Reinstatement Claims in Turkish Employment Law: Conditions, Mediation and Time Limits

An employee whose employment contract is terminated by the employer may, under certain conditions, seek a declaration that the termination is invalid and request reinstatement. This protection, regulated in Articles 18 to 21 of the Turkish Labour Law No. 4857, is known in practice as "job security". Because the time limits are very short, acting quickly is essential.

Who benefits from job security?

Under Article 18, the following conditions must, as a rule, be met together:

• thirty or more employees work at the workplace (if the employer has several workplaces in the same sector, the total number of employees is taken into account),
• the employee has at least six months' seniority (no seniority requirement for underground work),
• the employment contract is for an indefinite term,
• the employee is not an employer's representative managing the whole business or workplace with authority to hire and dismiss.

What is a valid reason?

An employer terminating the contract of an employee meeting these conditions must rely on a valid reason arising from the employee's competence or conduct, or from the requirements of the business, workplace or work. The Law expressly provides that reasons such as trade union membership, applying to administrative or judicial authorities against the employer, race, sex, marital status, pregnancy, religion or political opinion, and temporary absence due to illness during the statutory waiting period are not valid reasons.

Time limits: one month and two weeks

Under Article 20, an employee objecting to termination must apply to a mediator with a reinstatement request within one month of notification of the termination. This is a precondition for bringing a case: if a lawsuit is filed directly without mediation, it is dismissed on procedural grounds.

If no agreement is reached in mediation, a lawsuit may be filed at the labour court within two weeks of the date of the final mediation report. If the parties agree, the dispute may instead be referred to a private arbitrator within the same period. Missing these time limits results in loss of the right to reinstatement.

Burden of proof

The employer bears the burden of proving that the termination was based on a valid reason. If the employee claims that the termination was based on another reason (for example union-related reasons), the employee must prove that claim.

If the court finds the termination invalid

Under Article 21, if the termination is declared invalid:

• the employee must apply to the employer to resume work within ten working days of notification of the final judgment; otherwise the termination is deemed valid;
• the employer must reinstate the employee within one month of the application; if not, it must pay compensation of at least four and at most eight months' wages (compensation for non-reinstatement);
• the employee is paid wages and other entitlements for up to four months for the period not worked until the judgment becomes final.

The court determines these amounts in monetary terms based on the wage at the date of the lawsuit. These provisions cannot be changed by contract to the employee's detriment.

If agreement is reached in mediation

If the parties agree in mediation on reinstatement, they must specify the date of reinstatement and the monetary amounts of wages for the idle period and compensation for non-reinstatement. Otherwise, no agreement is deemed to have been reached.

Practical tips

• Note the date the termination notice was served; the one-month period runs from that date.
• Keep the termination notice, your employment contract, payslips and workplace correspondence.
• Remember that a reinstatement claim and employment receivables such as severance and notice pay are subject to separate legal regimes.

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.