WORKPLACE DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES IN TÜRKİYE

As is known, from the perspective of employment law and applicable legislation, employers are required to clearly set out the terms and conditions of employment in employment contracts, implement appropriate workplace health and safety measures, and comply with statutory rules on working hours and leave entitlements. It is likewise necessary to protect employee rights, prevent workplace harassment, and handle dismissals in accordance with employment law requirements. Additionally, employers must keep personal employee files to ensure proper tax and insurance procedures and maintain equality and non-discrimination in the workplace. In this regard, internal regulations and disciplinary procedures play a crucial role in sustaining a balanced and harmonious work environment.

Internal regulations in the workplace

Corporations adopt workplace policies, procedures and internal regulations so as to ensure workplace policies enabling smooth operations. In accordance with this framework, effective employment management relations have become a key element in supporting compliance, fairness and organizational harmony.

• To start with, employment contract defines the core relationship between employer and employee, setting out their respective duties, obligations and responsibilities. In such a contract, the employer may also include provisions concerning its organizational structure, as well as the principles and rules of the workplace, which employees are expected to follow. However, as internal regulations apply to the entire organization and need to adapt to changing circumstances, workplace rules and internal policies are typically set out in separate internal procedures, annexed to the employment contract and signed by the employee.
• As part of good corporate governance, corporations may adopt employee policies and workplace regulations. The relevant regulation may contain (i) working conditions, (ii) determination of employees’ needs, (iii) employees training, (iv) Performance Management System, (v) promotion, (vi) rewarding, (vii) temporary appointment/ business travels, (viii) annual leave, (ix) wages/ seniority indemnity personal benefits and employees’ rights and obligations, (x) ethical rules, (xi) implementation of disciplinary rules, (xii) termination of the employment contract, all of which shall be specified.

Once this process is completed, the internal regulations become binding through the employee’s acceptance. Hence, the subject internal regulations referred to are those regulations that include rules and procedures for ensuring discipline in the workplace, ensuring transparency in employment termination procedures, and determining attitudes, conducts and actions that violate discipline and along with the applicable sanctions.

Disciplinary procedures in the workplace

Turkish employment law does not provide a general regulation on disciplinary matters, and this gap is often filled in practice through collective bargaining agreements (in Turkish, “toplu iş sözleşmeleri”) or internal company procedures, such as a workplace disciplinary code. A workplace disciplinary code may set out the rules, penalties and disciplinary procedures for corporation’s employees. They should be in line with labor law, but also with the specific needs and culture of the corporation. Disciplinary regulations should be clear, plain and easy to understand and may include the following:

• Regulatory Compliance: The disciplinary regulation must comply with employment laws, employment regulations and other relevant legal requirements.
• Culture and Values of Corporation: The disciplinary code should be in line with the company’s values, vision and work culture. These values should be emphasized to ensure that employees act in accordance with the company’s values.
• Code of Conduct: Specific behaviors, job performance and ethical expectations should be clearly stated. Issues such as working hours, workplace rules, work clothes and performance expectations in line with ethical rules of the corporation should be clearly explained.
• Disciplinary Procedures: The steps to be followed in case of disciplinary violations and the types of penalties should be clearly specified. Issues such as the penalties to be applied, the cases in which they will be applied, and how these penalties will be enforced should be clear.

Disciplinary regulations must be presented to employees in detail and their approval must be obtained. It should be introduced during the orientation process for new employees and also periodically reviewed with existing employees.

The disciplinary code should be in line with the spirit and development of the times. It should be revised according to changing working conditions. Such modifications and updates shall be informed to the employees.

Disciplinary Investigations and Disciplinary Boards

Disciplinary investigations are a fundamental element in managing allegations of breaches of workplace rules and standards of conduct. These investigations are carried out to establish the facts, determine whether there has been a violation under the employment law or the workplace disciplinary regulations, and assess whether disciplinary action is required. Investigations must be conducted as comprehensively, transparently and fairly as possible, considering the nature and scope of the incident. The main objective of a disciplinary investigation is not to sanction, but rather to conduct an impartial assessment of the incident and, where necessary, to implement disciplinary measures.

Depending on the corporation’s organizational structure, disciplinary investigations may be carried out by human resources, inspection or internal audit units, or by the disciplinary board. The disciplinary board is the body authorized to review the results of the investigation, conduct disciplinary hearings and impose sanctions, including, where appropriate, termination of employment, in accordance with the applicable legislation, employment contract or workplace disciplinary regulations.

Besides, currently, there is no regulation governing the structure of disciplinary boards. The absence of a regulation allows corporations except those subject to collective bargaining agreements, to structure their disciplinary boards according to their own criteria in accordance with their corporate needs. The structure of the disciplinary board may be different in companies that are not party to collective bargaining agreements or that do not have blue-collar production and field workers. In “white-collar” companies, which are companies with a predominantly “white-collar” workforce based on mental power and knowledge, all members of the disciplinary board may consist of senior managers and members of the company’s board of directors acting on behalf of the employer’s representative. There is no obligation in the law or other legislation to establish a disciplinary board within the workplace. In addition to the disciplinary board, the employer may also impose disciplinary penalty on the employee.

Disciplinary Sanctions

As mentioned above, disciplinary regulations should regulate the sanctions in a clear and understandable manner. In this respect, disciplinary regulations should include provisions on the disciplinary penalties to be imposed for the behaviors of the employees in violation of the workplace regulations.

In the internal regulations of the corporation, disciplinary penalties are generally listed in brief as follows.

• Warning
• Written Notice
• Wage Deduction (depending on the activity field of the employer and with the condition of complying with legal conditions of any such wage deduction by employer as per Labor Law and Turkish Code of Obligations)
• Limitation of Promotion
• Termination of Employment

Besides, pursuant to Article 26 of the Employment Law, the six-working-day period for termination of employment based on just cause starts from the disciplinary board’s decision, not from the date of referral to the board as ruled by the Court of Cassation, 9^th Civil Chamber, 2023/9430E.,2023/8075K.This can be beneficial and useful for corporations considering that obtaining approvals from headquarters abroad may take longer time.

We remain at your disposal for any questions and assistance you may need.

Our Law Firm remains at your disposal for any further clarifications you may need.

Copyright © 2025 Cailliau&Colakel Attorney Partnership, All rights reserved.