Türkiye Odalar ve Borsalar Birliği

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu gave a statement regarding the enactment of the Labor Courts Draft Bill, saying, “Business cases involving which took two years to finalize will be resolved in a day or two with this arrangement; workers and employers who provide production and services for many years together will solve the disputes without going through the judiciary system with mediation. In mediation, the parties will shake hands, not as adversaries, because they will make their own decisions. I would like to thank the ruling party, the opposition parties and everyone who contributed to this endeavor.”

The TOBB President pointed out the importance of learning some of the changes brought about by the Labor Courts Law in detail and pointed out that the application of mediation would now be sought as a condition for the recruitment of workers based on the law or individual or collective employment contract. In order to apply to the mediator, the claimant or compensation claim will have to arise from a business relationship.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Worker's compensation such as seniority, notice and remuneration such as overtime, annual leave; the employer will also take the claim to the mediator before filing a claim for compensation items. Compensation claims arising from insulting an employee or an employer in relation to each other in the course of a business relationship or of causing harm to the goods or materials belonging to the employer at work are also brought to the mediation before the case is filed.

Material and moral indemnity cases arising from work accidents or occupational diseases shall not be subject to mediation in cases involving retaliation against them.”

- What has changed with the Labor Court Law?

According to the regulation passed in the Turkish Grand National Assembly; if one of the parties does not attend the first meeting without a valid excuse, the party that does not attend the meeting in the event of a mediation event will be entirely responsible for the proceedings, even if the case is partially or completely justified. In addition, the proxy will not be awarded in favor of this party. Due to the fact that both sides did not attend the first meeting,

The parties on the case will meet the costs of the proceedings themselves. If the parties agree at the end of the mediation, the mediation fee will be paid equally by the parties, unless otherwise agreed, according to the specified tariff.

In the case of negotiations with the parties on the demand for return to position, the sum of the amount of compensation to be paid in case of non-initiation of work to the mediator, and the sum of the remuneration and other rights to be paid for not being employed shall be deemed as agreed upon in accordance with the second part of the declaration.

- Mediation service tariff

If the parties cannot reach agreement at the end of the mediation or the meeting takes less than 2 hours, a 2-hour fee will be paid by the Ministry of Justice budget, to be billed to the faulty party at the end of proceedings. According to the Mediation Fee Schedule of 2017, if the hourly wage is 120TRY, this figure will not be less than 240TRY.

If an employer – subcontractor relationship is present in a reinstatement request, the employers will join the mediation talks together and will be in agreement with each other. Essential expenses to be made by the mediation office will be paid according to the agreement if agreement is reached at the end of the mediation, by the parties; otherwise payment will be made by the guilty party.

- The mediator will propose solutions

From the application date to the mediation office, until the date when the last minute is held, the statute of limitations as well as erosion of rights will be put on hold. The parties to the mediation negotiations will be able to participate themselves or through their legal representatives or their lawyers. Employees authorized by the employer in written form will also be able to represent the employer at the meetings and sign the final minutes. Mediation negotiations shall be carried out within the jurisdiction of the judicial commission of the first instance judiciary, unless the parties have otherwise agreed otherwise.

The terminated worker shall be obliged to apply for a reinstatement to the work place within 1 month from the date of notification of termination with the allegation that the cause of the termination has not been shown or proved to be a valid cause.

If the parties cannot produce a solution, the mediator may propose a solution. Mediation bureaus will be established in accordance with the ministry to inform the applicants of mediation, appoint mediators and perform other duties assigned by law.