The termination of an employment contract due to marriage is an exceptional provision granted to female employees, allowing them to become entitled to severance pay under certain conditions. Although this situation is frequently encountered in practice, its details are often not fully understood. In this article, we will examine in detail the rights that arise when female employees terminate their employment contracts within one year from the date of marriage, the legal basis of this right, and its practical application.
LEGAL DEFINITION
A female employee’s entitlement to severance pay upon leaving her job due to marriage is based on Article 14 of the former Labor Law No. 1475, which is still in effect today. Although the current Labor Law No. 4857 has come into force and repealed most of the previous law, Article 120 of Law No. 4857 explicitly states that Article 14 of Law No. 1475 shall remain in force.
Article 120 of Labor Law No. 4857:
“All articles of the Labor Law No. 1475 dated 25.8.1971 are repealed, except for Article 14.”
Therefore, the right to severance pay arising from the termination of an employment contract due to marriage is still evaluated under Article 14 of the former Labor Law No. 1475.
Article 14 of Labor Law No. 1475:
“The employment contracts of employees subject to this Law:”
1. By the employer, for reasons other than those specified in subparagraph II of Article 17 of this Law,
2. By the employee, in accordance with Article 16 of this Law,
3. Due to compulsory military service,
4. For the purpose of receiving an old-age, retirement, or disability pension, or a lump-sum payment from institutions or funds established by law or by a Presidential decree to which they are affiliated;
5. (Added: 25/8/1999 – Law No. 4447, Article 45) Due to voluntarily leaving work after completing other conditions, aside from the ages specified in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph (A) of Article 60 of Law No. 506, or after fulfilling the required insured period and premium payment days for receiving an old-age pension according to Temporary Article 81 of the same Law,
In cases of termination by the employer, voluntary termination by the woman within one year from the date of her marriage, or the death of the employee, the employer shall pay the employee severance pay equivalent to 30 days’ wages for each full year of service from the start date of employment. Payments for periods exceeding one year shall be calculated proportionally at the same rate.
The relevant law states: “In cases where the employee voluntarily terminates employment within one year from the date of her marriage or upon the death of the employee, the employer shall pay the employee severance pay equivalent to 30 days’ wages for each full year of service from the start date of employment.” It is clearly stipulated that a female employee is entitled to severance pay if she voluntarily terminates her employment within one year from her marriage date. However, this right is subject to specific procedures and conditions.
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
1- The marriage must be officially registered: For a female employee to be entitled to severance pay due to marriage, the marriage must be officially recognized. Leaving work based solely on a religious ceremony or cohabitation does not entitle her to this right.
2- The termination notice must be submitted within one year: To be eligible for severance pay due to marriage, the female employee must terminate her employment contract voluntarily within one year from the date of her marriage. This one-year period legally begins from the official wedding date. The existence of a religious ceremony or the wedding day itself is not considered for the start of the period. This period is peremptory; any termination notice submitted after one year from the marriage date will not entitle the employee to severance pay.
3- The female employee must terminate the employment contract voluntarily: As explicitly stated in the law, the employment contract must be terminated at the employee’s own request. If the termination is carried out by the employer, the female employee will not be entitled to severance pay.
4- The female employee must have worked at the workplace for at least one year: The fundamental condition for entitlement to severance pay is that the employee has at least one year of service at the workplace at the date of termination. A female employee who has worked for less than one year cannot claim severance pay due to marriage.
TERMINATION NOTICE AND NOTICE PERIOD
In order for a female employee to be entitled to severance pay due to marriage, she must terminate her employment contract within one year from the date of her marriage. The termination notice must be in writing, clearly and explicitly stating the reason for termination, indicating the severance pay and other receivable items in the notice, and submitting documents proving the marriage to the employer. Although it is not mandatory to send the termination notice through a notary, doing so can facilitate proof in case of potential legal disputes.
For entitlement to severance pay, it is not necessary for the termination to be accepted by the employer. The female employee only needs to notify the employer of her intention to terminate the contract and does not need to wait for the notice periods specified by law. Indeed, when the employment contract is terminated due to marriage, no notice period is legally required.
CAN A MALE EMPLOYEE CLAIM SEVERANCE PAY DUE TO MARRIAGE?
