Labor Law

07July2021

2021 2nd Period - Maximum Severance Payment Amount

According to the Circular numbered 27998389-010.06.02.421208 published by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance with the subject 'Financial and Social Rights', the coefficients used to calculate the wage of a public officers have been revised effective 01.07.2021.

Income Tax Exempted Severance Pay

The following value has been calculated taking these coefficients into account and shall be applied for the period between the dates of 01.07.2021 - 31.12.2021, maximum severance pay to be exempted from income tax is determined as 8,284.51 TRY.

To access the full circular in which these announcements were made, please click here. (Please also be advised that the contents of this circular are in Turkish language.)

Should you have any queries or need further details, please contact your customer representative.

Author Erdoğdu Onur Erol, Category Taxation Law, Labor Law

30April2021

Termination Ban and Pandemic Unpaid Leave is Extended to 30.06.2021

Cash wage support and termination ban due to Covid-19 reasons have been extended to June 30, 2021.

The decision was published with the Official Gazette dated 30.04.2021 and numbered 31470.

The related regulations were located on the Labor Law Temporary Article 10 as below:

"TEMPORARY ARTICLE 10 - Regardless of whether this Law is covered or not, any employment or service contract does not comply with the rules of ethics and good faith in paragraph (II) of the first paragraph of Article 25 and other relevant laws, the expiration of fixed-term contracts, the closure of the workplace for any reason and the termination of its activity, all kinds of service purchases made in accordance with the relevant legislation and the termination of the work in construction works, it cannot be terminated by the employer for a period of three months from the effective date of this article.

The employer may leave the worker entirely or partially on unpaid leave for a period of three months from the effective date of this article. Being entitled to unpaid leave under this article does not give the employee the right to terminate the contract based on the justified reason.

In violation of the provisions of this article, the employer or their representative, who terminates the employment contract, is given an administrative fine at the monthly gross minimum wage amount for the employee whose contract is terminated.

The President is authorized to extend the three-month periods in the first and second paragraphs up to six months."

Author Erdoğdu Onur Erol, Category Social Security Law and Legislation, Labor Law

01April2021

SSI Web Service for Medical Visit

Social Security Institution has published a new application called Medical Visit Web Service (Vizite Web Servisi in Turkish) for the medical visit days related to the temporary incapacity periods.

With this service, employers can obtain the reports for temporary incapacity of employees and submit the non-workdays per these reports.

Also, the rules on the website https://uyg.sgk.gov.tr/vizite/welcome.do are the same on the new web service.

Author Erdoğdu Onur Erol, Category Social Security Law and Legislation, Labor Law

15March2021

Termination and Written Request Requirements for Retirement

The statement on the Law No. 506 (previously Social Security Law) stating that employees should terminate job contracts and make a written request for retirement/pension benefits has been cancelled by the Constitutional Court and published on the Official Gazette on March 3, 2021 and numbered 31412.

Social Security Institution has published a new Communique (No: 2021/5) with regards to the above decision and stated that termination from the job and written request requirements are still valid for the retirement benefits per the Law No. 5510 (valid as of October 1, 2008).

On the Communique; Social Security Authorities refer to the Article 28 of the Law No. 5510, which states that the employees should terminate job contracts and request retirement benefits in writing for retirement benefits.

They also state that the Court Decision was about the previous Social Security Law No. 506 and with the Article 106 of the Law No. 5510, the related statement on the Law No. 506 has been cancelled. So, the new passage in Law No. 5510 stating that employees should terminate and request retirement benefits in writing is valid.

Accordingly, the requirements of termination from job and written retirement benefit request to SSI are still valid for retirement benefits.

Author Erdoğdu Onur Erol, Category Social Security Law and Legislation, Labor Law