Özge Konukçu, one of the YAK Attorney Partnerships, answered the questions raised by employers and employees regarding the regulation on Retirement Aged, published in the Official Gazette.
Özge Konukçu, who said that EYT, which has been on the agenda of Turkey for a long time, paved the way for employees who meet certain conditions and regulated by the Law, to retire without age conditions. and after completing the daily premium payment, which varies between 9 and 1999 depending on the date of employment, they may retire regardless of the age requirement. said.
“To benefit from the regulation that comes with the law”
Stating that employees who are entitled to retirement with the law, must resign from their workplace due to retirement in order to benefit from this regulation, Özge Konukçu said, “In this context, the employee has made an application for severance pay to be received from the Social Security Institution and preferably for a pension. A letter of resignation must be submitted along with the employer. There is no obligation for the employee to pay a notice indemnity or to comply with the notice period.” he said.
Speaking about the rights of the worker who left the job due to retirement, Özge Konukçu continued her words as follows:
“An employee who resigns in accordance with the law is entitled to all receivables due to termination of employment, especially severance pay, in accordance with the relevant article 1475 of the Labor Law No. 14, which is still valid regarding severance pay. The fact that the employee who quit his job due to retirement starts to work again in the same workplace with the acceptance of the employer does not change this result. Since the employee's request for non-payment of severance pay or a provision in the contract stating that severance pay will not be paid will violate the rights of the worker, it can be considered as unlawful arrangements in case of a possible conflict.
“To alleviate the compensation burden undertaken by the employer”
Özge Konukçu stated that, with the regulation, severance pay should be paid in cash in order to alleviate the compensation burden undertaken by the employer, since it affects many employees and may leave the job due to retirement. told. Özge Konukçu, who stated that a different arrangement can be made without advance payment and whether the employee's rights are damaged or not, should be evaluated individually for each case, said Özge Konukçu, “Although it is not included in the Law, the Credit Guarantee Fund with the grace period opportunity and a guarantee rate of 75 percent to alleviate the employer's severance pay burden. It is stated that it is aimed to provide (KGF) support.” he said.
“Can the employer force the employee who is entitled to retirement to terminate?”
Stating that the law only grants the employee the right to terminate the employment contract due to retirement, Özge Konukçu said, “Therefore, the employer's approval is not sought if the employment contract is terminated by the employee due to retirement. However, the employer cannot claim that the employee is entitled to retirement as a reason for termination. If the employer terminates the employee's employment contract for this reason, he has to make the employee use the notice period together with the severance pay or pay the fee for this period. In addition, since the termination will not be considered valid, the risk of being sued for reemployment will be undertaken by the employee. However, if the employer has valid reasons for the reduction of employment, being subject to the Law can be accepted as an objective selection criterion for the determination of the persons whose employment contract will be terminated by the employer.” said.
“Continuing to employ those who quit their job due to retirement”
Saying that the employee who left the workplace due to retirement can start working again if the employer agrees, Özge Konukçu said, “The employer can freely decide on rehiring the retired employee. While it is accepted that the employer has the right of discretion in rehiring employees who have left the job due to retirement, the employer should take care to act on objective principles when using this discretion. he warned.
Saying that there is no time limit for the reemployment of the retired employee, Özge Konukçu concluded her words as follows:
“However, with the Law, in order to prevent employers from losing their experienced staff due to retirement, in case of reemployment of the employee who left, it has been regulated that 5 points of the social security support premium share to be paid by the employer is paid by the Treasury. In order to benefit from this regulation, the employee who left the job due to retirement must be reemployed within 30 days. At this point, it should be noted that if the same employee leaves the workplace and then returns to work, the same discount will not be available again.”