When an employment relationship in Türkiye breaks down, the dispute is governed primarily by Labour Act No. 4857 and channelled through a strict procedural regime under the Labour Courts Act No. 7036. For a foreign company employing staff here, the danger is rarely the underlying facts; it is the deadlines, the burden of proof and the compensation formulas that turn an ordinary dismissal into a costly claim. We defend employers at every stage, from the compulsory mediation table to final judgment in the labour courts, and we prepare the records that decide these cases long before anyone files.
This page sits within our wider employment offering for foreign employers. It is the litigation and dispute-resolution end of that work; for the day-to-day framework of hiring, contracts and lawful exits, see our labour and employment practice and our page on termination and severance.
Mediation Comes First, Always
Since 1 January 2018, mediation has been a precondition to litigation for almost every monetary employment claim under Law No. 7036: severance pay (kıdem tazminatı), notice indemnity (ihbar tazminatı), overtime, annual-leave pay, bonus and reinstatement. An employee who sues without first applying to a mediator has the case dismissed on procedural grounds. The narrow exception is a claim arising from a work accident or occupational disease, which proceeds directly to court.
For the employer, this is an opportunity rather than a hurdle. The mediation stage is the single best chance to close a matter on controlled terms before the reinstatement clock and litigation costs erode leverage. Our approach to the compulsory stage is set out in detail in our guide to workplace mediation and labour litigation, and the mechanics of the process itself in our note on mandatory mediation in Turkish law.
A settlement reached at mediation must be drafted with the same care as a court pleading. A loosely worded release, or one signed under evident economic pressure, is exactly what a later court will unpick, leaving the employer exposed to the full claim years on.
The Claims We Defend
Most employer-side litigation clusters around a handful of claim types, each with its own evidential centre of gravity.
| Claim | What decides it | Employer’s best defence |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime (fazla çalışma) | Hours above 45/week, capped at 270/year | Signed working-time logs and payslips |
| Annual leave (yıllık ücretli izin) | Accrued days unpaid on exit | Countersigned leave forms |
| Reinstatement (işe iade) | Validity of the dismissal, Arts. 18-21 | Written, provable valid reason and procedure |
| Mobbing / equal treatment (Art. 5) | Pattern of conduct and response | A prompt, documented investigation |
| SGK disputes | Registration, declared wage, service | A clean, reconciled premium record |
The pattern is consistent: these cases are won on records, not on rhetoric. Where working-time logs, payslips, leave forms and social-security filings are complete and countersigned, the employer controls the narrative. Where they are thin, the court fills the gaps with witness evidence and estimates that usually run against the employer.
Reinstatement: The Highest-Exposure Claim
The claim that most surprises foreign employers is reinstatement. In a workplace with 30 or more employees, a worker with at least six months’ service on an indefinite-term contract can only be dismissed for a valid reason (geçerli sebep) connected to conduct, capacity or business needs, and only after the correct written procedure. If the reason is inadequate, the dismissal is invalid.
The remedy is severe. Under Arts. 18-21 of Labour Act No. 4857, an invalid dismissal obliges the employer either to re-employ the worker or to pay job-security compensation of four to eight months’ wages plus up to four months’ wages for the idle period. The employee must apply to mediation within one month of the notice and, if that fails, file at the labour court within two weeks, so the timetable moves quickly once the notice is served.
Where the dismissal is for just cause under Art. 25, the six-working-day window is unforgiving. Acting a week after the facts come to light, however serious the misconduct, can convert a defensible termination into an invalid one.
Prevention Through Records
The most valuable work we do in this area happens before any claim exists. After a dispute closes, and better still before one begins, we repair the contracts, working-time systems, leave records and SGK filings that produced the exposure. A file assembled after the decision to dismiss rarely convinces a Turkish labour court; one built contemporaneously, in the ordinary course of business, usually does. For a foreign company, that discipline is the difference between a claim that settles cheaply at mediation and one that ends in reinstatement plus several months’ wages.
How we handle a workplace dispute
- 01
Assess exposure and evidence
We map the claim against Labour Act No. 4857, gather contracts, working-time records, payslips and SGK filings, and value the realistic downside before responding.
- 02
Prepare the mediation file
We build the employer's position and supporting documents for the compulsory mediation stage, where most severance, notice, overtime and leave claims can still settle on controlled terms.
- 03
Negotiate a settlement
We represent you at mediation to close the matter cleanly, with a properly drafted settlement that a court will not later unpick.
- 04
Litigate at the labour court
Where mediation fails, we defend reinstatement, wage, overtime and mobbing claims before the labour courts with a clean procedural record.
- 05
Fix the underlying process
After the file closes we repair the contracts, policies and record-keeping that produced the dispute, so the same claim does not recur.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to mediate before an employee can sue us?
For almost every monetary employment claim, yes. Under the Labour Courts Act No. 7036, in force since 1 January 2018, mediation is a precondition to filing suit for severance, notice indemnity, overtime, annual-leave pay, bonus and reinstatement. If an employee sues without first mediating, the court dismisses the case on procedural grounds. The main exception is a claim arising from a work accident or occupational disease, which goes straight to court.
What does a reinstatement claim cost the employer?
In a workplace with 30 or more employees, an employee with at least six months' service on an indefinite-term contract can challenge a dismissal made without a valid reason. If the court finds the dismissal invalid under Arts. 18-21 of Labour Act No. 4857, the employer must either re-employ the worker or, if it does not, pay job-security compensation of four to eight months' wages plus up to four months' wages for the idle period. The employee must first apply to mediation within one month of the notice and, if that fails, file at the labour court within two weeks.
How are overtime and annual-leave claims proved?
They are decided largely on records. Overtime above the 45-hour weekly limit is paid at 1.5 times the hourly wage and is capped at 270 hours a year with the worker's consent; accrued-but-unused annual leave is paid out on termination. Where the employer keeps signed working-time logs, payslips and leave forms, the claim can be contained. Where records are thin, courts may rely on witness evidence and estimates, which usually favours the employee.
An employee alleges mobbing. What is our exposure?
Mobbing, or systematic psychological harassment, and breaches of the equal-treatment duty under Art. 5 of Labour Act No. 4857 give rise to compensation, and can also let the employee resign for just cause while keeping full severance. These claims turn on what was documented: complaints received, how they were investigated, and what the employer did in response. A prompt, recorded investigation is the strongest defence; silence is the weakest.
The dismissal was for serious misconduct. Can we still be sued?
Yes, and the deadlines matter. Just-cause termination for the employee's misconduct under Art. 25/II carries no notice and no severance, but the right must be exercised within six working days of learning the facts and within one year of the event. Miss the window, or fail to document the conduct, and a court may treat the dismissal as invalid and award notice indemnity, severance and reinstatement. We assess the cause and the timing before the termination, not after.
How do SGK disputes arise in employment claims?
Under the Social Insurance Law No. 5510 the employer must register each employee, file the monthly premium declaration and pay the premiums. Employees often add claims over unrecorded service, understated wages or undeclared work, which feed back into severance and notice calculations and can trigger administrative fines and premium liability from the institution. We reconcile the SGK record with the payroll before it becomes the centrepiece of the employee's case.