Employee receivables is the term covering all the wages, claims and compensation to which an employee becomes entitled under the employment contract and the legislation. Employee receivables are governed by the Labour Act no. 4857. They consist of items such as wages, severance pay, overtime pay, annual leave pay, notice pay, national holiday and public holiday pay, travel and meal allowances and weekly rest day pay. Some of these claims require termination of the contract, while others do not. There are also certain conditions for becoming entitled to each of them.
A. Employee Receivables Dependent on Termination: employee receivables such as severance pay, notice pay, annual paid leave and bad faith compensation are claims dependent on termination. For the employee to be able to claim them, the employment contract must have come to an end and the other conditions must also be met.
A.1 Severance Pay: this is the item paid by the employer, where the conditions listed in the law have been met, to an employee whose employment contract has ended, in proportion to the period they have worked. It is paid to the employee at the rate of 30 days’ wages for each full year completed. An employee becomes entitled to severance pay even if they worked at different workplaces belonging to the same employer at different times. The conditions for severance pay are:
- – To be regarded as an employee under the Labour Act no. 4857
- – To have worked at a workplace for at least 1 year
- – The employment contract must have been terminated for one of the reasons listed in the law. That is, if the contract was terminated by the employer it must be an unjustified termination, and if it was terminated by the employee it must be a justified termination.
The limitation period for severance pay is 10 years for employment contracts that ended before 25.10.2017, and 5 years for contracts that ended after that date. The periods start to run on the date of termination.
A.2 Notice Pay: this is the employee receivable that must be paid to the employee where an employment contract of indefinite duration is terminated by the employer without a justified reason and without complying with the notice periods. There is no length-of-service condition for becoming entitled to notice pay. An employee who is within the probation period, however, has no right to claim notice pay. The notice periods are governed by article 17 of the Labour Act. Accordingly:
- for an employee whose work has lasted less than six months, the contract is deemed terminated two weeks after notice is given to the other party,
- for an employee whose work has lasted from six months to one and a half years, four weeks after notice is given to the other party,
- for an employee whose work has lasted from one and a half years to three years, six weeks after notice is given to the other party,
- for an employee whose work has lasted more than three years, eight weeks after notice is given to the other party.
The limitation period for notice pay is 10 years for employment contracts that ended before 25.10.2017, and 5 years for contracts that ended after that date.
A.3 Annual Paid Leave: annual leave is leave provided so that an employee who has worked for a year may rest. The employee’s wage must be paid in advance when they take their annual leave. Where the employee is made to work on their annual leave days, the wage that must be paid is the annual paid leave claim. The right to annual paid leave is an inalienable and statutory right, so it makes no difference whether the contract was terminated with or without a justified reason. To become entitled to this claim the employee must have worked for at least one year. The periods of annual paid leave vary according to length of service. Under article 53 of the Labour Act:
– for employees with a length of service of one to five years (including five years), at least fourteen days
– for employees with a length of service of more than five and less than fifteen years, at least twenty days
– for employees with a length of service of fifteen years (including fifteen) and more, at least twenty-six days.
For employees working underground these periods are applied with an increase of four days each. In addition, for employees aged eighteen and under and for employees aged fifty and over, the period of annual paid leave may not be less than twenty days. The limitation period for the annual paid leave claim is 5 years for employment contracts that ended before 01.07.2012, 10 years for contracts that ended between 01.07.2012 and 25.10.2017, and 5 years from the date of termination for contracts that ended after 25.10.2017.
A.4 Bad Faith Compensation: where the employment contract of an employee who does not benefit from job security is terminated in bad faith by the employer, the compensation to which they become entitled is bad faith compensation. Here the employment contract must be of indefinite duration. Bad faith compensation is paid at three times the notice periods. For example, where a female employee is dismissed because she is pregnant, or where the employee has given evidence against the employer, bad faith compensation will come into question if the employment contract is terminated.
B. Employee Receivables Not Dependent on Termination: wages, overtime pay, national holiday and public holiday pay and weekly rest day pay are the employee receivables falling within this scope. For the employee to claim them there is no need for the employment contract to have ended. The employee may claim them from the employer even while the employment contract continues.
B.1 Wage Claim: the wage is the amount paid to the employee in return for the work they do. This amount is paid by the employer, and sometimes by a third party, in return for the employee’s physical or intellectual labour. It is governed by article 32 of the Labour Act. Wages must be paid at least once a month. The limitation period for a wage claim is 5 years, and that period starts to run from the date on which the claim becomes due.
B.2 Overtime Pay: as governed by article 41 of the Labour Act, overtime pay concerns work exceeding 45 hours a week. Where the weekly working period is exceeded, the employee is paid 50% above their normal wage for each hour. The weekly working period may, however, be set at less than 45 hours by the employment contract. In that case, where the hours set in the contract are exceeded, the employee is paid 25% above their normal wage. In addition, the employee’s daily working time is set by law at 11 hours, and at 7.5 hours for night work. Overtime pay must also be paid to the employee where the daytime and night-time working hours are exceeded. In that case overtime pay is paid even if the weekly working time does not exceed 45 hours. Finally, annual overtime may not exceed 270 hours. For an employer to have an employee work overtime, the written consent of the employee must be obtained. The employee may claim overtime pay while the employment contract continues as well. The limitation period for an overtime pay claim is 5 years and it starts to run on the date on which the claim becomes due.
B.3 National Holiday and Public Holiday Pay: an employee who does not work on days accepted as national holidays and public holidays becomes entitled to be paid as if they had worked. An employee who does work on those days becomes entitled to one day’s wage for each day worked. In other words, if the employee works on those holidays they will receive two days’ pay. The national holidays and public holidays are as follows: 1 January New Year’s Day, 29 October Republic Day, 23 April National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, 1 May Labour Day, 19 May Youth and Sports Day, 15 July Democracy Day, 30 August Victory Day, and the Ramadan and Sacrifice holidays. The limitation period for this claim is also 5 years, and such claims become due at the moment they arise.
B.4 Weekly Rest Day Pay: this is governed by article 46 of the Labour Act. Accordingly, an employee has the right to at least 24 hours of uninterrupted rest, that is, a weekly rest day, within the 7-day period they work. The employee becomes entitled to be paid as if they had worked even if they do not work during that period. If the employee also works on the weekly rest day, they will become entitled to one more day’s wage and, if applicable, will also receive overtime pay. In other words, the employee will receive two days’ pay and, if they have also worked overtime, the overtime increase rate will be applied to one day’s wage. The limitation period for this claim is also 5 years, and it becomes due at the moment it arises.