Severance pay due to marriage is a provision established exclusively for female employees, and male employees cannot claim severance pay if they terminate their employment due to marriage. This is because the relevant legal article explicitly refers to “female employee.” This provision is a special right granted solely to female employees, and there is no corresponding regulation for male employees.
HOW IS SEVERANCE PAY CALCULATED?
If a female employee terminates her employment due to marriage, the compensation she can claim is severance pay. When calculating severance pay, it is based on 30 days’ worth of the employee’s most recent gross salary for each year of service. The gross salary refers to the total salary received by the employee before any taxes or legal deductions are applied.
CAN A FEMALE EMPLOYEE WHO TERMINATES HER EMPLOYMENT WORK SOMEWHERE ELSE?
The right granted to a female employee to “terminate her employment due to marriage” is valid for use within one year after marriage and applies specifically against her current employer. The purpose of this provision is to allow the female employee to reorganize her life after marriage. However, exercising this right does not mean that the employee cannot work again or is prohibited from taking another job. Supreme Court rulings clearly state that a female employee working elsewhere after submitting her termination notice does not constitute an abuse of this right.
CAN A FEMALE EMPLOYEE WHO TERMINATES HER EMPLOYMENT DUE TO MARRIAGE CLAIM UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS?
Unemployment benefits are a right granted when an employment contract is terminated by the employer. Therefore, a female employee who terminates her employment due to marriage is not eligible to claim unemployment benefits.
LAWSUIT PROCESS AND MEDIATION
If a female employee terminates her employment contract due to marriage and notifies the employer in writing that she is entitled to severance pay for this reason, the employer is obliged to pay the severance pay due to the employee.
A female employee who terminates her employment due to marriage but does not receive her severance pay and other legal rights from the employer must first resort to mediation, which is a prerequisite for filing a lawsuit to recover her claims. According to Article 3/1 of the Labor Procedure Law No. 7036, in lawsuits filed for statutory employee claims, it is mandatory to apply to a mediator before proceeding to court.
If the parties fail to reach an agreement during the mediation process, the female employee may file a claim in the Labor Court. Since severance pay is considered an employee claim, the competent court is the Labor Court, and the authorized court is either the court of the employer’s place of residence or the location where the work or transaction took place. Severance pay can be claimed within five years from the date the employment contract was terminated. Therefore, it is crucial to file the lawsuit before the expiration of this five-year limitation period.
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS
“…In the specific case, the plaintiff got married on 31.08.2013 and notified the employer on 12.09.2013, within the legally recognized period, that she was terminating her employment contract due to marriage. The service record shows that the plaintiff started working at the Ankara Young Businessmen Association, which is not a party to the case, on 13.09.2013. The court held that since the plaintiff began working at the Ankara Young Businessmen Association, where she had previously operated in the same building as the defendant, after the termination, the exercise of her right to terminate was considered an abuse, and she was not entitled to severance pay.
After terminating the employment contract due to marriage, situations may arise that require the employee to work again, or the employee may exercise this right with the intention of achieving more favorable outcomes at another workplace. According to the legal regulation that allows a female employee to terminate her employment contract within one year from her marriage to be eligible for severance pay, it cannot be stated that the legislator’s purpose was for the employee to actively end her working life. Therefore, the plaintiff’s starting work at a non-party employer on 13.09.2013 after terminating the contract on 12.09.2013 does not indicate an abuse of the right to terminate due to marriage.
It must be accepted that using the legally granted right to terminate due to marriage entitles the employee to severance pay. In this case, a ruling should have been issued based on a review of the calculation in the expert report regarding the severance pay claim. The rejection of the claims was erroneous and required annulment…” (Supreme Court, 22nd Civil Chamber, 2016/31938 E., 2020/3538 K., 26.02.2020)
“…Pursuant to Article 120 of Labor Law No. 4857, it is stipulated that under the still-effective Law No. 1475, Article 14, paragraph 1, a female employee may terminate her employment contract due to marriage within one year from the date of marriage and thus be entitled to severance pay. The right to terminate due to marriage starts from the date of marriage. This right is granted exclusively to the female spouse and must be exercised within one year from the completion of the official marriage registration. If the female employee exercises this termination right granted by law, she becomes entitled to claim severance pay. Acceptance of the termination by the employer is not required. Additionally, the employee is not obliged to provide a notice period to the employer. Severance pay is the compensation for the employee’s service and past contributions to the workplace and is clearly recognized as a vested benefit. The conditions and amount of severance pay are directly determined by law. This benefit is protected under the legal system, and unless it is argued that the right has been abused, the employee should benefit from it according to the theory of entitlement.
