and cannot be dismissed for this reason (Labour Act art. 34 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). Wages not paid on time bear interest at the highest rate applied to deposits. Termination by the employee for just cause is one of the cases giving rise to severance pay (Former Labour Act (İş Kanunu, Law No. 1475) art. 14 (Official text, opens in a new tab)).

Work exceeding forty-five hours per week is overtime (Labour Act (İş Kanunu, Law No. 4857) art. 41 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). For each hour of overtime, the normal hourly wage plus fifty per cent is paid. Instead of the increased pay, the employee may, if they wish, take one hour and thirty minutes of free time for each hour of overtime. Overtime requires the employee's consent and may not exceed a total of two hundred and seventy hours per year. Please refer to the official text for the current position.

An employee who has worked for at least one year, including the probationary period, is entitled to paid annual leave (Labour Act (İş Kanunu, Law No. 4857) art. 53 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). The leave is at least fourteen days for service of one year up to and including five years, at least twenty days for more than five but less than fifteen years, and at least twenty-six days for fifteen years or more. Employees aged eighteen or under and those aged fifty or over may not receive less than twenty days; the right to annual leave cannot be waived. When the contract ends, pay for unused leave is paid on the basis of the last wage (Labour Act art. 59 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). Please refer to the official text for the current position.

As a rule, the employer must report an employee to the Social Security Institution (Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu – SGK) with an employment start notification before work begins (Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Act (Sosyal Sigortalar ve Genel Sağlık Sigortası Kanunu, Law No. 5510) art. 8 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). For work that was not reported or could not be identified by the Institution, an action for determination of service (hizmet tespiti davası) may be brought before the labour court within five years from the end of the year in which the service was performed (Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Act art. 86 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). This period is important because it may lead to a loss of rights. A request to determine the period of insurance based on an employment contract is exempt from the requirement to apply to the Institution before bringing an action (Labour Courts Act (İş Mahkemeleri Kanunu, Law No. 7036) art. 4 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). Please refer to the official text for the current position.

The employer must notify a work accident immediately to the local law enforcement authorities and, at the latest within three working days after the accident, to the Social Security Institution (Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu – SGK) (Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Act (Sosyal Sigortalar ve Genel Sağlık Sigortası Kanunu, Law No. 5510) art. 13 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). Notification is made with the work accident and occupational disease notification form, either directly or by registered post. For accidents at places outside the employer's control, the period starts on the date the accident becomes known. In compensation actions arising from a work accident, applying to a mediator is not a precondition for bringing the action (Labour Courts Act (İş Mahkemeleri Kanunu, Law No. 7036) art. 3 (Official text, opens in a new tab)). Please refer to the official text for the current position.