Among the tasks that the employer is obliged to do is to prepare a “Personal File” in accordance with the Article 75 of the Turkish Labor Code No. 4857.
The employer prepares a personnel file for each employee he/she employs. The employer is obliged to keep in this file, in addition to the identity information of the worker, all kinds of documents and records that he has to prepare in accordance with the Turkish Labor Code and other laws and to show them to the authorized officers and authorities when requested.
Since the files contain personal data, they must be kept confidentially. According to the Turkish Labour Code, the employer is obliged to use the information obtained about the employee in accordance with the rules of honesty and the law and not to disclose information that the employee has a justified interest in keeping confidential.
With the Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 dated 24.03.2016, the confidentiality of the information archived in personnel files has become more important.
The statute of limitations regarding the legal entitlements of workplace employees are considered as the retention periods of files and documents. In this respect, personnel documents should be kept in accordance with the statute of limitations specified in labour and social security legislation. Since the reasonable justification for storing personal data disappears after these periods, information and documents must be destroyed or anonymized.
Unnecessary and purposeless documents and information should not be taken or kept in the personnel file.
According to labour legislation, the statute of limitations for wage receivables is five years. In order to take precautions to protect the company in the workplace regarding personnel, payrolls must be signed and kept in personnel files for five years, which is the legal statute of limitations.
The statue of limitations has been reduced from ten to five years, provided that it arises from the employment contract, whichever law it is subject to. Just like wage slips/payrolss, documents regarding payments such as annual leave pay, severance pay, notice pay, bad faith compensation and discrimination compensation must be kept for five years.
