Termination of the employment contract in Turkey: Death of the employer
What about the termination of the employment contract in Turkey because the death of the employer ? The majority of employment contracts are concluded without considering the employer’s personality. According to Article 441 of the Code of Obligations, the death of the employer does not terminate the employment contract as a rule. It continues between the heirs of the employer and the employee. According to the provision of the article, in case of the death of the employer, the provisions regarding the transfer of the service relationship realized by the transfer of the whole or part of the workplace (Article 428 of the Code of Obligations) will be applied by analogy. Accordingly, in short, the heirs who take over the workplace will also take over the employment contracts existing in the workplace or a part of it on the date of transfer with all their rights and obligations, and the rights of the employees depending on the length of service (notice and severance payments, annual leave pay, etc.) will be calculated on the basis of the date of employment with the transferor employer.
Very rarely, in employment contracts concluded by considering the employer’s person, the death of the employer results in the termination of the employment contract in Turkey. For example, in an employment relationship where the employer is also the patient who cares for a bedridden patient, the employment contract will be terminated with the death of the patient without the need for any further action. In this case, since the employment contract is terminated automatically, the employee does not have a claim in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Law, but in accordance with the provision of Article 441, the employee has the right to claim compensation from the heirs of the employer for the damages incurred due to the termination of the employment contract in Turkey before its term.
Based on the same example, if the employer who has made an employment contract with an employee to take care of a sick person is not the sick person, but for example a relative, the death of the patient does not automatically terminate the employment contract, but eliminates the subject of the contract. In this case, the employer who cannot employ the employee must terminate the contract. Otherwise, the employer’s default regulated under Article 408 of the Code of Obligations. The provisions of the default of the employer regulated in Article 408 of the Code of Obligations will be applied. Again, if other conditions have arisen, this issue also has consequences according to the provisions of the Labour Law.
Expiry of the fixed term
Article 11 of the Labour Law No. 4857 states that a fixed-term employment contract, which meets the conditions specified in Article 11 of the Labour Law No. 4857, automatically terminates on the date written in the contract. The parties do not need to make a notice of termination to terminate the employment contract in Turkey.
In this context, Article 430 of the Code of Obligations also addresses the issue, and it is ruled that a fixed-term employment contract will automatically terminate at the end of the term, unless otherwise agreed, without the need to give a notice of termination.
Part-Time Woker’s Commencement of Full-Time Work
Article 13 of the Law stipulates a special regulation on part-time employment contracts. This regulation is essentially related to the maternity and breastfeeding leave regulated in Article 74 of the Law. Accordingly, after the end of the leaves specified in Article 74, one of the parents may request part-time work until the beginning of the month following the date when the compulsory primary education age starts and this request will be met by the employer. It is also possible for this worker to return to full-time work for the same child at any time without waiting for the end of the part-time work period in order not to benefit from this right again. In this case, the employment contract of the employee who is hired to work full-time instead of this employee will automatically terminate.
