Labor Law Guide: Severance Pay, Notice Pay and Employee Rights in Türkiye

Two calculation tools accompany these guides. The severance pay calculator (in Turkish) applies the current severance ceiling, and the pay in lieu of notice calculator works out the notice period and the amount due according to length of service. Both calculators, and the guides linked below, are currently available on the Turkish pages. A good starting point is the Severance Pay Guide.

Labor Law Articles

Each article has been prepared in academic depth in light of the relevant legislation and the decisions of the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay).

Compensation and Employee Claims

How employee claims are calculated, the conditions for entitlement and the applicable limitation periods.

• Severance Pay: Conditions for entitlement, the wage inclusive of benefits and calculation methods. Key points: Labor Law No. 1475 Art. 14, wage inclusive of benefits, ceiling calculation.
• Pay in Lieu of Notice: Notice periods, calculation, and the obligations of employer and employee. Key points: Labor Law No. 4857 Art. 17, notice periods, payment in advance.
• Overtime Pay: Calculation formulas, burden of proof, equitable reduction and limitation period. Key points: 50% and 25% premium rates, equitable reduction, signed payroll records.
• Annual Leave Pay: Entitlement, leave durations, calculation and limitation. Key points: 14, 20 and 26 days of leave, bare gross wage, burden of proof.
• Idle-Period Wages: The right to up to four months' wages following an invalid dismissal, and the social security (SGK) dimension. Key points: Labor Law Art. 21, application within 10 working days, four months maximum.
• Discrimination Compensation: The principle of equal treatment and compensation of up to four months' wages. Key points: Labor Law Art. 5, four months' wages, eased burden of proof.

Termination and Reinstatement

The ways an employment contract comes to an end, and the rights that follow termination.

• Reinstatement Lawsuit: Invalid dismissal, the 4+8 compensation rule and the mediation process. Key points: 30-employee threshold, 4+8 compensation, ultima ratio principle.
• Termination for Just Cause by the Employee: The employee's right to terminate immediately, its conditions and legal consequences. Key points: Labor Law Art. 24, six-working-day rule, severance pay.
• Employer's Termination for Just Cause: Dismissal without compensation, proof requirements and employer obligations. Key points: Labor Law Art. 25, absence report, SGK exit codes.
• Resignation and Its Legal Consequences: Types of resignation, notice periods and financial entitlements. Key points: notice period, resignation with 3,600 premium days, drafting the resignation letter.
• Mutual Termination Agreement (İkale): Termination by mutual agreement and the reasonable benefit test. Key points: reasonable benefit, four additional months' wages, effect on unemployment benefits.
• Appeal Petition in Labor Court Cases: Challenging a labor court judgment: time limit, grounds and a sample petition. Key points: two-week period, Code of Civil Procedure (HMK) Art. 341, sample petition.

Protection and Safety in the Workplace

Workplace accidents, psychological harassment and the employer's duty of protection.

• Workplace Accident Compensation: Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages, employer liability and the litigation process. Key points: employer liability, determination of fault, causal link.
• Mobbing (Psychological Harassment): Workplace bullying, methods of proof and compensation claims. Key points: Turkish Code of Obligations (TBK) Art. 417, approximate proof, non-pecuniary damages.
• Sexual Harassment: Eased burden of proof, compensation rights and termination for just cause. Key points: TBK Art. 417, Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Art. 105, the ordinary course of life.
• Occupational Health and Safety: The employer's occupational health and safety obligations and liabilities. Key points: Law No. 6331, risk assessment, certified logbook.

Labor Law Essentials

The Right to Severance Pay

• At least one year of service
• Termination for just cause by the employee, or termination by the employer
• 30 days' gross wage for each year of service
• Exempt from income tax

Points to Watch

• Five-year limitation period
• Mandatory mediation requirement
• Care when writing a resignation letter
• Checking social security (SGK) premium records

Why Work with a Labor Law Attorney?

Accurate Calculation

Calculating the gross wage inclusive of benefits and applying the severance ceiling are technical exercises that require detailed knowledge.

Tracking Limitation Periods

The five-year limitation period in labor claims is of critical importance.

The Mediation Process

Professional representation during the mandatory mediation stage of labor disputes.

