Turkey: Termination of employment

Original and updating authors: Batuhan Sahmay and Özlem Özdemir

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Summary

• Employment contracts may be terminated in various ways, by the employer or the employee or by mutual consent, and statutory rules govern many aspects of termination. (See General)
• When terminating an open-ended employment contract, the employer or the employee must generally observe a minimum statutory notice period of two to eight weeks, depending on the employee's length of service. (See Notice periods)
• Certain employees on open-ended employment contracts are covered by protective provisions known as "job security" and may be dismissed with notice only on "valid grounds" related to their capacity/performance or conduct, or to the employer's operational requirements. (See Valid grounds for dismissal)
• An employer may summarily dismiss an employee, or terminate a fixed-term contract during its term, for certain "justified" reasons, notably related to the employee's health, or the employee's immoral, dishonourable or malicious conduct. (See Summary dismissal)
• No special rules or payments apply to individual redundancies, but employers have various information and consultation obligations in respect of collective redundancies. (See Redundancy)
• Employment does not end automatically when an employee meets the age and contribution requirements for receipt of a state old-age pension, or starts to receive a pension. (See Retirement)
• When an employer gives an employee on an open-ended employment contract notice of termination, it must do so in writing. In the case of an employee covered by statutory "job security" protection, the employer must specify the reason for dismissal. (See Dismissal procedures)
• Employees on open-ended contracts are entitled to resign at any time with the required notice, while an employee is entitled to terminate an open-ended contract without notice, or terminate a fixed-term contract during its term, for certain "justified" reasons, notably related to the employee's health or the employer's immoral, dishonourable or malicious conduct. (See Resignation)
• An employer and employee may terminate an employment contract by mutual agreement with immediate effect. (See Termination by mutual consent)
• An employer must pay an employee a statutory severance payment when their employment terminates for one of certain reasons, if the employee has at least one year's service with the employer. (See Severance payments)
• When employment ends, the employer must provide the employee with a certificate stating the nature and duration of employment. (See Certificate of employment)
• The potential remedies available to employees following dismissal depend on whether or not they are covered by statutory "job security" protection. (See Contesting dismissals)