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Türkiye’s top court ruled that an employee had effectively resigned by email, saying he was "mentally worn down" and "tired," overturning a lower court decision that had awarded him severance and notice pay.
The Court of Cassation’s 9th Civil Chamber found that the evidence showed the employee, who had worked as a group president at the company for about three years, had terminated his own employment contract.
The chamber also noted that he had not claimed to have ended the contract for a justified reason arising from his working conditions. His claims for severance and notice pay were therefore rejected.
The case began when the employee contacted his employer about problems he said he had faced during the previous year.
He wrote that he had been deliberately subjected to negative treatment and that his bonus had been reduced without his approval. He described himself as mentally worn down and tired while explaining the difficulties he had experienced at work.
The company interpreted the message as a resignation and ended his employment without paying severance or notice compensation.
The employee disputed that interpretation in the Labor Court, maintaining that he had only wanted to inform his employer about the problems he was facing.
He sought severance and notice pay, as well as payments for annual leave, wages, bonuses, overtime, weekly rest days, and national and public holidays.
The Labor Court found that the email did not contain a clear and definitive intention to resign. It also pointed to a later formal notice as evidence that the employee did not want to leave his job.
The court ruled that the employer had failed to prove the contract ended in circumstances that would exclude severance pay and awarded him severance and notice compensation.
The employer appealed, but the Regional Court of Appeal rejected the challenge. The dispute then reached the Court of Cassation, which examined the email, the employer’s response, witness testimony, and other evidence.
After assessing the evidence together, the chamber concluded that the employee had ended the employment relationship himself, overturning the lower court’s decision.
Under Turkish labor law, employees who voluntarily resign generally do not qualify for severance pay, and notice pay is also not owed to an employee who leaves voluntarily.
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