İzmir Employment Lawyer and Employee Claims Cases

Most disputes that surface when an employment relationship ends in fact stem from decisions taken on the day the contract was made. As an İzmir employment lawyer, we provide legal support to employees and employers alike in files concerning severance and notice pay, reinstatement, overtime and holiday pay claims, unfair dismissal and work accident compensation.

Employment law exists to balance the difference in bargaining power between the parties. Freedom of contract is therefore substantially limited, and provisions favouring the employee are made mandatory. A clause in a contract cannot fall below the minimum protection the law grants; to the extent that it does, it is treated as invalid and the statutory rule applies in its place. Whichever side the file is viewed from, the first step is the same: the type of contract, the length of service, the real amount of the wage and the manner in which the intention to terminate was expressed are established.

Time is as decisive here as the right itself. The deadlines for a mediation application and for filing a reinstatement action are measured in weeks; the right to terminate immediately for just cause lapses if it is not used within the short preclusive period set by law. The order of the steps taken at the moment of termination therefore shapes the outcome more than any calculation made afterwards. You can see the other fields we work in on our practice areas page.

Severance and Notice Pay: When They Arise and How They Are Calculated

Severance pay is owed to an employee with the minimum length of service required by law when the contract ends in one of the ways listed in the law. Foremost among these are a dismissal by the employer for a reason other than breach of morality and good faith rules, and a termination by the employee for just cause. In addition, compulsory military service, qualifying for an old-age, retirement or disability pension, and a female employee leaving within the period set by law from the date of her marriage are among the situations giving rise to severance pay. Where the employee resigns without giving a reason, or is lawfully dismissed for conduct breaching morality and good faith rules, no severance pay arises.

The calculation method differs by claim item. For severance pay, the number of days of gross wage including benefits set out in the law is taken for each full year of service, with the remaining part of a year calculated proportionately on the same basis. The wage including benefits covers, in addition to the bare wage, the monthly equivalent of continuing benefits such as travel, meals, bonuses and regularly paid premiums; incidental and one-off payments are excluded. The law sets a ceiling for severance pay which is updated periodically; no figure is given here for that reason, and the calculation must be made over the ceiling in force on the date of termination. We examine how the process works at the mediation stage in our article on mediation in severance and notice pay claims.

Notice pay rests on a different logic. The party terminating an indefinite-term contract must grant the other party the notice period, which the law grades according to length of service. If the contract is ended immediately without granting that period, the wage for the ungranted period is payable as notice pay. The obligation is mutual; an employee who leaves without observing the procedure may also be held liable towards the employer. During the notice period the employee must be given the daily job-search leave provided by law, without deduction from their wage.

The statutory notice periods are graded according to the employee's length of service: the longer the service, the longer the period that must be granted. These periods are minimums, and may be increased by contract but not reduced. Where a termination is made without granting the period, its equivalent is paid as notice pay, calculated over the gross wage including benefits. The concrete grades are set out in the law; for the current wording, mevzuat.gov.tr should be taken as the basis.

The two items diverge for tax purposes: the part of severance pay not exceeding the ceiling set by law is exempt from income tax and subject only to stamp duty, whereas notice pay, being treated as wage, is subject to income tax withholding. In special termination situations such as leaving for military service, documenting the conditions comes before any calculation; we have gathered the details in our article on leaving employment for military service.

Reinstatement Actions and Mandatory Pre-Action Mediation

Job security is a review mechanism ensuring that a dismissal is not arbitrary. To benefit from these provisions the workplace must employ the number of workers set out in the law, the employee must have the minimum length of service required by law, the contract must be of indefinite term, and the employee must not be an employer's representative managing the entire undertaking. In counting the number of workers, all of the employer's workplaces in the same branch of activity are taken together; an employee at what appears to be a small branch may therefore fall within the scope of job security.

The process begins with mediation. Applying to a mediator before filing a reinstatement action is a condition of action, and the application must be made within the period set by law from notification of the termination. If no agreement is reached, the action must be filed with the labour court within the period set by law from the date the final minutes were drawn up. Because the scope of an agreement reached in mediation cannot later be litigated, the minutes must state precisely which claim items they cover. We describe how mediation works generally on our mediation page, while the specifics for reinstatement appear in our article on reinstatement actions and mediation.

The burden of proof in the action lies with the employer: it must show that the dismissal rested on a valid reason. A valid reason may arise from the employee's inadequacy or conduct, or from the requirements of the undertaking, the workplace or the work. In dismissals based on a business decision the court does not review the merits of that decision, but it does examine whether dismissal was the last resort and whether it was applied consistently. A reason not stated in the termination notice cannot be raised later during the proceedings.

If the action succeeds, the employee must apply to the employer within the period set by law from notification of the finalised judgment. If, upon that application, the employer does not reinstate the employee within the period set by law, it becomes liable for job security compensation assessed by the court between the lower and upper limits set out in the law. In addition, the employee is paid accrued wages and other entitlements, up to the ceiling provided by law, for the period they were not employed until the judgment became final. These limits and periods are laid down in the law and must be confirmed from the current legislation in the specific file. Where the employee is reinstated, that amount is set off against any notice and severance pay already paid in advance.

