According to Article 22 of the Labour Law, employer may make a fundamental change in the working conditions in Turkey arising from the employment contract or the personnel regulations and similar sources annexed to the employment contract or workplace practice only by notifying the employee in writing.
Changes not made in accordance with this form and not accepted by the employee in writing within six working days shall not bind the employee.
If the employee does not accept the proposed change within this period, the employer in Turkey must explain in writing that the change is based on a valid reason or that there is another valid reason for termination and may terminate the employment contract by complying with the notice period. In this case, the employee may file a lawsuit according to the provisions of Articles 17 to 21 (reinstatement, job security).
On the contrary, it is possible for the parties to change the working conditions at any time by mutual agreement. However, even in this case, the change in working conditions cannot be put into effect retroactively.
In the presence of the conditions required by Article 23 of the Law, it is possible for the new employer to be liable for the damages of the former employer if the new employer employs an employee who left his/her job with an irregular termination.
Accordingly, firstly, in the event that the employee quits his/her job before the contract period or without complying with the notification requirement, and then the old employer in Turkey suffers damage due to such cessation of work, the new employer is jointly liable in the following cases in addition to the responsibility of the employee:
- If the new employer in Turkey caused this behavior of the employee.
- If the new employer hired the employee knowing this behavior of the employee.
- If the new employer continued to employ the employee even after learning about this behavior of the employee.
