Can a Resigning Employee Claim Severance Pay?

Under the Labor Law, severance pay is an entitlement that arises when an employment contract ends for specific reasons listed in the law. An employee leaving voluntarily, without citing any just cause, is not among those reasons. As a rule, therefore, an employee in an ordinary resignation does not become entitled to severance pay. A similar situation applies to notice pay: a resigning employee who fails to observe the notice period may themselves face a claim for notice pay.

Article 24 of the Labor Law grants an employee the right to terminate the employment contract immediately and for just cause in certain circumstances. Termination on this basis is, technically, not a resignation but a just-cause termination; in practice, however, this form of voluntary departure is often colloquially referred to as a "resignation." An employee who terminates for just cause becomes entitled to severance pay, provided the other conditions are also met.

An employee has grounds for just-cause termination where the nature of the work poses a danger to their health or life, or where the employer, or another employee they are continuously in close and direct contact with, contracts a contagious disease or a disease incompatible with the employee's job.

This is the most frequently relied-upon category of just-cause termination in practice. It covers situations such as wages not being paid at all or on time, overtime and other receivables going unpaid, social security premiums being underreported or not paid, degrading treatment toward the employee, and acts amounting to sexual harassment or mobbing. To the extent these circumstances can be proven, the employee's departure is classified as a just-cause termination and gives rise to a severance pay entitlement.

The emergence of a compelling reason requiring work to stop for more than a week at the employee's workplace also grants the employee a right to terminate for just cause. Beyond this, Article 14 of the former Labor Law No. 1475, which remains in force, recognises certain special forms of voluntary departure that give rise to severance pay: a male employee leaving for compulsory military service, a female employee leaving of her own accord within one year of her marriage, leaving in order to receive an old-age pension or lump-sum payment, and an employee who has met all retirement conditions except age (known in practice as the "15 years and 3,600 days" case) leaving with a letter obtained from SGK. In these cases the employee receives severance pay as in a just-cause termination, but cannot claim notice pay, since it is the employee who ends the contract.

Under Article 26 of the Labor Law, the right to terminate for just cause must be exercised within six working days of learning of the event relied upon, and in any case within one year of the event; for continuing violations such as unpaid wages, the period does not start running as long as the violation continues. Stating the reason clearly in the termination notice, and preferably sending it through a notary, matters for proving that reason later; a bare letter saying "I am leaving of my own accord" makes a later claim of just cause considerably harder.

Is a resignation signed under pressure, or on a blank sheet, valid? The Court of Cassation treats resignation letters signed blank at the start of employment, or obtained under pressure from the employer, as invalid on the ground that they do not reflect the employee's true intent, and assesses the event as a termination by the employer. A "resignation" accompanied by the payment of severance is likewise regarded as contradictory; in such cases the employee may claim their compensation rights.

Does a resigning employee have any other receivables? Yes. Pay for unused annual leave, unpaid wages, overtime, weekly rest day and public holiday pay are payable in any event, regardless of how the employee left. A five-year limitation period applies to these receivables, and mediation is mandatory before filing suit.

How is a post-resignation compensation claim made in İzmir? For severance and other receivables, an application is first made to the İzmir Mediation Bureau at the İzmir Courthouse in Bayraklı; if no agreement is reached, the lawsuit is filed with the labour courts at the same courthouse. Anyone seeking information on whether a severance pay entitlement arises may review our İzmir employment lawyer page; our office in Konak provides support in labour law matters across İzmir.

Av. Mehmet Yücesoy

İzmir Attorney & Legal Consultancy