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Obligation to Hold a Meeting with Labor Union Representatives:
As per Art. 29 (4) of the Act, the employer shall hold a consultative
meeting with the workplace labor union representatives, if any. The
measures to be taken to avert or to reduce the layoffs, as well as mea-
sures to mitigate or minimize their adverse effects on the concerned
employees are the subject matters of this meeting. Pursuant to the last
sentence of Art. 29 (4) of the Act, minutes of this meeting confirming
that the said consultations have been held shall be drawn up at the con-
clusion of the meeting.
Obligation to Notify the Closure of a Workplace:
If the collective
dismissal of employees is due to the closure of the workplace, which
means a definite and permanent ceasing of activities, the employer
shall solely notify the relevant regional directorate of the Ministry of
Labor and Social Security and Turkish Employment Organization 30
days prior to the closure, pursuant to Art. 29 (6) of the Act. In this case,
there is no obligation of the employer to notify the labor union repre-
sentatives or to conduct a consultative meeting of the impending col-
lective dismissal.
As per Art. 29 of the Act, if the employer wishes to hire persons
for positions of the same nature within six months from the finalization
of the collective dismissal, the employer must initially offer the posi-
tion to his former employees who have the relevant qualifications.
Sanction for the Breach of Obligations
In accordance with Art. 100 of the Act, the employer who dis-
misses employees contrary to its obligations arising fromArt. 29 of the
Act shall be liable for an administrative fine for each employee whose
labor contract was unlawfully terminated. In accordance with the chart
provided by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in relation to the
applicable labor law administrative fines, the said fine is TL 554 per
employee for 2015.
At this point, one may claim that the employer is not obliged to
respect Art. 29 of the Act, provided that it pays the administrative fine.
This is controversial in the doctrine. One of the experts considers such
terminations to be null and void, by claiming that stipulating only an
administrative fine does not rule out legal sanctions that are applicable
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