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The first issue to be considered is that the disciplinary regulation
must be effective for and applied to all employees in an equal way
pursuant to the “equal treatment principle “as prescribed under
Article 5 of the Labor Law.
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The provisions required to be respected during the termination of
the labor contract by the employer without any earlier notice and
compensation, are Articles 19, 25 and 26 of the Labor Law.
In this scope, Article 25 of the Labor Law limits the justified grounds
for immediate termination of the labor contract by employer to specific
health reasons, actions in violation of ethics and goodwill, force majeure
events preventing the employee from working for a period more then
a week, and arrest of the employee. It is not possible for the employer
to immediately terminate the labor contract in a justified way based on
reasons other than those mentioned above.
Another provision relevant to the termination of labor contract is
Article 19 of the Labor Law prescribing the procedures for termination.
Pursuant to paragraph 2 of the said Article, the indefinite termed labor
contract of an employee cannot be terminated on grounds regarding the
behavior or efficiency of that worker without obtaining his/her defense
against such claims. Therefore, the discipline regulation should provide for
the obtaining of the employee’s defense in such cases.
Pursuant to Article 26 of the Labor Law, the authority to terminate the
labor contract granted to the employer based on the employees’ actions in
violation of ethics and goodwill as prescribed under Article 25, can-not
be exercised after six business days of the employer’s awareness of the
relevant actions of the employee and one year after the realization of the
subject action. However, the term of one year will not be applied if the
employee has materially benefited from the actions in subject.
In practice, the employer who acknowledges the employees’ action in
violation of ethics and goodwill which requires a disciplinary sanction has
to convey the case to the disciplinary council and the disciplinary council
then initiates an investigation. In general, it is observed that the duration
of such an investigation expires after the six business days envisaged
under Article 26 of the Labor Law. In principle, it is obligatory to meet
this time period of six business days. However, the time of the knowledge
of the employer of the relevant actions of the employee should not be