Mediation In Labor Courts – bis
We would like to inform you that the Law on Labour Courts numbered 7036 (in
Turkish, “İş Mahkemeleri Kanunu”, “Code Numbered 7036”) including as well Mediation process in Labor Courts as a pre-condition for filing lawsuits, which we had informed you about in our October 2017 Newsletter, has been published in the Official Gazette dated 25 October 2017.
According to the Code Numbered 7036:
- Article 3 that governs the mediation as a pre-condition in labor disputes and sets forth the procedures to be followed;
- Article 11 that governs the procedure that has to be followed specifically in reemployment lawsuits (in Turkish “İşe İade Davası”);
- Article 12 that governs the issues that have to be specified by the mediator in the disputes arising from the allegation of the termination of the employment contract without a valid reason (in case that the parties agree for the reemployment of the employee)
shall come into force as of 1 January 2018.
However, remaining provisions including article 15 that provides 5 (five) years of prescription period (in Turkish “Zamanaşımı Süresi”) for the disputes arising from annual paid leave, severance pay, notice pay, compensation of bad faith and equal treatment obligation of the employer have come into force as of 25 October 2017, which is the date of announcement in the Turkish Official Gazette. The important point we wish to draw your attention is that five-year prescription period is valid only for the employment contracts to be terminated after the effective date (25 October 2017) of the Code Numbered 7036.
Following 1 January 2018, which is the date of effect for articles 3, 11 and 12, the employee who alleges that his/her employment contract has been terminated without a valid reason shall apply to the mediator with the request of reemployment within 1 (one) month following the termination of the employment contract.
If the parties (employer and employee) cannot come to an agreement during mediation, the employee may apply to the labor court within 2 (two) weeks following the final minutes to be issued by the mediator.
In case of a reemployment lawsuit to be initiated, the judgment of the labor court is
subject to appeal before Regional Courts of Justice (in Turkish “Bölge Adliye Mahkemesi”) and the judgment of the Regional Courts of Justice shall be final. This means that it is not possible to apply to the Supreme Court of Appeal (in Turkish “Yargıtay”) against the judgment of the Regional Courts of Justice in reemployment lawsuits.
Our Law Firm remains at your disposal for any further clarifications you may
require.