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Labor Law Advice

Speak with our attorney about severance pay, reinstatement or workplace accident claims. You can book an appointment online or call +90 226 911 07 99.

Our Labor Law Articles

See all labor law articles.

Holiday and Weekly Rest Day Pay: What Working on Public Holidays and Rest Days Is Worth

Work performed on the weekly rest day and on national and general holidays (UBGT) is compensated under different provisions and at different rates. The legal basis, the calculation logic, the rules of proof and the limitation period, all in one place. Read more

Occupational Disease: Determination Process, SGK Entitlements and Compensation Claims

The definition of occupational disease in Law No. 5510, the liability period, the chain of determination through the Institution Health Board and the High Health Board, permanent incapacity income, compensation claims against the employer and when the limitation period begins to run. Read more

Severance Pay on Marriage: The One-Year Rule, Conditions and Common Mistakes

A woman employee who marries may leave her job within one year of the civil marriage and qualify for severance pay. The conditions of the right, how the termination should be made, which claims arise and the mistakes that most often cost employees in practice, in light of Court of Cassation case law. Read more

Claims for Pay in Lieu of Notice: Mediation, Limitation and Interest

The procedural layer that decides a claim for pay in lieu of notice: mediation as a precondition to filing suit under Law No. 7036 Art. 3, the five-year limitation period running from the date of termination, statutory interest and the date of default, and proof of the type of termination. Read more

What to Do After a Workplace Accident: Notification, Report and Evidence

What needs to be done in the first days after a workplace accident: notifying the police and the SGK, the accident report, gathering evidence, the sick leave report and the disability determination process. A step-by-step guide with statutory texts and current Court of Cassation decisions. Read more

Proof in Mobbing Cases: The Approximate Proof Standard and Evidence

How is the burden of proof distributed in a mobbing case? The approximate proof standard adopted by the General Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Cassation, a list of evidence, termination for just cause and compensation outcomes. Read more

Labor Law Case Law

See all labor law decisions.

Is Dismissal on the Basis of Bank Account Activity Lawful?

The applicant had worked as an employee at a cooperative since 2010. The employment contract was terminated in 2016 on the ground that there were money movements in an account held at a particular bank, which was said to raise suspicion of links to structures acting against national security. No criminal proceedings of any kind were brought against the applicant, and the employment was ended without payment of any compensation. The Constitutional Court (AYM), sitting in plenary, accepted that this interference with professional life had consequences of serious weight for the applicant's private life and, after examining the merits, held that the right to respect for private life guaranteed by Article 20 of the Constitution had been violated. In this respect the decision is a precedent in favor of the employee. To remedy the violation, the file was sent back to the labor court for a retrial; the separate claim for compensation was rejected on the ground that a retrial would provide sufficient redress. The core of the decision lies in its standard of proof and reasoning: the mere existence of transactions in a bank account was not treated as sufficient on its own, and the Court stressed that routine banking transactions must be distinguished from transactions carried out on organizational instructions. A measure taken without convincingly establishing that the suspicion was serious, strong and objective cannot be regarded as proportionate, even under state of emergency conditions. Read the decision

Can the Contract of an Employee Who Served in a Closed-Down Association Be Terminated?

The applicant had worked as a cleaning worker at a municipality since 2003. The employment contract was terminated in 2016 after it was established that the applicant had held an audit position in an association closed down under State of Emergency Decree-Law No. 667 and had followed the recordings of the organization's leader; the stated ground was that the relationship of trust between the parties had come to an end. The applicant applied to the Constitutional Court, arguing that the job had been lost for a reason relating to private life and that this had led to exclusion from the applicant's social circle. The Court found the application admissible and accepted that an interference with professional life on grounds relating to private life can be examined under the right to respect for private life. In the result, however, it unanimously found no violation. In this respect the decision is a precedent against the employee and in favor of the public institution in the position of employer. The decisive point is procedural: the applicant had not expressly raised before the lower courts the question of whether the association was in fact linked to the organization. Since no such objection had been raised, the Court did not treat the lower courts' failure to investigate this point separately as, on its own, a breach of the guarantee. In similar disputes, the stage of the proceedings at which objections are raised can directly affect the outcome. Read the decision