The Article 29 of the Turkish Labour Code No. 4857 has set forth certain rules regarding collective dismissals and imposed an obligation of notifying such layoffs. In order to avoid administrative fines, it is important for employers to pay attention to the rules regarding collective dismissals and the notification requirement regarding it.
If the number of employees is between 20 and 100, layoff of at least 10 workers; if the number of employees is between 101 and 300, layoff of at least ten percent of the total number of workers and if the number of employees is 301 or more, layoff of at least 30 workers is regarded as “collective dismissal” legally according to the Turkish Labour Law.
However, as a rule, the termination of an employment contract due to a valid reason due to performance is not within the scope of a collective dismissal. However, even in the event of a collective dismissal due to performance at the workplace, a notification of collective dismissal must be made.
Accordingly, in cases where a fixed-term employment contract ends automatically, the parties terminate the employment contract by mutual agreement (via a mutual termination contract), the employment contract ends for reasons other than termination, such as marriage, military service, retirement, death, termination during a probationary period, resignation, or the employee or employer terminates the employment contract for a justified reason, the provisions for collective dismissal will not apply.
While determining the number of employees to be regarded as a collective dismissal, all employees should be considered registered at the workplace registration file of the Social Security Institution regarding that workplace. In other words, if the employer has more than one workplace, it is necessary to make a separate assessment for each workplace in terms of the number of employees. In cases where the number of employees in the workplace is less than 20, the provisions for mass layoffs will not apply.
When determining the number of employees, all employees working in that workplace are required to be taken into account. Whether the employees work with a part-time employment contract, or a fixed-term employment contract does not affect the situation. On the other hand, employees of private employment agencies who work with a temporary employment relationship, apprentices and interns are not taken into account in the calculation of the number of employees working in the workplace.
Termination notices regarding the layoffs can be made thirty days after the employer notifies Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) of the request for collective dismissal.
According to the dominant view in the doctrine, notification periods between 2 and 8 weeks, depending on the seniority of the worker, should be calculated as of 30 days after the notification date to İŞKUR and notice periods should not overlap with the 30-day period. Otherwise, administrative fines may be imposed due to non-compliance with collective dismissal rules.
In the event that the workplace is completely closed, and its activities are definitively and permanently terminated, the employer is only obliged to notify the relevant İŞKUR local office at least thirty days in advance and to announce the situation at the workplace.
If the employer wishes to rehire employees for the same job within six months of the finalization of the collective dismissal, he/she must preferably call those with suitable qualifications.
In the event that the workplace is completely closed, there will be no obligation to inform the workplace union representative.
