Turkish Labor Law
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In case an open-ended employment contract of a worker who is outside the scope of job security terminated by the employer in bad faith, the worker will be entitled to file a lawsuit demanding compensation, which is three times the worker’s salary for the notice period.
In Turkish Labor Law No. 4857 employees have different kinds of rights concerning compensation arisen from termination of their employment contract. The main distinction is between the workers in and out of the scope of job security. While the ones in the scope of security have the right to file a reemployment lawsuit in case of their contracts terminated without a valid reason, the others may demand bad faith compensation in the event of being dismissed by employer’s abusive exercise of the right to terminate the contract.
In this article, after given a brief explanation about job security, we will discuss the bad faith compensation of employees who are out of the scope of job security.
WHAT IS THE JOB SECURITY?
Job security in Turkey is arranged in Articles 18-21 of Labor Law No. 4857.
According to these provisions, a worker engaged under employment contract of indefinite duration (open-ended contract) and has 6 months of seniority, in a workplace with 30 or more employees should only be dismissed by the employer based on a valid or just reason, otherwise the worker can appeal against this termination to labor court or to an arbitrator. If it is decided that termination is unjustified, the employer must re-engage the employee in work, otherwise employer will be obliged to pay an amount of compensation to worker equal not less than the employee’s four months’ wages and not more than his eight months’
wages.
For more details: http://datassist.com/blog/126-job-security-in-turkey
WHO ARE OUT OF THE SCOPE OF JOB SECURITY?
Workers employed in an establishment with less than thirty workers are out of scope of job security arranged in Labor Law, articles, 18 to 20.
Entitlement for bad faith compensation
- being employed in a workplace employing fewer than thirty workers,
- and in any workplace not having the minimum seniority of six months,
- being employed under open ended contract,
- should not be employed in transitory work (employment which, owing to its nature, lasts only up to 30 days is transitory),
- the employment agreement should be terminated by the employer in bad faith,
- employee should prove that the termination is based on bad faith.
WHAT ARE THE ACTS OF BAD FAITH?
Acts of bad faith in termination of employment contract are not clearly specified in Labor Law, however employees may demand bad faith compensation in case the employer terminates the agreement for the following reasons;
- union membership or participation in union activities,
- the filing of a complaint or participation in proceedings against an employer involving alleged violations of laws or regulations or recourse to competent administrative or judicial authorities,
- employing new workers just after the dismissal of a large number of employees
- pregnancy, marital status family responsibilities,
- race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.
HOW TO CALCULATE?
Bad faith compensation is equal to three times the wages for the notice period.
Notice periods
The minimum notice period will depend on the number of months worked, as shown below:
- Less than 6 months 2 weeks
- 6 month to 1.5 years 4 weeks
- 1.5 years to 3 years 6 weeks
- More than 3 years 8 weeks
In the computation of compensations to be paid as well as the advance notice pay, all the monetary benefits plus other benefits which can be measured in monetary terms emanating from the contract and from the law shall be taken into consideration in addition to the wage.
Example
Labor court ruled that employee (A) has been dismissed by the employer with bad faith (i.e. with one of the reasons stated above).
Seniority of employee: 10 years (8 weeks=56 days notice period)
Gross monthly wage: 2.100 TL (daily: 2.100/30=70 TL)
Yearly fuel allowance: 1.460 TL (daily: 1.460/365=4 TL)
Gross bad faith compensation= (daily wage + daily fuel allowance) x (notice period daily x 3)
(70 + 4) x (56 x 3) = 12.432 TL.
NOTICE PAYMENT
Bad faith compensation should not be mixed with the notice payment.
Employee or employer can terminate an open-ended employment contract, on condition that required notice period is given to other party. Notice periods can be substituted by payment in lieu. The employer may terminate the employment contract by paying in advance the wages corresponding to the period of notice.
In cases of termination with bad faith, the employer who didn’t give the required notice period to the employee, he will also pay the wages corresponding to the notice period along with the bad faith compensation.
