Termination of Employment in Türkiye
1) What types of employment termination are there?
Employment contracts could be terminated several ways regarding the type of the contract. It may be terminated by expiration of a fixed-term contract, by notice of termination for indefinite-term contracts, by immediate termination for just cause, or by mutual agreement between the parties.
2) What are the legal grounds for termination initiated by the employer?
According to Article 25 of the Turkish Labor Law, an employer may terminate an employee's work contract for good reason, such as a breach of ethics or goodwill, medical conditions, or a force majeure event. Furthermore, termination for valid reasons—such as the employee's insufficiency, behavior, or operational needs—is allowed under Article 18.
3) What are the legal procedures required for terminating an employee?
In order to terminate an employment contract for valid reasons, the employer must issue a written notice of termination, detailing and explaining the specific reasons for the termination. For employees under occupational safety protection, the employer must base the termination on valid reasons and, where applicable, obtain the employee's defence before finalising the dismissal.
However, if the employer terminates the employee's employment contract for just cause based on Article 25 of the Turkish Labour Law, there is no obligation to obtain the employee's written defence.
4) What are the mandatory notice periods for termination?
According to Article 17 of the Turkish Labor Law, the mandatory notice periods are:
- 2 weeks for employment less than 6 months;
- 4 weeks for employment between 6 months and 1.5 years;
- 6 weeks for employment between 1.5 and 3 years;
- 8 weeks for employment exceeding 3 years.
Alternatively, the employer may pay the notice compensation instead of serving the notice period.
5) What severance pay and compensation are employees entitled to?
Employees who have completed at least one year of service and whose contracts are terminated without just cause by the employer or who terminates his/her employment contract for just cause are entitled to severance pay equivalent to 30 days’ gross wage for each year of service. In cases of bad faith termination or failure to reinstate after an unlawful dismissal, additional compensation may also be awarded.
6) How should employers handle termination due to poor performance or misconduct?
When terminating an employee for poor performance or misconduct, the employer must conduct a serious and diligent process because the burden of proof regarding the reasons for dismissal lies with the employer. The employee must be given the opportunity to defend themselves, improvement opportunities must be offered in performance cases, and progressive discipline should be applied in cases of misconduct. Termination must be the last resort, clearly stated in writing with specific and documented reasons.
7) What legal recourse is available to employees in case of unlawful termination?
The employee whose employment contract has been terminated must apply to the mediator in accordance with the provisions of the Turkish Labour Law within one month from the date of notification of the termination notice with the claim that no reason was given in the termination notice or the reason given was not a valid reason. If no agreement is reached at the end of the mediation activity, a lawsuit can be filed at the labour court within two weeks from the date of the final report.
8) What is the procedure for terminating an employment contract with foreign nationals?
The Turkish Labour Law does not distinguish between foreign employees and Turkish citizen employees. Accordingly, the above-mentioned explanations regarding the termination of the employment contract are also valid for foreign employees. In addition, the employer must notify the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the relevant social security institutions within 15 days of the termination of the employment contract of foreign employees.
Author: Selin Çelik