Grounds for Termination for Just Cause: When Can an Employee or Employer Terminate an Employment Contract Immediately?

Your salary has been paid late for two months, overtime has never been paid, or the salary reported to social security is lower than the amount you actually receive. Can an employee say, “I am not coming to work from tomorrow” and still claim severance pay? The same question arises from the other side: can an employer immediately dismiss an employee who fails to show up for work without notice or insults a colleague? This article answers both questions by reference to the grounds set out in the law and the decisions of the Turkish Court of Cassation in specific cases.

The short answer is this. The Labour Law expressly lists the grounds that allow either party to terminate the employment contract without waiting for the ordinary notice period. For employees, one of the principal grounds is non-payment of wages. The Court of Cassation has interpreted this to include overtime, work on weekly rest days and public holidays, bonuses and premiums, as well as social security contributions that have been underreported. For employers, the principal grounds include absenteeism, insults and fights, theft, reporting to work under the influence of alcohol, and persistent refusal to perform duties. In most of these cases, termination must take place within six working days from the date on which the event is learned of. If an employee terminates the contract for just cause, a right to severance pay arises. If an employer validly terminates the employee for misconduct attributable to the employee, no severance pay is due.

What is termination for just cause, and how is it different from resignation?

Normally, a party wishing to terminate an indefinite-term employment contract must give the other party prior notice. This is the notice period, which varies according to the employee’s length of service and ranges from two to eight weeks. A party that fails to comply with the notice period must pay compensation corresponding to the wages for that period. This is commonly known as notice pay or compensation in lieu of notice.

In a termination for just cause, this period does not have to be observed. If one of the grounds specified by law exists, either party may terminate the contract immediately. By contrast, an employee who leaves without relying on a statutory ground is deemed to have resigned and, as a rule, is not entitled to severance pay. The parties may leave the workplace on the same day, but the legal consequences of termination for just cause and resignation are different.

When can an employee terminate the employment contract immediately?

Article 24 of the Labour Law sets out three groups of grounds for the employee:

Health-related grounds

Where the nature of the work is hazardous to the employee’s health or life, or where the employer or a co-worker with whom the employee works closely has contracted a contagious disease.

Circumstances contrary to the rules of morality and good faith

These include being misled about wages or working conditions when entering into employment; insults, sexual harassment, physical or verbal aggression, or intimidation by the employer; failure to take precautions after sexual harassment by a co-worker or customer has been reported to the employer; failure to calculate or pay wages in accordance with the law or the employment contract; and failure to comply with working conditions.

Force majeure

An event beyond the control of the parties that requires the work at the workplace to stop for more than one week.

Common situations encountered on the employee side

Salary is not paid or is paid late

Wages must be paid at least once a month. If the due date has arrived and all or part of the employee’s wages remain unpaid, the employee may terminate the contract for just cause. According to the Court of Cassation, the employer’s financial difficulties do not change this outcome.

In one case upheld by the Court of Cassation, a salary normally paid at the beginning of each month was delayed by more than twenty days on one occasion, and this was held to constitute just cause for termination. The employer’s argument that it had been a “one-off delay” did not change the result.

An employee whose wages have not been paid within twenty days from the due date has another statutory right: the employee may stop working without terminating the employment contract. The law expressly provides that an employee who refrains from working for this reason may not be dismissed and may not be replaced by another employee.

Overtime, weekly rest-day work and public holiday work are not paid

The Court of Cassation interprets the term “wage” broadly in this context. Compensation for overtime, weekly rest-day work and national holidays and general public holidays, as well as bonuses and premiums, falls within this scope. Even where the monthly salary is paid regularly, the employee may still have a right to terminate the contract for just cause if these additional entitlements are not paid.

Evidence is decisive here. In a 2025 decision, an employee who claimed to have resigned due to unpaid overtime and workplace pressure was denied severance pay because those allegations could not be proven.

Social security contributions are underreported

Reporting a salary to social security at a lower amount than the employee actually receives—for example, reporting only the minimum wage—or paying social security contributions on an underreported amount may also constitute just cause for termination.

