Labor Courts Law of Turkey Grand National Assembly (Parliament) adopted on 10.12.2017 and 25.10.2017 date and have been published in the Official Gazette No. 30221.

The law regulates the duties and proceedings of the establishment of labor courts and also regulates the principles of mediation as a condition of litigation in labor disputes.

A significant portion of the workload on labor courts is naturally caused by disputes between the employee and the employer arising from the termination of the employment contract. The law aims to alleviate the work load on the labor courts by arranging the application of mediator as a condition of litigation in cases opened by the employer or employer based on an individual or collective labor agreement and with the request for compensation and reinstatement, and introduces a new structure for the settlement of the labor disputes within the scope mentioned. Since it is a condition of a lawsuit to apply to the mediator in the disputes within the scope mentioned, in case of opening a case before the mediator, the case will be decided to be dismissed from the procedure due to the absence of the case condition. The plaintiff is obliged to attach the original copy of the final minutes of the agreement, which has not been reached at the end of the mediation activity, or a copy approved by the mediator. In this way, the dispute may be the subject of a lawsuit in the labor courts. Provisions of applying for mediation as a condition of a lawsuit shall not apply to pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages resulting from work accidents or occupational diseases, and the related cases of determination, appeal and recourse.

How will the mediator be selected?

The Mediation Department will inform the relevant commission presidencies of the judicial judges of the first instance court, specifying their areas of expertise, if any, and those who wish to act as mediators from the registered mediators. they will send the magistrates' court to the editorial office. The applicant, who is the party of the dispute, will do the mediation office in the settlement or the place where the work is done, if the mediation office is not established, the editorial office will be appointed and the office will select a mediator from the list reported to the commission presidencies. However, if the parties agree on a mediator, the mediator can be appointed.

How will mediation be carried out?

The mediator shall finalize the application within three weeks of the date of its appointment, which may be extended by a maximum of one week by the mediator. The mediator shall immediately notify the mediation office by terminating the mediation activity and arranging the final report in case the parties cannot be reached, the parties cannot be interviewed because the parties did not participate or the agreement is reached or reached as a result of the negotiations.

How will the process work in return cases?

The employee whose employment contract is terminated with the amendment made in article 20 of the Labor Law No. 4857 is obliged to apply to the mediator in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Courts Law with the claim that the reason for termination is not a reason or the reason shown is not a valid reason and that the termination notice is requested to be returned to work within one month from the date of notification. . If an agreement cannot be reached at the end of the mediation activity, a lawsuit may be filed in the labor court within two weeks from the date of the final record.

In the cases of reinstatement, the idle time fee and non-start compensation will be determined in monetary terms based on the fee at the date of the lawsuit. Otherwise, the agreement shall be deemed to have failed and the final report shall be issued accordingly. If the employee does not start work on the agreed date, the termination shall become valid and the employer shall be solely responsible for its legal consequences.

Who will pay the mediation fee?

In case the mediation activity is terminated because one of the parties does not participate in the first meeting without a valid excuse, the party not attending the meeting shall be indicated in the final minutes and shall be held responsible for the entire costs of the proceedings even if this party is partially or totally justified in the case. In the cases that will be opened on mediation activities which have ended due to the absence of both parties to the first meeting, the costs of the parties' proceedings shall be left on their own.

In the event that the parties conclude agreements at the end of the mediation activity, the mediation fee shall be covered equally by the parties unless otherwise agreed in accordance with the Second Part of the Mediation Fee Schedule, annexed to the Mediation Minimum Fee Schedule. In this case, the fee shall not be less than the two-hour rate determined in the First Part of the Tariff.

Necessary expenses to be made by the mediation office; If the agreement is reached at the end of the mediation activity, the parties will be paid from the budget of the Ministry of Justice in order to be paid by the parties under the agreement and to be collected from the unfair party in the future if the agreement is not reached.

Who will investigate workers' complaints?

With the amendment made to the Law No. 4857, the authority of the officials of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Provincial Directorates of Labor and Labor Institution to review workers' complaints was abolished.

However, it should be noted that the inspectors of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security labor inspectors regarding the working conditions, wages, leave rights, occupational health and safety of the employees are continuing. If an application is made within this framework, labor inspectors will carry out the necessary examination and impose administrative fines and other sanctions in case of unlawfulness. View Rıza's Full Profile