Labour legislation gives an employee the right, in certain situations, to end his or her employment agreement for justified grounds when wages are not settled punctually. In its longstanding judicial practice, the Court of Cassation has established that if remuneration is paid outside the period fixed by law, the employee’s entitlement to a lawful termination arises.
Salary unpaid for 20 days went to court
A worker identified as N.D. took the matter to the Labour Court after his wages failed to arrive on schedule, arguing that this justified his termination with cause.
Referring to Article 24 of Law no. 4857, the claimant requested the court to grant him severance compensation, holiday allowance and for overtime together with the respective accrued interest, relying on the dismissal under that provision.
The respondent company, however, claimed that the delay in wage payment had been very short and therefore insufficient to create a justified reason. Moreover, its counsel maintained that the leave salary had already been remitted, that the claimant had worked as a project head, and that he had enjoyed autonomy in organising his own working schedule.
The first determined chamber stood with the employee
In its judgment on the merits, the Labour Court ruled in favour of the claimant, recognising that the employment contract had been ceased for justified reasons.
Before settling this, the panel agreed that the April wage was actually disbursed on 28 May, which is only five days after the contract had ended, given that wages for the preceding months had customarily been paid already at the beginning of each month.
Thus, because the April salary exceeded the statutory time frame, the court held that the creditor gain the right to declared-break and therefore awarded N.D. the full severance claim.
The overtime request, on the other hand, was dismissed because no proof had been adduced; the claim was thus only partially mooted.
Appeals and final word from the Court of Cassation
After an appeal was lodged, the chamber of the Region’s Appelleal Court confirmed the verdict from the lower court.
The company then pursued a cassation in front of the 9. Hukuku Division of the Supreme Court. That highest bench dismissed the attempt and upheld the earlier judgment.
The term remains decisive
With this ruling, the full weight given to salary punctuality for the worker was once more demonstrated. Where the remuneration overdue exceeds the window allowed by the statute, and other conditions are present, one is entitled to lawfully rescind the contract and demand severance.
Yet, it would be overly broad to see any single day of delay as automatically entitling to compensation. The assessment of justified dismissal must be made in light of all concrete circumstances and of the exact natural timeliness set under the law and secondary regulation.
Foto: İHA.