Overtime, Weekly Rest Day and Public Holiday Claims: Proof and Payroll Objections

The upper limit of weekly working time is set by law and, unless otherwise agreed, is divided equally across working days. Work exceeding the statutory weekly time counts as overtime and, for each hour, the normal hourly wage is paid with the uplift set out in the law. If the contract sets weekly working time below the statutory limit, work between the contractual and the statutory time counts as extended-hours work, to which the lower uplift provided by law applies. The current wording of the rates and the hour limit should be confirmed via mevzuat.gov.tr. The employee's consent must be obtained for overtime, and overtime may not exceed the annual limit set by law.

Most disputes turn not on the amount but on proof. The employee alleging overtime bears the burden of proving it; workplace entry and exit records, timesheets, card-reading data, shift rosters, correspondence and witness statements are assessed together. Where there is no written document, witness testimony may be relied on, though in such calculations the courts may, in line with settled practice, apply an equitable reduction. We set out the basis of the calculation in our article on overtime pay.

Objection to the payroll slip is a decisive threshold here. If a signed slip shows an overtime accrual and the employee signed it without a reservation, proof for that period is as a rule expected to rest on written evidence. By contrast, where the slip has no overtime column at all, or a fixed amount unchanged month after month has been accrued, the employee may advance the claim by any kind of evidence. Whether the accrual on the slip is reflected in the bank account is also examined; the gap between accrual and payment is a dispute in its own right.

Weekly rest day and public holiday claims are usually pursued in the same file. The employee must be given uninterrupted weekly rest of the duration set out in the law, within the period the law provides, and the wage provided by law is paid for that day not worked. If no work is done on national and general holidays the wage is paid in full; if work is done, the additional pay provided by law arises for the days worked. The employee's consent is required for work on these days as well. Overtime may be compensated with free time instead of pay; in that case the free time is calculated by applying to the overtime worked the ratio set out in the law.

Unfair Dismissal, Equal Treatment and Discrimination Compensation

The right to dismiss is not unlimited even for employees outside the scope of job security. Where the contract is ended through an abuse of the right of notice, bad-faith compensation is payable to the employee at the multiple of the notice-period wage set by law, and notice pay may be claimed on top of it if the procedure was not observed. In practice, dismissing an employee for having complained, asserted a right or given evidence is among the typical manifestations of bad faith.

The equal treatment principle forbids the employer from discriminating in the employment relationship on grounds such as language, race, colour, sex, disability, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and sect. Where the principle is breached, the employee may claim, in addition to the entitlements withheld, compensation up to the wage ceiling set out in the law. A graded rule applies to proof: if the employee establishes a fact strongly indicating the breach, the burden shifts to the employer. We address the scope of the subject in our article on the equal treatment principle and discrimination compensation.

One area where discrimination claims frequently arise is maternity and parental leave. Maternity leave, the right to request part-time work afterwards and nursing leave are safeguarded by law; worsening an employee's working conditions or ending their contract because they exercised those rights runs into both the valid-reason review and the equal treatment principle. The details on the duration and use of such leave appear in our article on maternity leave. Dismissals on trade union grounds are governed by a separate statute, under which union compensation may not fall below the minimum amount that statute lays down.

Work Accidents and Occupational Diseases: Damages and the Social Security Recourse Relationship

A work accident is an event occurring in the situations listed in social security legislation which leaves the insured person physically or mentally impaired, whether immediately or later. Its scope is not limited to events at the workplace; events occurring while the employee is elsewhere because of work carried out for the employer, or while travelling to and from work in a vehicle provided by the employer, also fall within it. An occupational disease, by contrast, is a temporary or permanent condition arising from a repeated cause connected to the nature of the work, and is not tied to a sudden event.

The employer owes a duty of care in occupational health and safety, assessed by reference to the foreseeability of the risk. In a damages action, fault and the disability ratio are first determined through expert examination, and the monetary equivalent of the loss in the employee's earning capacity is then calculated. The capitalised value of the income awarded by the social security institution is deducted from the calculated pecuniary loss by way of set-off, which is why the social security file and the damages file are handled together. In fatal cases, claims for loss of support and for the relatives' non-pecuniary damages come into play. Our work on the method of calculating damages is set out on our compensation law page.

The recourse relationship is what distinguishes this field. The social security institution may reclaim from the employer the payments it made to the insured person or their dependants, to the extent that the accident resulted from the employer's intent or conduct contrary to legislation. On the employer's side, therefore, not only the damages action but also the recourse risk must be assessed alongside it. Damages actions arising from work accidents and occupational diseases fall outside the mandatory mediation regime laid down for employee and employer claims and are filed directly with the labour court. The minutes kept after the event, the notification made to the institution and the occupational safety records prove decisive in both the criminal investigation and the damages file.

