Termination of Employment Contract
Labor Law in Turkey: Notice Periods, Termination & Severance Pay
Employment contracts in Turkey are subject to specific rules designed to protect both employees and employers.
Mandatory Notice Periods
For indefinite-term contracts, the party terminating (employee or employer) must respect the following notice periods based on length of service:
| Length of Service | Notice Period |
|---|---|
| 0 – 6 months | 2 weeks |
| 6 – 18 months | 4 weeks |
| 18 – 36 months | 6 weeks |
| Over 3 years | 8 weeks |
Failure to comply requires payment of notice compensation equal to the notice period salary.
Termination of Employment
- Ordinary Termination (with notice): Allowed by either party in line with notice periods.
- Immediate Termination (for just cause): Allowed without notice in cases such as:
- Health reasons (job endangers employee/employer’s health).
- Misconduct (theft, harassment, breach of trust, etc.).
- Force majeure (natural disasters preventing work for more than one week).
Severance Pay (Kıdem Tazminatı)
Employees with at least 1 year of service may qualify if the contract ends under specific conditions. Severance equals 30 days’ gross salary per completed year, subject to a government-updated ceiling.
Situations granting severance entitlement include:
- Dismissal without just cause by employer.
- Resignation for just cause (health, misconduct, etc.).
- Military service (male employees).
- Retirement or early retirement conditions (15 years & 3600 premium days).
- Marriage (female employees, within 1 year).
- Death of employee (paid to legal heirs).
Job Security & Reinstatement
- Applies in workplaces with 30+ employees where the employee has at least 6 months’ service under an indefinite-term contract.
- Employer must provide a valid reason in writing for termination.
- Employees may file a reinstatement lawsuit within 1 month if they dispute the termination.
- If the court rules for reinstatement but the employer refuses to rehire, additional compensation must be paid.
Mandatory Mediation
Since 2018, disputes involving severance, notice, overtime, and reinstatement must first go through mediation.
- Cases filed without mediation are dismissed procedurally.
- A party who unjustifiably fails to attend the first mediation session bears all legal costs, even if later proven right.