The Court of Cassation considers failure to pay social security contributions altogether, paying them incompletely, or paying them based on an artificially low wage among the circumstances that may entitle the employee to terminate for just cause. In one case, the termination of an employee whose contributions had been reported below the actual wage was held justified, and the employee was recognized as entitled to severance pay.

The employee’s duties or working conditions have been changed to the detriment of the employee

The law also treats failure to comply with working conditions as a ground for termination by the employee. In one case, the Court of Cassation set aside the lower court’s decision and held the employee’s termination justified after the employee’s working conditions were changed adversely following a change in management. In the same case, mobbing could not be proven; the adverse change in working conditions was considered sufficient on its own.

The timing is important here. According to the Court of Cassation, permanently assigning an employee to another position or materially worsening working conditions is an immediate event. Therefore, an employee wishing to terminate on this ground must do so within six working days from the date on which the change is learned of.

Mobbing, insults and harassment

Insults, sexual harassment, aggression or intimidation by the employer are expressly recognized by law as grounds for termination for just cause. In cases of sexual harassment by a co-worker or customer, however, the condition is that the incident must have been reported to the employer and the employer must have failed to take appropriate measures.

“Mobbing” does not appear as a separate heading in the Labour Law’s list. Courts generally address it as continuous and systematic pressure or harassment. A few disagreements with a manager may not, by themselves, meet this threshold. In a 2026 decision, a claim for severance pay was rejected because the allegations were not proven by concrete evidence. This is why the ability to establish the alleged pressure through specific facts and evidence is decisive.

When can an employer terminate the employment contract immediately?

Article 25 of the Labour Law sets out four groups of grounds for the employer:

Health-related grounds

Where, due to an illness arising from the employee’s own fault, an irregular lifestyle or alcohol dependence, the employee is absent for three consecutive working days or more than five working days in one month. For other illnesses, accidents, childbirth or pregnancy, the employer cannot immediately terminate the contract; this right arises only when the period of absence exceeds the employee’s statutory notice period by six weeks.

Circumstances contrary to the rules of morality and good faith

The specific circumstances are set out below.

Force majeure

An event that prevents the employee from working for more than one week.

Detention or arrest

Where the period during which the employee is unable to attend work exceeds the applicable notice period.

Common situations encountered on the employer side

The employee does not come to work without notice

The law sets out the relevant threshold for absenteeism. An employer may terminate the contract immediately if the employee, without permission or a valid excuse, is absent for two consecutive working days, or twice within one month on the working day immediately following a holiday, or for three working days within one month. Absence based on a legitimate reason does not fall within this rule.

There is an important trap here. An employee who stops working because wages have not been paid within twenty days may not be treated as absent and dismissed on that basis. The law expressly prohibits this.

Insults, abusive language and fighting

An employee’s aggression toward the employer, the employer’s family or a co-worker, or words that offend their honour or dignity, constitute grounds for termination for just cause.

In a case in which the Court of Cassation overturned the lower decision, the dismissal of an employee whose swearing at colleagues had been confirmed through witness testimony and written statements was held justified; the employee’s claims for severance and notice pay should therefore have been rejected.

The incident had been reported to company officials ten days later. The termination was nevertheless considered timely because, in companies, the six-working-day period begins on the day the person authorized to terminate learns of the event.

Theft and abuse of trust

Abuse of the employer’s trust, theft or disclosure of trade secrets constitutes grounds for termination for just cause.

There is a special rule regarding the time limit in such cases: if the employee obtained a financial benefit from the misconduct, the one-year absolute limit does not apply. The six-working-day period from the date of knowledge, however, remains applicable.

Reporting to work under the influence of alcohol or drugs; persistent refusal to perform duties

Reporting to work while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, or using such substances at the workplace, constitutes a ground for termination for just cause.

For refusal to perform duties, the law requires two conditions: the duty must have been specifically brought to the employee’s attention, and the employee must persist in refusing to perform it. A single instance of failure does not satisfy these conditions.

The law also treats the following as grounds for termination for just cause: falsely representing, when entering employment, that the employee possesses a qualification that he or she does not have; endangering workplace safety through negligence; or causing damage to workplace property on a scale that the employee cannot compensate with thirty days’ wages.

How much time is there to terminate for just cause?

