Employee Rights and Employment Contract in 10 Questions — Atty. Gizem Gonce

The employer has the authority to ensure safety in the workplace and conduct work organization. However, this authority is not unlimited. Personal data and private life of employees must be protected.

In the establishment of camera systems, the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698, proportionality, and purpose limitation principles must be taken into account. Employees must be properly informed, the use of cameras must be based on a legitimate purpose, and no more data should be processed than necessary. Using cameras particularly in areas with high privacy, such as toilets and locker rooms, leads to serious legal issues.

The signing of the resignation letter does not mean in every case that the employee has waived all their rights. Whether the resignation was given of free will, whether there was pressure or threat from the employer, and the actual reason for the termination of the employment relationship must be evaluated.

If the employee can demonstrate that their free will was impaired or that the resignation document does not reflect the truth, they can make legal claims. Correspondence, witness statements, workplace records, and other evidence are important. The type of termination must be correctly determined in terms of the employee's severance and notice compensation claims.

Paying the salary in cash does not eliminate the employee's right to demand wage claims. However, problems may arise in terms of proving the amount of the wage and whether the payment was made.

The employment contract, payrolls, signed payment documents, messaging, witness statements, and workplace records are evaluated. The existence of a difference between the wage reported to the Social Security Institution and the wage actually paid can also create a separate legal dispute. Determining the actual wage is extremely important for the correct calculation of employment receivables.

Paid annual leave is one of the fundamental employment rights that the employee cannot waive. Within the scope of Labor Law No. 4857, an employee who completes the necessary working period is entitled to paid annual leave.

The employer is obliged to have the employee use their annual leave right in accordance with the law. Unused annual leave wages become due upon the termination of the employment contract and must be paid to the employee. It is generally not possible to convert the annual leave right into monetary equivalents while the employment contract is ongoing. Employees must keep their leave record documents.

Pregnancy is not a valid reason on its own for the termination of the employment contract. Within the scope of the Labor Law and the principle of equal treatment, it is unlawful for female employees to be discriminated against due to pregnancy and childbirth.

An employee dismissed due to pregnancy can file a reinstatement lawsuit if conditions are met; she can claim discrimination compensation and other employment receivables. Regarding reinstatement, legal conditions such as the number of employees in the workplace, seniority, and the nature of the contract must be evaluated. The date and justification of the termination notice are important.

Mobbing refers to systematic and continuous psychological pressure behaviors directed at an employee in the workplace. Every argument or every disagreement in the workplace cannot be evaluated as mobbing.

The nature, frequency, continuity of behaviors, and their impact on the employee's personal rights are examined together. E-mail correspondence, messages, task changes, performance records, witness statements, and other evidence obtained in accordance with the law are important. An employee subjected to mobbing can claim material and moral compensation or terminate the employment contract for just cause, depending on the conditions of the concrete case.

Although the employer has the right of management, this right is not unlimited. Article 22 of the Labor Law No. 4857 must be taken into account regarding transfer transactions that may constitute a substantial change in the employee's working conditions.

The proposal for substantial change must be notified to the employee in writing, and the employee must accept it in writing within six working days. A substantial change not accepted in writing by the employee does not bind the employee. However, every workplace change is not automatically considered a substantial change. Provisions in the employment contract, distance, transportation conditions, wage, and working order must be evaluated together.

The non-compete clause that can be applied after the employment contract ends is regulated in Article 444 and following articles of the Turkish Code of Obligations. For the employer to impose a non-compete clause, the employee must be able to access important information about customer circles, production secrets, or the work done by the employer, and the use of this information must be capable of causing significant harm to the employer.

The non-compete clause must be in writing. In addition, it must not jeopardize the employee's economic future in terms of subject matter, place, and duration in a manner contrary to equity. Every non-compete clause provision cannot be automatically accepted as valid.

The employee's social media posts should be evaluated within the scope of private life and freedom of expression. However, if the post damages the commercial reputation of the employer, discloses workplace secrets, or contains insults directed at colleagues, legal consequences may arise.

However, it is not possible for the employer to make every post a reason for dismissal. The content of the post, its connection to the employment relationship, the scope of access, and the consequences it produces must be taken into account. Proportionality and valid reason conditions in dismissal are important.

It is possible for an employee who terminates the employment contract due to retirement and receives severance pay to start working again later. However, the liquidation of the previous working period and the legal status of the new working period are important.

If severance pay has been paid for the previous period, how the previous period ended and which receivables were paid are taken into account in the calculation to be made for the subsequent period. Starting to work again in the same workplace does not mean that the previous seniority will be automatically ignored or re-combined.