According to the plaintiff’s civil registry records in the file, she got married on 17.08.2003, and in her petition addressed to the defendant employer dated 19.04.2004, she expressed that she did not wish to continue working due to marriage and declared her desire to leave as of 30.04.2004. Although the court initially rejected the severance pay claim on the grounds that this petition did not reflect her intention to leave due to marriage, the fact that the plaintiff had the right to terminate without giving notice means that submitting the petition approximately ten days before 30.04.2004 cannot be interpreted as resignation.
Submitting a petition to the employer within one year from the marriage date, indicating her desire to leave due to marriage, is considered as exercising the termination right based on marriage. The termination was exercised within the one-year period required by law. Accordingly, she became entitled to severance pay by law. Therefore, the court’s rejection of the severance pay claim with written reasoning was erroneous; the claim should have been accepted…” (Supreme Court, 9th Civil Chamber, 2014/17600 E., 2015/30741 K., 02.11.2015)
“…In the present dispute, the plaintiff did not provide any explanation in the petition regarding how the termination occurred and only requested the collection of severance pay along with interest from the date of leaving the job. The defendant argued that the plaintiff resigned from the workplace without stating a valid reason and submitted a resignation letter. Although the court concluded that the notarized statement in the file indicated that severance pay had been paid, that the defendant’s defenses were contradictory, and that the defendant could not prove that the contract ended in a manner that did not require severance pay, this conclusion does not align with the file’s contents.
In this case, after the resignation letter was submitted to the file by the defendant employer, the plaintiff’s attorney submitted a petition to the court dated 25/05/2015, acknowledging that the employment contract was terminated by the plaintiff and declaring that “the employment contract was terminated due to marriage.” At this point, it became necessary to investigate whether the reason for termination stated by the plaintiff during the proceedings actually occurred in the concrete case. The plaintiff’s witnesses testified during the trial that the plaintiff terminated the employment contract due to marriage. According to the file, the plaintiff’s marriage date was 08/11/2012, whereas the termination date was 01/08/2011. Accordingly, the plaintiff’s marriage date is significantly after the termination date.
For an employee to be entitled to severance pay by terminating the employment contract due to marriage, this right must be exercised within one year from the date of marriage. Considering that the termination right must relate to the post-marriage period and be exercised within one year, it is clear that the conditions for termination due to marriage are not met in this case. Based on the above reasoning, the plaintiff, who cannot prove that she exercised her right to terminate due to marriage within the required period, should have her severance pay claim rejected. Therefore, the decision to accept the claim based on a reason not argued by the plaintiff is erroneous. For these reasons, the appealed decision should be overturned…” (Supreme Court, 9th Civil Chamber, 2017/16992 E., 2020/10774 K., 06.10.2020)
“…In the present dispute, the plaintiff stated in her petition that she terminated the employment contract for just cause due to the employer’s unlawful practices and requested the recovery from the defendant of her severance pay along with certain other employment claims. The defendant argued that the plaintiff resigned from the workplace on 26.01.2022, claiming in her resignation letter that the reason was marriage, but that there was no valid or legitimate reason, and therefore requested the rejection of the severance pay claim.
The court ruled that the plaintiff had terminated the employment contract for the reasons stated in the notice dated 14.02.2022, that she had informed the employer that she would end the employment relationship for the purpose of getting married, that she got married on 28.01.2022, and that an employee terminating the contract on 14.02.2022 would be entitled to severance pay. However, this conclusion does not align with the file’s contents. The resignation letter stated: “I started working as ‘Group Supervisor’ on 02.09.2020, and I want to leave my position on 26.01.2022 of my own accord due to marriage…”. The plaintiff’s employment ended on 26.01.2022 according to her termination notice. It is clear from the file that the employee married on 28.01.2022 and terminated the employment contract on 26.01.2022. Accordingly, the plaintiff’s marriage date is after the termination date.
