Turkish Labor Law
While discussing which exit codes are valid for the ban of work termination, the matter was clarified by İŞKUR’s internal communication. The ban of work termination, valid for 17 April until 17 July, was introduced with the provisional article 10 added to the Labor Law No. 4857. The exit codes of the prohibition of termination were later determined, with the recent information of İŞKUR that clarifies the exceptions that are not explicitly included in the original regulation.
The Legal Basis for the Ban of Work Termination
The ban of work termination is based on the Article 9 of the Law on the Amendment of the Law on the Reduction of the Impacts of the New Coronavirus (Covid-19) Epidemic on Economic and Social Life. Within this article, Provisional Article 10 has been added to the Labor Law No. 4857, the fundamental law that regulates the work life in Turkey”.
“PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 10 – Regardless of whether this Law is covered or not, any business or service contract, cannot be terminated by the employer, for a period of three months from the effective date of this article, other than the cases that do not comply with the rules of ethics and good faith in paragraph (II) of the first paragraph of Article 25 and similar cases.
The employer may put the worker on unpaid leave, completely or partially, for a period not exceeding three months from the effective date of this article. Being entitled to unpaid leave under this article does not give the employee the right to terminate the contract based on the just cause.
In violation of the provisions of this article, the employer or the employer representative who terminates the employment contract is given an administrative fine at the monthly gross minimum wage amount of the employee whose contract is terminated.
The President is authorized to extend the three-month period of ban of work termination, indicated in the first and second paragraphs, up to six months. ”
Ban of Work Termination and Unpaid Leave Support Application
Employers were also given the right to put the employees on unpaid leave with the ban of work termination regulation. The aim here was to protect employment and to prevent victimization of both the employer and the worker going through this difficult process. Employees on unpaid leave can benefit from the state’s 39.24 TL daily wage support. For this support, no premium day or insurance terms are required.
Only retired employees were exempted from unpaid leave support. Even if the employment contract is suspended, retired employees who continue to receive pension can be put on unpaid leave by the employer in this process, but retirees will not benefit from unpaid leave wages.
How is the Ban of Work Termination Implemented in Workplaces on Short Term Work?
The conditions for the employees to benefit from the short term work allowance are: to have paid 450 premium days unemployment insurance in the last 3 years and worked for the service contract for the last 60 days. Employees who meet these conditions will receive the wages of the time they cannot work from İşkur as a short-term work allowance, with the decrease in working time by at least 1 in 3, due to the compelling reason created by the epidemic.
In addition to meeting the workers’ conditions, employers should also follow certain criteria. The most important of these is the termination of employment. If an employer who is on short term work terminates one worker’s work, no worker can benefit from the short term work allowance. In other words, the workplace loses the right to short work allowance if an employee is laid off.
Based on this, in addition to the termination ban on April 17, employer termination is also prohibited during the short work period, which had started before 17 April.
Since the employer’s dismissal of the employee without notice for just cause (Article 25 / II of Labor Law No. 4857) is considered to be within the scope of the exception, work termination under these circumstances will not affect the short term work allowance.
According to the Exit Codes, at Which Exits Does the Ban of Work Termination Apply?
If we need to deal with the employer’s termination of work over SSI exit codes, we can say that the ban is valid for codes 01, 04, 15, 22, 27 and 28.
If the employer wants to dismiss an employee who is in trial period, he can execute it after the termination ban is over. In this process, he can suspend the employment contract by giving the employee unpaid leave. The employer, who puts the employee on unpaid leave during the trial period, can continue the trial period till the end of the unpaid leave, as the contract will remain suspended till then.
While the termination prohibition continues, the employer will not be able to terminate the worker’s contract for reasons that may be included in the concept of “valid reason” such as performance, inefficiency, late arrival to work, and incompatibility. These exits can only be made after the ban of work termination is over. Likewise, mass layoffs will not be possible during the prohibition period.
Employment termination was restricted due to the reasons stipulated in articles 25 / I – III –IV in the Labor Law numbered 4857.
| SSI Exit Codes | Reason for Work Termination |
| 1 | Termination of employment contract by the Employer |
| 4 | Termination of an indefinite term employment contract by the Employer without just cause |
| 15 | Mass layoff |
| 22 | Other reasons |
| 27 | Termination by the Employer due to mandatory reasons and imprisonment |
| 28 | Termination by the Employer for health reasons |
When will the Ban of Work Termination End?
The ban of work termination was imposed for 3 months. However, it was stated in the law that it could be extended up to 6 months with the authority of the President. The ban, effective on April 17, will expire on July 17. Workplaces will not be able to lay off workers as long as they are on short work allowance.
