The document discusses the legal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment in Turkey. It provides answers to questions about workplaces required to close, options for closed workplaces, implementing unpaid leave, other options besides termination, compensatory work, short-term working allowance, and terminating employment contracts due to coronavirus. Key points include what types of workplaces must close, options for closed workplaces like remote work or paid/unpaid leave, and that employment contracts can be immediately terminated for force majeure reasons preventing work for over a week.

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23.03.2020
IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Considering the huge impacts of the coronavirus on the economy and business globally, we
would like to give you a brief information about the legal consequences of this pandemic in
Turkey from a Turkish employment law perspective. Please see below the questionnaire
prepared to guide the employers who have business in Turkey, vis-à-vis their employees.
1. Which workplaces are obliged to be temporarily closed?
According to the Circular published by the Ministry of Interior of Turkey on 16.03.2020, all
theatres, cinemas, show centres, concert halls, engagement/wedding halls, restaurant/cafés with
music or live performance, clubs, pubs, taverns, coffeehouses, cafeterias, countryside gardens,
hookah cafes, internet cafes, playrooms, clubhouses, amusement parks, swimming pools, SPAs
and gyms are required to be temporarily closed.
Workplaces which do not fall under the scope of the Circular will continue to operate as usual.
In this respect, please kindly note that according to the general principles under Turkish Labour
Code (the “Labour Code”) and the Turkish Code of Obligations, employers are obliged
to implement health surveillance in the workplace and protect the personal rights of the
employees. Therefore, in practice, some of the employers, although not mandatory under the
above-mentioned Circular, take certain measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the
workplace, i.e. closing, re-structuring or downsizing their businesses.
2. What are the options of the workplaces which are closed voluntarily, or mandatorily
under the Circular?
Firstly, it is important to note that according to Article 417 of the Turkish Code of Obligations,
employers are obliged to protect their employees and take all necessary precautions to provide
occupational health and safety at the workplace. Therefore, employers who wish to open their
businesses (that do not fall under the Circular) must be diligent in calling their employees to
work in order to prevent the spread of the virus. In this respect, if such employers do decide to
temporarily close their workplaces during the pandemic, as a rule, they will still be under the
requirement to pay salary to their employees, since they do not fall under the Circular (except
for cases specific to the workplace or the employee in question).

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Whether the workplace is closed mandatorily under the Circular or voluntarily as explained
above, the employers may consider implementing the following options (not necessarily in the
below order):
i. Employees working from home (with full or partial salary) if possible - In such a
case, the employees may work from their homes in return of full salary or partial salary.
Please note that the prior written approval of the employee will be required for the partial
salary payment option.
ii. Employees collectively taking annual leave - In cases where it is not possible for the
employees to work from home or it is not preferred by the employers to pay salary while
the workplace is temporarily closed, then the employers may require the employees to
collectively use their annual paid leave rights. Accordingly, the annual leave forms
should be filled in by the employees before using the paid annual leave right.
iii. Employees collectively taking unpaid leave – In cases where none of the above
measures can be applied, the employees may be required to take unpaid leave which is
explained below in detail.
iv. Other measures and termination – We will delve into other available options such as
compensatory work and the reciprocal termination rights below.
It is important to note that Article 40 of the Labour Code requires that in force majeure cases,
the employers must pay half the salary of the employee for a period of 1 week even though the
employee does not work in return. Therefore, the said Article 40 must be applied by the
employers (only for a week) in any case, even the employers implement the options we
explain in this Article as far as to terminate the employees, hence the employers will be
required to pay half the salaries and social security premiums of the employees for 1 week
as explained above.
After the 1-week period, employment contracts of employees working at the workplaces that
fall under the Circular, will be suspended and the employers shall not be required to pay salary.
That said, we still recommend such employers to implement the above-mentioned measures if
possible before proceeding with a termination.
As mentioned above, the requirements to come to work in respect of the employee and to pay
salary in respect of the employer still continue for the workplaces that do not fall under the
Circular (unless there is a specific quarantine case); therefore, it is crucial for such employers
to consider the options we discuss in this Article.