Fixed-Term Contracts, Maritime Labour Law and Special Statuses

A fixed-term employment contract may be made only where objective conditions exist, such as work of a fixed duration, completion of a specific task, or the emergence of a specific circumstance. Absent a substantial reason, such contracts cannot be renewed consecutively; if they are, they are treated as indefinite-term from the outset. The distinction has practical consequences: in a fixed-term contract, notice pay and reinstatement claims as a rule do not arise, while if the contract is unjustifiably ended before its term, the wage for the remaining period may be claimed. Where the contract ends automatically on expiry of its term, severance pay is taken not to arise; the assessment changes, however, where chained renewals have turned the contract into an indefinite-term one.

Not every worker is subject to the same statute. A separate law applies to seafarers working in maritime transport; notice periods, working and rest arrangements and the termination procedure are regulated differently from the general labour code. A separate law also applies to journalists, with different rules on severance pay. Some working relationships, such as air transport work, agricultural and forestry work employing fewer workers than the number specified in the law, domestic services, apprentices and athletes, are excluded from the scope of the general labour code. We examine the specifics of the maritime employment relationship in our article on the Maritime Labour Act.

Subcontracting relationships likewise call for separate examination. The principal employer is jointly liable with the subcontractor, towards the subcontractor's employees and in respect of that workplace, for obligations arising from the law, the employment contract and the collective agreement. If the relationship is found to be a sham, meaning the principal work was divided and handed to a subcontractor, or the workforce consists of people previously employed at that workplace, the subcontractor's employees are treated as the principal employer's employees from the outset. That finding changes the entire file, from the calculation of service to the scope of job security.

The Employer Side: Preparing the Termination File, Taking Defences and HR Compliance

On the employer's side, what determines the outcome is usually not the reason for the dismissal but how that reason is documented. The termination notice must be in writing, must state the reason clearly and precisely, and must be served in accordance with procedure. A reason not included in the notice cannot be raised later in the proceedings, so the text must set out the incident concretely, by date and content. A termination letter drafted in general terms carries a risk of invalidity even where the underlying facts are sound.

Taking the defence is a distinct stage. If the contract of an employee within the scope of job security is to be terminated on a ground relating to conduct or performance, taking their defence beforehand is required by law. The request for a defence should state which incident an explanation is sought about, allow the employee a reasonable period, and, if they decline to respond, that fact should be recorded in minutes. For immediate termination based on breach of morality and good faith rules no defence is required; even then, however, the short preclusive period set by law from learning of the incident must be observed.

Preventing disputes starts long before the moment of termination. Keeping contract and benefit documents aligned with current legislation, putting job descriptions in writing, recording working hours, drawing up a workable disciplinary policy and meeting the information obligations on personal data processing resolve most files before they arise. When a company's contractual infrastructure and human resources processes are handled as a whole, the number of disputes falls; we carry out this work within the scope of our corporate legal advisory practice.

İzmir Labour Courts and the Process at the Bayraklı Courthouse

In İzmir, employment disputes are heard by the labour courts located within the İzmir Courthouse campus in Bayraklı. On jurisdiction, the courts competent are that of the defendant's domicile at the date the action is filed and that of the place where the work is performed; jurisdiction agreements contrary to this rule are invalid. Files concerning workplaces operating in districts such as Buca, Bornova, Karşıyaka, Gaziemir and Karabağlar are also followed at this campus. The location of the courthouse makes it practical to schedule mediation meetings and hearings on the same day.

In claim actions the flow usually follows this order: mediation application and final minutes, statement of claim and list of evidence, preliminary examination hearing, hearing of witnesses, the expert's calculation report and objections to it, then judgment. Because the calculation report stage shapes the fate of most files, submitting a reasoned objection to it within the deadline matters. In practice employee claims may be brought as a partial action or as an action for an indeterminate claim, and the demand may be increased by amendment after the report; which type is chosen has direct consequences for limitation and litigation costs.

The timetable keeps running after judgment as well. The period for appealing against a labour court judgment is kept short by law and starts from the date the judgment is pronounced or served. The appeal is examined by the İzmir Regional Court of Justice, and for some judgments the route closes at that stage. It should not be forgotten that a favourable, final judgment does not by itself bring payment: enforcement proceedings based on the judgment must be initiated to collect. We describe how that stage works on our enforcement proceedings page.

Documents Worth Gathering Before a File Is Opened

The documents below form the basis of the assessment both at the mediation stage and in the proceedings. Missing documents usually mean losing the ability to prove a right rather than the right itself.

• The employment contract, any supplementary protocols and benefit letters
• Payroll slips and the bank statement showing wage payments
• The social security service record and entry/exit declarations
• Entry and exit records, timesheets and shift rosters
• The termination notice, the request for a defence and the defence given
• The leave register and annual leave request and approval documents
• Where there is a work accident, the incident minutes, notifications and medical reports