For an employee to be entitled to severance pay by terminating the employment contract due to marriage, this right must be exercised within one year from the marriage date. Considering that the right to terminate must relate to the period after marriage and be exercised within one year, it is clear that the conditions for termination due to marriage are not met in this case. Therefore, the plaintiff’s severance pay claim should have been rejected, and the decision to accept it based on the written reasoning is erroneous…” (Supreme Court, 9th Civil Chamber, 2024/4245 E., 2024/5687 K., 26.03.2024)
“…There is a dispute between the parties regarding whether the plaintiff is entitled to severance and notice pay. In her petition, the plaintiff claimed that she was forced to submit a resignation letter stating, ‘I resign due to an internal company marriage,’ and was thus dismissed. The defendant argued in its response that the plaintiff had submitted a resignation letter dated 09.05.2013, requesting that it be applied as of 03.06.2013, stating that she would be getting married, and that there was no dispute between the parties that the plaintiff married on 18.09.2013.
In the file, the resignation letter addressed to the Human Resources Department by the plaintiff on 09.05.2013 stated: ‘As of 07.05.2009, I have been working as a social affairs officer; due to an internal company marriage, I request that my resignation be accepted as of 03.06.2013 and necessary actions be taken.’ The letter was approved on the same date by her supervisor as ‘appropriate.’
At the hearing on 26.06.2015, the plaintiff testified regarding the resignation letter: ‘The resignation letter dated 09/05/2013 shown to me was written and signed by me. I wrote and submitted it to our HR manager, …, after he explained that since I was engaged to Şendoğan Erdoğan, a technician in the same workplace, and we would marry, we could not work together after marriage. He said I should write a date on the letter, but we could adjust it to my marriage date, and I could continue working until the wedding. After submitting the letter, I was also looking for a new job to start after marriage. On the morning of 03/06/2013, our manager … called me; when I went to him, all my exit procedures were completed by the company, ending my employment. I requested my legal rights from Fatma Hanım, but the manager said I could not be paid because I had not yet married. Had I known my employment would end without compensation, I would have continued working until marriage and claimed all my entitlements afterward. Other employees in the same position were treated differently.’
It appears that the plaintiff’s witnesses’ statements are hearsay. The defendant’s witness stated at the hearing: ‘I am the HR manager. The plaintiff worked in social affairs in the HR department. The plaintiff resigned. Two months prior, she told me she was looking for another job, and one week before termination, she said she had a friend in the company whom she might marry and therefore wanted to leave. She submitted a resignation letter, but she was not yet married at that time.’
Although the plaintiff claimed that the resignation letter was written and signed under the guidance of the HR manager, the burden of proof regarding any defect of will rests with the plaintiff. It could not be proven that the resignation letter was submitted under duress or that the plaintiff’s termination was justified, and her statements are considered abstract. The court erred in partially accepting the claim for severance and notice pay while valuing a resignation that lacked a legitimate reason, necessitating annulment…” (Supreme Court, 9th Civil Chamber, 2016/18653 E., 2020/6461 K., 25.06.2020)
“…For a female employee to benefit from this provision, her marriage must, of course, be legally formalized in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code. Furthermore, for the application of this provision, the woman must have terminated her employment contract within one year from the date of marriage; this period is a statute of limitation (Mollamahmutoğlu, H./ Astarlı, M./ Baysal, U.: Labor Law, Revised and Expanded 6th Edition, Ankara 2014, p. 1122). Similarly, a female employee who marries after leaving her job cannot benefit from severance pay under this provision. Also, if the female employee terminates her employment contract due to a forthcoming marriage—i.e., to prepare for a future marriage—she is not entitled to severance pay under this provision. Accordingly, the female employee who can benefit from severance pay under this provision is one who is employed under an employer, gets married, and terminates her employment contract within one year from the date of marriage…” (General Assembly of Law, 2015/3743 E., 2018/81 K., 24.01.2018)
Lawyer. Gökhan AKGÜL & Lawyer. Yasemin ERAK
ANTALYA LABOR LAW ATTORNEY – ANTALYA WORKERS’ ATTORNEY
Termination of an employment contract due to marriage is an important legal right, especially granted to female employees. A female employee who voluntarily terminates her employment within one year from the date of marriage is entitled to severance pay. Proper management of this process is crucial to avoid loss of rights. With the support of an Antalya attorney, you can exercise your right to terminate due to marriage correctly and receive professional legal guidance in case of potential disputes with your employer. Our team of Antalya labor law attorneys, experienced in the field, is by your side to protect your rights and achieve the fairest outcome.