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No:21 Kat:15 D:63 Sarıyer-Istanbul, Turkey
T: (+90) 212 246 11 19
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3. How is the unpaid leave procedure implemented in Turkey?
Please be informed that the employers may always require their employees to take unpaid leave
for a certain period of time, by taking their prior written consents. In this respect, the
employers who require their employees to take unpaid leave must inform them in writing
beforehand and clearly state the reason for the unpaid leave as the coronavirus pandemic. A
reasonably limited period must be determined and indicated in the consent letter, as to how long
the unpaid leave procedure will be in effect, and such must also be stated in the consent letters.
Merely writing “as long as the epidemic continues” is not advised.
The employment contract of an employee who accepts to use the unpaid leave, within 6 business
days, in writing, will be suspended accordingly. During the suspension, such employment
contracts will continue to be legally effective, but the employees will no longer be obliged to
perform their work and the employers will not be obliged to pay salary. Moreover, the
employers are not required to pay social security premiums of the employees during the unpaid
leave term.
On the other hand, if the employee does not accept the unpaid leave requirement within 6
business days, then the employer may terminate the employment contract by explaining in
writing that this requirement is based on a valid ground (considering that the other options are
or cannot be used). Please kindly note that in such a termination, the severance pay must
be paid to the employee whose employment contract is terminated if she/he has the
eligibility as per Article 14 of the former Turkish Labour Code. We would like to emphasize
that the pandemic can also be a reason for immediate termination as explained below.
Please be informed that the parties may amend the working conditions of the employee (such
as the salary or change of duties as part of re-organization) by mutual agreement at any time.
4. If none of the above (paid leave, unpaid leave, working from home) measures can be
taken by the employer, is there any other option other than termination of the
employment contract?
In any case where the employers voluntarily or compulsorily close their workplaces during the
pandemic and none of the abovementioned measures (paid leave, unpaid leave, home-office)
can be or are taken, other measures such as compensatory work or short-term working may be
applied if it is not wished to terminate the employee.
5. How is the compensatory work implemented by employers?
In the cases where the working hours of the employees are considerably lower than the regular
working hours; or the operations are stopped entirely due to the force majeure or the employee
is granted unpaid leave upon his/her request, the employer may require the employee to do
compensatory work within two months (it is expected to be extended to 4 months by the Turkish
Government) in order to make up for the missing time. Such compensatory work will not be
considered overtime and therefore the employee will not be entitled to overtime payment.

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No:21 Kat:15 D:63 Sarıyer-Istanbul, Turkey
T: (+90) 212 246 11 19
W: www.oaulegal.com
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Please note that the employers must inform the employees about the details of the compensatory
work beforehand. The daily working hour of an employee can be maximum 11 hours and the
compensatory work must not exceed 3 hours each day.
6. What is short-term working and short-term employment allowance?
In case that the working hours in a workplace are reduced by at least 1/3 or the operations are
completely or partially suspended for at least 4 weeks (it does not have to be successive), the
employer may decide to implement short-term working at the workplace due to the compelling
reasons such as general economic, sectoral or regional crisis and epidemic disease by applying
to the Turkish Employment Agency.
Please kindly note that that the period of short-term employment cannot be more than 3 months
(it may be extended to 6 months by the President). During this period, the employees who are
eligible to receive unemployment allowance from the Turkish Government by meeting the
“social security premium day requirement” will also be eligible to receive short-term
employment payment from the Turkish Government.
7. Can the employment contracts be terminated due to the coronavirus pandemic?
Please note that all employers must consider terminating the employment contracts as a last
resort by also taking into account the proportionality and equal treatment policies under Turkish
employment law.
According to Article 24 of the Labour Code, the employee may immediately terminate the
employment contract based on just cause due to the “occurrence of force majeure which
suspends the operations of the workplace more than 1 week.” On the other hand, according to
Article 25 of the Labour Code, the employers may also immediately terminate the employment
contract “in case of a force majeure preventing the employee from working in the workplace
for more than 1 week.”
Regardless of whether the termination is made by the employer or the employee; in case of such
above-mentioned immediate termination based on just cause, the employee will be entitled to
a severance payment if he/she worked at least 1 year for the employer (save for cases
specific to the employee). However, none of the parties, as a rule, will be entitled to notice
pay.
Having said that, please be remined that each case should be evaluated specifically before
taking any action as to termination, especially in respect of the workplaces that do not fall
under the mandatory shut down requirement, but close voluntarily.
Öncel, Aydin & Uygun Attorney Partnership