Individual Labor Law

Individual Labor Law is the branch of law that regulates individual employment relationships between workers and employers, including the rights and obligations arising from such relationships, the formation, content, types, and termination of employment contracts. Its primary objective is to protect workers, who are economically in a weaker position, and to ensure fair regulation of working conditions.

Basic Concepts of Labor Law

• Worker: A natural person who works based on an employment contract.

• Employer: A natural or legal person, or an entity without legal personality, that employs workers based on an employment contract.

• Employer’s Representative: Individuals who act on behalf of the employer and are responsible for the management of the work, workplace, or business. The employer is directly liable for the actions and obligations of the employer’s representative toward workers.

• Subcontractor: Another employer who takes on auxiliary tasks related to the production of goods or services at the workplace, or portions of the main work that require specialized expertise due to operational or technological reasons, and employs workers solely for these tasks. The principal employer is jointly liable with the subcontractor for obligations arising from law, the employment contract, or the collective labor agreement applicable to the subcontractor, in relation to the subcontractor’s workers at that workplace.

• Workplace: A unit organized by the employer, comprising material and immaterial elements, for the purpose of producing goods or services, and including workers. Locations, extensions, and equipment associated with the workplace are also considered part of the workplace.

• Business: A broader economic concept than the workplace.

Employment Contract

Elements

• Performance of Work: The worker’s physical or mental execution of a task.
• Wage: The payment received by the worker from the employer in return for the work performed.
• Dependence: The worker performs the work under the employer’s instructions, supervision, and control. This element is the fundamental criterion distinguishing employment contracts from other types of work agreements (e.g., service contracts, agency agreements).

Legal Characteristics

• It is a private law contract.
• It is personal to the worker.
• It is a contract creating mutual obligations.
• It is a continuous contract.

Formation

Capacity of the Parties

Limits on Freedom of Contract

• Obligation to Enter into a Contract: In certain cases, the employer is obligated to enter into a contract. For example, preferential rehiring of former workers for the same type of work after collective dismissal, hiring persons with disabilities or former convicts, rehiring workers whose incapacity has ended, or hiring those who have completed military or legal service.

• Limits on Freedom to Determine Contract Content: The content of the contract may not contravene mandatory legal provisions, morality, public order, or personal rights.

Form

Types

Continuous and Non-Continuous Employment Contracts

Fixed-Term and Indefinite-Term Employment Contracts

Full-Time and Part-Time Employment Contracts

On-Call Work Contract

Remote Work Contract

Probationary Employment Contract

Team Contract

Temporary Employment Relationship

Worker’s Obligations

Duty to Perform Work

• Personal Performance: The worker is generally obligated to perform the assigned work personally.
• Compliance with Working Conditions: The worker is obligated to perform work in accordance with legislation, collective labor agreements, the employment contract, and the employer’s instructions.
• Diligent Performance: The worker must exercise all necessary care, apply professional knowledge and skills, and show due diligence toward the employer’s machinery, tools, and materials.

Duty to Comply with Employer’s Instructions

Duty of Loyalty (Duty of Attachment)

Duty to Deliver and Account

Duty Not to Compete

• During the Contract: A consequence of the duty of loyalty.

• After Termination: This applies only if the parties have explicitly agreed in writing. For such a restriction to be valid, the worker must have access to information such as customer relationships or production secrets, the misuse of which could cause significant harm to the employer, and the restriction must include reasonable limits regarding location, duration, and type of work.

Employer’s Obligations

Duty to Pay Wages

• Amount: Must not be less than the statutory minimum wage.

• Forms: Wage may be determined in various forms, such as time-based wage, piece-rate wage (per unit or lump sum), percentage-based wage, bonus, gratuity, commission, or profit-sharing. However, wage cannot be determined solely as profit-sharing, as the law requires wages to be paid at regular intervals.

• Place and Method of Payment: Generally, wages are paid in Turkish currency at the workplace or into a specially opened bank account. Employers who employ a specified number of workers are required to make payments through a bank.

• Time of Payment: Wages must be paid at least once a month; this period may be reduced to one week by employment or collective labor agreements. Employers may be obligated to provide an advance in cases of the worker’s urgent need.

• Wage Slip: The employer is obligated to provide the worker with a signed wage slip or one bearing the employer’s official mark, detailing the wage calculation.

• Protection: A portion of the wage cannot be seized or offset (except under specific conditions with the worker’s consent). Workers’ claims enjoy preferential status. In cases of employer insolvency, a wage guarantee fund provides protection. Wage deductions may only be applied for reasons specified in collective or individual employment contracts and within defined limits. Unauthorized deductions from wages are prohibited. If wages are not paid on time, the worker gains the right to refuse to work, claim interest, and terminate the contract for just cause.

Duty to Protect the Worker (Oversight)

• Generally: The employer is obligated to safeguard the worker’s dignity, respect their personality, and maintain a workplace environment consistent with principles of good faith, particularly by taking necessary measures to prevent psychological and sexual harassment.

• Occupational Health and Safety: The employer is obligated to take all necessary measures to ensure occupational health and safety, and to maintain equipment and tools in good condition. This includes conducting or commissioning risk assessments, providing training to employees, ensuring health monitoring, employing an occupational physician and safety specialist, and establishing an occupational health and safety committee under certain conditions. Workers also have the obligation to comply with occupational health and safety measures and the right to refuse to work in cases of serious and imminent danger. Failure by the employer to fulfill these obligations may result in legal and criminal liability.

• Duty of Equal Treatment and Prohibition of Discrimination: The employer may not discriminate in employment relationships on grounds of language, race, color, gender, disability, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion, sect, or similar reasons. A lower wage may not be set for the same or equivalent work based on gender. Without substantial grounds, a part-time worker may not be treated differently from a full-time worker, nor a fixed-term worker from an indefinite-term worker. In case of discrimination, the worker may claim compensation equal to up to four months’ wages and the rights to which they were denied.

