Employment contract termination in Turkey : Preparation and delivery of required documents
a. Issuance of a labour certificate
According to Article 28 of the Labour Law, the employer is required to give a document to the employee who leaves his/her job, indicating the type and duration of his/her job. Since this document is not stipulated by the law, it does not matter whether the termination in Turkey is made by the employee or the employer.
Although it is not stipulated in the law, in order to fulfil the burden of proof, it would be beneficial to issue the document in two copies, and the copy to be kept at the workplace should bear the signature and date of the employee indicating that he/she has received the original.
Additionally, according to the provision of the law, the injured worker or the new employer who hires the worker is entitled to claim compensation from the former employer due to the failure to provide the document on time or the presence of inaccurate information in the document.
b. Giving notice of resignation
According to Article 48 of the Law No. 4447 regulating the unemployment insurance, employers are obliged to give one copy of the notice of termination of employment in three copies to the employees (insured in the term of the law) in certain cases of termination in Turkey, which are specified in Article 51 of the law. One copy of these notifications will be kept at the workplace and one copy will be sent to the relevant Turkish Employment Agency unit. These procedures must be carried out within 15 days.
According to Article 5 of the Law dated 18.02.2009 and numbered 5838, it is accepted that the notifications to be made by the employers to the Social Security Institution in the event of the insured (workers) leaving the job are also accepted as a substitute for the notice of resignation according to Article 48 of the Unemployment Insurance Law No. 4447, therefore, if the employers notify the Social Security Institution that the worker (insured) has left the job, there is no need to give the notice of resignation to the Turkish Employment Agency. However, since there is no special regulation regarding the copy given to the employee at this point, the employer will continue to issue this document and give it to the employee.
The law stipulates that the employment contract of the insured must be terminated for the reasons listed in Article 51 of the same law for the payment of unemployment insurance allowance in general and the issuance of these notifications in particular.
Accordingly, the employment contract in Turkey :
- 17 of the Law No. 4857, 16 of the Maritime Labour Law No. 854 and 6 of the Press Labour Law No. 5953,
- If it has been terminated by the insured in accordance with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd subparagraphs of Article 24 of the Law No. 4857, the 2nd and 3rd subparagraphs of Article 14 of the Law No. 854 and the 1st paragraph of Article 7 and 11 of the Law No. 5953;
- If it has been terminated by the employer in accordance with Article 25 Paragraphs I, II and IV of the Law No. 4857, Article 14 Paragraph III of the Law No. 854 and Article 12 Paragraph 1 of the Law No. 5953;
- If the employment contract in Turkey is made for a certain period of time, in case of unemployment at the end of the period;
- If the employment contract in Turkey is made for a certain expedition in accordance with Article 7, subparagraph II of the Law No. 854, in case of unemployment at the end of the expedition;
- In case of dismissal due to the change of ownership or transfer of the workplace, closure or closure, change in the nature of the work or workplace;
- According to subparagraph IV of Article 14 of the Law No. 854, in the event that the employment contract in Turkey is terminated automatically due to the loss, abandonment or declaration of the ship as a spoil of war or leaving the Turkish flag;
- According to Article 21 of the Law No. 4046 on the Regulation of Privatisation Practices and Amendments to Certain Laws and Decree Laws, the said document must be issued in case of unemployment.