In cases based on conduct contrary to the rules of morality and good faith, the right to terminate is not unlimited in time. It must be exercised within six working days from the date on which the event is learned of and, in any event, within one year from the date of the event.

The Court of Cassation applies this rule as follows:

• The period begins on the working day following the date of knowledge.

• If the employer is a company, the period begins when the person or body authorized to terminate learns of the event.

• It is sufficient for the intention to terminate to be expressed within six working days; the termination notice does not necessarily have to reach the other party within that same period.

• In a continuing situation, such as unpaid wages, the period does not begin to run; the employee may terminate until payment is made.

The other side of the last rule is also important. If delayed wages are eventually paid, a termination based on that earlier delay much later may become risky. No six-working-day period applies to terminations based on health-related or force majeure grounds.

What should be stated in the termination notice?

An employer must give notice of termination in writing and state the reason clearly and precisely. In an ordinary termination based on the employee’s conduct, obtaining the employee’s defence is mandatory; the law does not impose this requirement for termination for just cause.

The employee should also state the reason clearly. In one case overturned by the Court of Cassation, an employee who stated only “personal reasons” in the termination letter later relied on mobbing and unpaid wages; the termination for just cause was not accepted.

In another case, an employee who stated one reason in a resignation letter and, three years later, claimed that the actual reason for leaving had been unpaid overtime and underreported social security contributions was denied severance pay.

By contrast, where a general formal notice identified unpaid wage claims as the reason, the fact that those grounds were later explained in detail in the statement of claim was not considered unlawful.

The practical conclusion is clear: the reason for termination should be stated clearly and from the outset in the termination notice.

What happens to severance and notice pay in a termination for just cause?

• If the employee validly terminates the contract for one of the statutory grounds, the employee becomes entitled to severance pay. Severance is calculated for each full year of service.

• If the employer validly terminates the contract because of the employee’s conduct contrary to the rules of morality and good faith, no severance pay is due.

• If the employer terminates the contract for health-related reasons, force majeure, or detention and arrest, severance pay is due.

• Because the notice period is not observed in a termination for just cause, the party who validly terminates is not liable for notice pay.

For employment contracts ending after October 25, 2017, the limitation period for severance pay claims is, as a general rule, five years.

What should be done if no agreement is reached?

An employee cannot directly file a lawsuit for labour receivables and compensation claims; mediation must first be attempted. A lawsuit filed without first going to mediation will be dismissed on procedural grounds. Compensation claims arising from occupational accidents and occupational diseases are an exception.

The employer’s statement that the dismissal was “for just cause” is not the final word. The employee may challenge the dismissal in court by arguing that the reason relied upon does not fall within the statutory grounds.

In a workplace employing 30 or more employees, an employee with at least six months of seniority may apply to a mediator for reinstatement within one month from the date of service of the termination notice. If no agreement is reached, an action may be brought within two weeks from the date of the final mediation record.

For both sides, the outcome often turns on the evidence. The Court of Cassation generally expects the party relying on the ground for termination to prove it. In the cases examined, witness testimony, written statements and bank records were among the principal forms of evidence considered.

Summary

• In a termination for just cause, the notice period does not have to be observed; the employment contract ends immediately.

• For employees, common grounds include unpaid or late-paid wages, unpaid overtime and holiday work, underpaid social security contributions, adverse changes to working conditions, insults, harassment and systematic pressure.

• For employers, common grounds include absenteeism, insults and fighting, theft and abuse of trust, reporting to work under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and persistent refusal to perform a duty after it has been brought to the employee’s attention.

• In these cases, termination must generally take place within six working days from the date of knowledge and, for morality and good-faith grounds, within one year from the event; in continuing situations such as unpaid wages, the six-working-day period does not run.

• An employee who stops working because wages have not been paid for twenty days cannot be dismissed on the ground of absenteeism.

• The reason for termination should be clearly stated in the termination notice from the outset.

• A valid employee-initiated termination for just cause gives rise to severance pay; an employer-initiated termination for just cause based on the employee’s misconduct does not.

• Mediation is mandatory before bringing a labour claim; the application period for a reinstatement claim is one month.

This article has been prepared on the basis of the legislation in force in Türkiye as of September 28, 2026. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice in relation to any specific case.