Turkey: Employee Rights/ Labour Relations

Contracts are legal transactions established by the mutual and corresponding expressions of intent of the parties, which give rise to legal consequences and create a relationship of obligation between the parties. In accordance with the principle of freedom of contract, the parties may determine the content of the contract, provided that it does not contravene mandatory provisions of the law, public policy, personal rights or morality. However, the conditions under which the legal relationship arising from the formation of the contract will terminate are at least as important as the formation of the contract itself.

The Personal Data Protection Board (“Board”), through its Principle Decision dated 16 September 2026 and numbered 2026/2035, published in the Official Gazette dated 8 October 2026 and numbered 33394 (“Principle Decision”), established the procedures and principles governing employers’ monitoring of corporate email accounts allocated to employees and other communication channels used for business purposes.

Kişisel Verileri Koruma Kurulu’nun (“Kurul”) 8 Ekim 2026 tarihli ve 33394 sayılı Resmî Gazete’de yayımlanan 16 Eylül 2026 tarihli ve 2026/2035 sayılı İlke Kararı (“İlke Kararı”) ile, işverenler tarafından çalışanlara tahsis edilen kurumsal e-posta hesapları ve işin yürütülmesi amacıyla kullanılan diğer iletişim kanallarının denetlenmesinde uyulması gereken usul ve esaslar belirlenmiştir. İlke Kararı, denetim faaliyetlerinin hukuki dayanağı, çalışanların aydınlatılması, denetimin sınırları ve iş ilişkisinin sona ermesinden sonra hesapların yönetilmesine ilişkin yükümlülükleri açıklığa kavuşturmaktadır.

The Turkish Data Protection Board’s (“Board”) Principle Decision dated 16 September 2026 and numbered 2026/2035 (“Principle Decision”) was published in the Official Gazette dated 8 October 2026 and numbered 33394. The Principle Decision sets out the procedures and principles applicable to personal data processing activities carried out through the monitoring of communication channels used for work purposes, particularly corporate email accounts assigned to employees by their employers.

Termination risk under Turkish law cannot be reduced to payment of notice indemnity. The legal route depends on the contract, the employee's job-security status, the asserted reason and the procedure followed before notice is delivered. This article distinguishes ordinary termination, termination for a valid reason and immediate termination for just cause; explains the six-working-day rule in Article 26; and sets out the financial and procedural consequences of an invalid dismissal.

The Turkish Constitutional Court examined whether a regional court's dismissal of a reinstatement claim violated an employee's right to access justice. The case centered on whether mandatory mediation requirements were satisfied when the final mediation minutes referenced reinstatement, despite the claim not being selected on the initial application form. The Court's decision addresses the balance between procedural formalism and effective access to justice in employment disputes.

The Turkish Labour Code establishes a comprehensive job security framework that shields employees from unjustified dismissal. It does, however, expressly exclude employer representatives and their assistants meeting certain criteria.

Turkey's data protection authority has issued a public announcement clarifying the scope and application of biometric data processing regulations, particularly addressing uncertainties around employee attendance tracking systems. The announcement examines when fingerprint and palm scanning technologies constitute biometric data processing and under what circumstances such processing may be lawful beyond routine attendance monitoring.

İtalyan veri koruma otoritesi (Garante), 18 Haziran 2026 tarihli ve 476 sayılı kararı ile Piaggio & C. S.p.A.'ya, işten çıkarılan iki çalışanın kurumsal e-posta hesaplarına erişim ve bu verilerin uzun süre saklanması nedeniyle 460.000 avro idari para cezası uygulamıştır.