Other Obligations

Termination of the Employment Contract

Termination Other Than by Dismissal

• Agreement of the Parties (Mutual Termination): Worker and employer may terminate the employment contract at any time by mutual agreement. If the offer for mutual termination originates from the employer, the Supreme Court requires that the worker be granted “reasonable benefit” in addition to seniority and notice compensation.

• Death:

• Expiration of Fixed-Term Contracts: The contract terminates automatically upon expiration of the term. However, if the relationship continues implicitly after expiration, it becomes an indefinite-term contract.

Termination by Dismissal

Termination with Notice (Notice-Based Termination): Generally applies to indefinite-term employment contracts and must comply with statutory notice periods (2 to 8 weeks, depending on the worker’s seniority). The employer may terminate the contract immediately by paying the notice period wage in advance. During the notice period, the employer must grant the worker at least two paid hours per day to seek new employment. The party failing to comply with the notice requirement must pay notice compensation to the other party.

• For Workers Outside the Scope of Job Security: The employer may terminate the contract without needing a valid reason. However, if the dismissal right is abused (e.g., the worker complained about the employer), the worker may claim bad-faith compensation equal to three times the notice period wage.

• For Workers Covered by Job Security (Termination for Valid Reason): In workplaces employing thirty or more workers, the employment contract of an indefinite-term worker with at least six months of seniority may be terminated only based on a valid reason arising from the worker’s competence, conduct, or the requirements of the business, workplace, or job.

Valid Reasons

Procedure for Dismissal

The employer must issue the dismissal notice in writing and clearly and definitively state the reason for dismissal. Before dismissal based on the worker’s conduct or performance, the worker must be given an opportunity to defend themselves (except in cases of immediate dismissal under Article 25/II of the Labor Law).

Challenge to Dismissal and Reinstatement

The worker must apply to a mediator for reinstatement within one month of receiving the dismissal notice. If no agreement is reached, a lawsuit may be filed in the labor court within two weeks of the date the final report was prepared. If the dismissal is ruled invalid, the employer must reinstate the worker within one month. If the employer fails to reinstate, they must pay reinstatement compensation equal to four to eight months’ wages as determined by the court, plus wages for the period of unemployment up to four months, and other rights.

Immediate Termination for Just Cause (Termination Without Notice): All employment contracts, whether fixed-term or indefinite-term, may be terminated immediately without notice if any of the just causes listed in the law exist. The party initiating termination bears the burden of proving the existence of the just cause.

Worker’s Just Causes for Termination (Labor Law Article 24)

• Health Reasons: The nature of the work poses a danger to the worker’s health or life; the worker or another worker is afflicted with a contagious or incompatible illness due to prolonged exposure.

• Violation of Good Faith and Morality: The employer deceives the worker; the employer makes statements damaging the worker’s or their family’s honor or reputation; the employer engages in sexual harassment; the employer threatens, intimidates, or incites the worker to violate the law; commits a crime punishable by imprisonment; makes unfounded accusations; the worker suffers sexual harassment at the workplace and the employer fails to take preventive measures; wages are not calculated or paid in accordance with law or contract; working conditions are not implemented.

• Compelling Reasons: Compelling circumstances arise that require the cessation of work for more than one week at the workplace.

Employer’s Just Causes for Termination (Labor Law Article 25)

• Health Reasons: The worker becomes ill or disabled due to their own negligence, unsanitary lifestyle, or addiction to alcohol; the illness exceeds specified absence limits; the illness is incurable and makes continued employment at the workplace impossible; the worker’s absence due to illness, accident, childbirth, or pregnancy exceeds six weeks beyond the notice period.

• Violation of Good Faith and Morality: The worker deceives the employer; the worker makes statements damaging the employer’s or their family’s honor or reputation; makes unfounded allegations or accusations; engages in sexual harassment against another worker; attacks the employer, their family, or another worker; arrives at or works under the influence of alcohol or drugs; abuses the employer’s trust; commits theft; discloses professional secrets; commits a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than seven days without suspension; is absent without leave or justification for specified periods; persistently refuses to perform duties despite reminders; jeopardizes workplace safety due to their own negligence or misconduct; causes damage to employer property or entrusted items exceeding thirty days’ wages.

• Compelling Reasons: A compelling reason arises that prevents the worker from working at the workplace for more than one week.

• Detention or Arrest: The worker’s absence due to detention or arrest exceeds the notice period.

Time Limit for Exercising Termination Right: The right to terminate based on violation of good faith and morality must be exercised within six working days from the date the reason became known and in any case within one year from the date the act occurred (the one-year limit does not apply if the worker’s material interest is involved).

Right to Compensation: Workers or employers who terminate the employment contract within the time limits specified above due to violations of good faith and morality retain the right to claim compensation from the other party.

Other Legal Consequences of Termination

Issuance of Work Certificate: The employer must provide the departing worker with a document indicating the nature and duration of their work.

Release Agreement (Release Deed): For a release agreement regarding the worker’s claims against the employer to be valid, it must be in writing, signed after at least one month has passed since termination of the contract, clearly specify the type and amount of the claim, and be paid in full and through a bank. Release deeds lacking these elements are definitively invalid.

Seniority Compensation: A worker acquires the right to seniority compensation if their employment contract terminates due to reasons specified in law (e.g., employer-initiated dismissal other than under Article 25/II, worker’s termination for just cause, compulsory military service, retirement, etc.) and they have worked for at least one year. For each completed year of service, thirty days’ final gross (including benefits) wage is paid. There is an annual cap on seniority compensation. The statute of limitations is five years.