According to Turkish labor law, an employee whose employment contract has been terminated must apply for mediation within one month following receipt of the termination notice to request reinstatement. This application is a procedural prerequisite for filing a lawsuit before the labor court. Pursuant to Article 3(15) (“Rule”) of the Labor Courts Law numbered 7036, when a primary–subcontractor relationship existed, the employee was required to initiate mediation proceedings against both the primary and the subcontractor employers jointly. However, the Constitutional Court annulled this provision in its decision dated 3 June 2025.
The Rule had been introduced to prevent potential disputes regarding standing in cases where the primary–subcontractor relationship was found to be invalid or colorable, and to ensure that both employers participated in the mediation process together. The Constitutional Court emphasized that the main purpose of the mediation process in reinstatement claims is to facilitate reconciliation between the parties, but that the joint application requirement instead complicated the process and rendered it ineffective.
Upon review, the Constitutional Court has concluded that the Rule placed an excessive burden on employees and disproportionately restricted their right to a fair trial regulated under Article 36 of the Constitution. The Constitutional Court reasoned that, in most cases, employees may not be able to identify or determine the scope of a primary–subcontractor relationship before initiating the mediation process. Consequently, requiring them to include both employers in the application made it unduly difficult for employees to exercise their legal rights.
The Court further underlined that alternative dispute resolution mechanisms cannot interfere with fundamental rights in a disproportionate manner. In this case, it was found that the provision failed to strike a fair balance between the public interest pursued by the rule and the employee’s individual right to access the court. Therefore, the Constitutional Court held that the rule violated the principle of proportionality.
You can access the full text of the Decision via this link. (only available in Turkish)
