Who Gets Severance Pay in Türkiye?
Region: TürkiyeHesaplayıcı3 min read
Short answer
Severance pay in Türkiye goes to an employee with at least one year of service at the same employer whose contract ends for a reason in Law 1475 art. 14: dismissal other than for misconduct, resignation for just cause, military service, retirement, a woman leaving within a year of marriage, or death. Resigning without just cause gives none.
Formula
severance pay entitlement = at least 1 year of service + an ending listed in art. 14
- at least 1 year of service: time at one or more workplaces of the same employer adds up, even if the contract was ended and made again (Law 1475 art. 14). Service runs from the start date to the end date; the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) counts 11.09.2020–10.09.2021 as 364 days, which is not a full year.
- an ending listed in art. 14: one of the cases in the table below. Without one, no severance pay is due however long the service.
Only art. 14 of Law 1475 is still in force (Labour Law no. 4857 art. 120). Its references to art. 16 and 17 are applied today as art. 24 and 25 of Law 4857.
Step-by-step example
An employee started on 1 March 2022, and the employer ended the contract on 1 September 2026 for economic reasons. The last gross wage is 40,000 TRY.
- Find the service: 4 years 6 months. The one-year condition is met.
- Check the reason: the employer ended the contract, and not for conduct against morality and good faith (not Law 4857 art. 25/II). The case falls under the first item of art. 14.
- Result: the employee is entitled. The amount is 180,000 TRY gross and 178,633.80 TRY net after stamp duty; the severance pay calculation guide shows how.
- Compare: had the same employee resigned without just cause, there would be no severance pay despite 4 years 6 months of service.
If the employer did not keep to the notice period, notice pay is due as well.
When severance pay is due
| How the contract ends | Severance pay | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Dismissal for economic reasons, performance, the employee’s illness or force majeure | Yes | Law 1475 art. 14/1-1 |
| Dismissal for conduct against morality and good faith (theft, insults, absence and so on) | No | Law 4857 art. 25/II |
| Resignation for just cause: unpaid wages, mobbing, health, force majeure | Yes | Law 1475 art. 14/1-2; Law 4857 art. 24 |
| Resignation without just cause | No | Law 1475 art. 14 |
| Compulsory military service | Yes | Law 1475 art. 14/1-3 |
| Leaving to receive an old-age, retirement or disability pension or a lump sum | Yes | Law 1475 art. 14/1-4 |
| Leaving after meeting the pension conditions other than age (insurance years and premium days) | Yes | Law 1475 art. 14/1-5 |
| A woman leaving of her own will within one year of her marriage | Yes | Law 1475 art. 14 |
| The employee’s death (paid to the heirs) | Yes | Law 1475 art. 14 |
| Less than one year of service | No | Law 1475 art. 14 |
Cases people mix up
- Meeting the conditions other than age: for those insured before 8 September 1999, 15 years of insurance and 3,600 premium days are enough. Later entrants need more premium days. The “kıdem tazminatı alabilir” letter from SGK, issued on e-Devlet, shows that the condition is met.
- Marriage: this applies only to women, and the year runs from the date of marriage. A man leaving because of marriage gets no severance pay.
- Military service: the employee must leave to do compulsory military service, and the reason should be on record.
- The calculator does not check these conditions: check your case against the table, then find the amount with the calculator.
Worked example: 1 March 2018 to 1 June 2026, 60,000 TRY gross and 5,000 TRY benefits
Net severance pay
531,760.42 TRY
- Gross severance pay
- 535,827.35 TRY
- Stamp duty
- 4,066.93 TRY
- Monthly wage used
- 64,948.77 TRY
- Ceiling on the end date
- 64,948.77 TRY
- Length of service
- 8.25 years
- Full years
- 8
- Months
- 3
- Days
- 0
Step by step
Length of service
service = years + months/12 + days/365
service = 8 + 3/12 + 0/365 = 8.25 years
Monthly wage used
wage used = min(gross wage + benefits; ceiling)
wage used = min(65,000; 64,948.77) = 64,948.77
Gross severance pay
gross severance pay = wage used × service
gross severance pay = 64,948.77 × (8 + 3/12 + 0/365) = 535,827.35
Stamp duty
stamp duty = gross severance pay × 7.59 per mille
stamp duty = 535,827.35 × 7.59 per mille = 4,066.93
Net severance pay
net severance pay = gross severance pay − stamp duty
net severance pay = 535,827.35 − 4,066.93 = 531,760.42