347 / 516
The Concept of Contracting Authority within the
Subcontract Relations
*
Att. Fatih Isik
Introduction
The subcontracts are quite often exercised in both the public and
private sectors and it offers employment flexibility. Despite the fact
that the concept of subcontract emerged as a result of necessities, its
exercise should be limited in order to protect the rights of employees
and thus, the exercise of subcontract is rendered subject to restrictive
conditions. Besides these requirements, the employer and the subcon-
tractor are held jointly liable for the receivables of the employee.
The Dispositions Regarding Subcontract
The subcontract relation is defined in Article 2/7 of the Labor Act
numbered 4857 (“LA”) as follows:
“The connection between the sub-
contractor who undertakes to carry out work in auxiliary tasks related
to the production of goods and services or in a certain section of the
main activity due to operational requirements or for reasons of tech-
nological expertise in the establishment of the main employer (the
principal employer) and who engages employees recruited for this
purpose exclusively in the establishment of the main employer is called
“the principal employer-subcontractor relationship”
.
The same article points also the joint liability of the principal
employer with the subcontractor as follows:
“The principal employer
shall be jointly liable with the subcontractor for the obligations aris-
ing from this Labor Act, from employment contracts of subcontractor’s
employees or from the collective agreement to which the subcontractor
has been signatory.”
As seen, the principal employer is jointly liable with the subcon-
tractor for the receivables of the subcontractor’s employees. The law-
suits for receivables of the employees are addressed to both the princi-
LABOR LAW
333
*
Article of January 2012