TOĞAN LAW OFFICE
SEVERANCE PAY
Severance pay refers to the amount of money to be paid to the employer in cases specified in the law and in the amount that varies according to the duration and wages of the employee, whose employment contract ends for a certain period of time. It is a compensation awarded to the worker as a result of the wearer’s work wear and loyalty to his employer.
In order to pay severance pay, first an employment contract is required. The employment contract mentioned here may be born from the Labor Law, or may also be included within the scope of the Maritime Labor Law, the Press Labor Law and the like.
Another requirement is that the worker must have worked for at least 1 year. While this includes holiday and similar periods, the periods in which the contract is suspended due to a strike or lockout are not included. In addition, if the employee has a trial period of up to 2 months, this trial period should also be taken into account.
While calculating the term of seniority, the seniority of the employee working in different workplaces of the same employer is calculated together. However, if the worker has received severance pay after the termination of the first employment contract, the period is started from scratch for the second term. If workers are serving more than one employer at the same time and organic bonds are detected among these employers, then the duration is calculated together. For the seniority of seasonal workers, the time they work is collected. The lawmaker aimed to prevent their victimization in terms of time by introducing this regulation for seasonal workers. The seniority of the part-time worker is calculated as a full-time worker; The time between starting work and leaving work is taken into account. If the workplace has been transferred, the new employer may recourse to the old employer for the period of time the employee worked with the old employer.
In order to qualify for severance pay, the employment contract must have expired for certain reasons.
If the employment contract is terminated for a reason other than the reasons stated in the Labor Law 25/2, the worker is entitled to seniority. However, if 25/2 is terminated by the employer for reasons based on ethical and goodwill rules, the worker cannot be entitled to severance pay.
According to Article 24 of the Law, in case of termination of the worker for the right reason, the worker will be entitled to seniority.
If the worker terminates the employment contract due to marriage, she can apply for severance pay within 1 year from the completion of the official marriage procedure. This right is only given to women and cannot be used by male workers. It should also be noted that a similar regulation for childbirth is not included in the law.
If the male worker terminates his employment contract due to his military service at his workplace, he will have the right to severance pay. Also, the worker does not need to comply with the notice obligation here.
At the end of termination due to old age, disability, retirement or to receive wholesale payments, the worker is entitled to severance pay.
If the worker dies, legal heirs are entitled to severance pay.
The amount of severance pay is 30 days’ wage for each year the worker works. The wages to be taken as the basis here are the last dressed wages of the worker, i.e. premium and bonuses are included. A proportional fee is paid for periods that increase after 1 year. The amount of severance pay can be increased by collective bargaining agreement or employment agreement. Employers can try to restart the employee by terminating the contract of employment, in order to get rid of the severance pay obligation over the final wage. The Supreme Court calculates compensation here at the final wage as if the contract was never terminated.