Turkish employment law is protective of the employee and formal in its requirements. Most claims are lost not on the merits but on a procedural step or a time limit.
The Turkish pages cover this subject at greater length, with worked examples and petition templates: İş Hukuku.
Severance and Notice Pay
Severance pay is due where the contract ends in circumstances listed in the legislation and the employee has completed at least one year of service. It is calculated at thirty days' gross salary — including regular supplementary benefits — for each full year, with part years pro-rated. A statutory ceiling applies per year of service and is revised twice a year.
Notice pay is due where the terminating party fails to observe the statutory notice period, which varies with length of service from two to eight weeks. An employee who resigns without notice may equally be liable for it.
Resignation generally forfeits severance pay. The exception matters: where the employee terminates for just cause — unpaid wages, unregistered social security contributions, harassment — severance remains payable.
Compulsory Mediation
Before an action for employment receivables or reinstatement, application to a mediator is a condition of the action. A claim filed without it is dismissed on procedural grounds without examination of the merits.
The important exception concerns occupational accidents and diseases: claims for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages arising from them fall outside the mediation requirement and may be brought directly.
Reinstatement
An employee with at least six months' service at a workplace employing thirty or more workers, engaged under an indefinite-term contract, may challenge a dismissal made without valid cause.
The time limits are strict and consecutive: application to a mediator within one month of notice of dismissal, and, if mediation fails, an action within two weeks of the final mediation record. Both are forfeiture periods.
Evidence and Time Limits
Overtime and public holiday claims turn on evidence. Payroll records, entry and exit logs, shift schedules and witness evidence are the usual material; where the employer holds the records and does not produce them, that failure is taken into account.
Limitation for severance, notice and annual leave pay is five years from termination. Wage claims are subject to their own period. Foreign nationals employed without a work permit retain their claims for work actually performed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Thirty days' gross salary including regular supplementary benefits for each full year of service, pro-rated for part years, subject to a statutory ceiling per year.
Generally yes, unless you terminate for just cause such as unpaid wages or under-declared social security contributions.
Yes for employment receivables and reinstatement. Claims arising from occupational accidents and diseases are exempt.
Application to a mediator within one month of notice, and action within two weeks of the final mediation record. Both periods are forfeiture periods.