Labor, Employment, and Social Security Law

The Labor and Employment Law practice area at KARA Law Firm offers comprehensive legal advice and support to employers and employees on all aspects of labor law. Understanding the complexities of the legislation governing the legal framework of employment relationships, we guide our clients in achieving compliance, managing risks, and resolving disputes.

1. Employment Contracts

• Drafting, reviewing, and updating employment contracts: We prepare flexible and dynamic employment contracts (e.g., indefinite, definite-term, part-time, remote work, etc.) that clearly define employee and employer rights and obligations and comply with legal regulations.
• Consultancy on collective bargaining agreements, workplace rules, and workplace policies: Assisting with the creation of internal workplace regulations such as internal disciplinary rules and performance evaluation procedures, and ensuring existing ones comply with legal requirements.

2. Recruitment and Termination Processes

• Ensuring legal compliance in recruitment processes: Providing legal advice on all stages of recruitment, from application forms to interview processes, anti-discrimination laws, and personal data protection.
• Legally compliant terminations and adherence to job security provisions: Offering support on notice of termination, determining grounds for termination, calculating severance and notice pay, minimizing risks of wrongful termination, and ensuring compliance with job security provisions.

3. Working Conditions and Remuneration

• Consultancy on working hours, overtime, wages, and fringe benefits: Ensuring compliance with regulations regarding legal working hours, overtime pay, annual leave entitlements, and work on national holidays and general holidays.
• Compliance with legal regulations concerning minimum wage, bonuses, and wage deductions: Assisting with the preparation of payrolls, application of legal deductions, and prevention of potential wage disputes.

4. Occupational Health and Safety

• Ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation: Providing legal guidance on workplace risk analyses, emergency plans, equipment safety, and employee training.
• Support in legal processes related to work accidents and occupational diseases: Representing our clients in administrative investigations, compensation lawsuits, and other legal processes following a work accident or occupational disease.

5. Trade Unions and Collective Labor Law

• Consultancy on trade union memberships, collective bargaining agreements, and strike/lockout processes: Managing legal processes related to freedom of association, collective bargaining negotiations, and legal strikes/lockouts.
• Resolution of collective labor disputes and mediation processes: Providing legal support in mediation and litigation processes for disputes arising from the signing, implementation, or interpretation of collective bargaining agreements.

6. Workplace Discrimination and Harassment

• Prevention and resolution of workplace discrimination, mobbing, and sexual harassment cases: Ensuring compliance with anti-discrimination laws, developing mobbing and harassment policies, conducting internal investigations, and providing awareness training.
• Representation in legal processes for related complaints: Representing the victim or the alleged party before judicial and administrative authorities.

7. Labor Law Disputes

• Representation in lawsuits filed in labor courts: Handling claims for employee receivables (severance, notice, overtime, national holiday work, annual leave, etc.), reemployment, wrongful termination, and union compensation lawsuits.
• Work accident, occupational disease, and service determination lawsuits: Managing lawsuits for material and moral damages resulting from work accidents/occupational diseases, and cases concerning undocumented work or under-reported workdays.

8. International Employment and Foreign Employees

• Legal processes and work permits related to the employment of foreign workers: Managing work permits for foreign workers, residence permits, and related legal procedures.
• International labor law and compliance processes for multinational companies: Ensuring compliance with obligations arising from international agreements and local labor law regulations for international companies.

9. Workplace Audits and Sanctions

• Preparation for audits by the Ministry of Labor and other relevant institutions: Assisting employers in preparing for legal audits, organizing necessary documents, and providing legal assistance during the audit process.
• Legal objection processes against administrative monetary penalties and sanctions: Handling objection and annulment lawsuits against administrative monetary penalties and other sanctions deemed contrary to the law.

10. Labor Law Training

• Labor law training for employers and human resources teams: Organizing periodic training sessions on current developments in labor law legislation, workplace practices, and risk management.
• Ensuring workplace practices comply with legal regulations: Consulting to ensure companies' business processes are in full compliance with legal regulations.

11. Social Security Law

• Premium, Insurance, and Notification Obligations: Ensuring the accurate and complete preparation of SGK premium calculations, missing day notifications, service documents, and monthly declarations within the legal framework, and their submission to relevant institutions.
• Service Determination and Insurability Disputes: Managing complex processes such as pursuing insurability claims rejected by SGK before the courts, service determination lawsuits, and retrospective premium accruals.
• Retirement and Social Benefits: Providing comprehensive consultancy on old-age, disability, death pensions, temporary incapacity benefits, marriage allowance, funeral allowance, and other social security benefits to ensure beneficiaries receive their legal entitlements.
• Administrative Sanctions and Objections: Conducting legal defense and objection processes against administrative monetary penalties and other sanctions imposed by SGK, and evaluating the possibility of their annulment through litigation.
• International Social Security Practices: Providing consultancy on overseas service debt restructuring under bilateral social security agreements signed by Turkey, and the insurability of Turkish citizens working abroad or foreign nationals working in Turkey.