How to use this severance calculator
This tool estimates what a foreign employee is owed on termination of employment in Türkiye: statutory severance pay (kıdem tazminatı), notice compensation (ihbar tazminatı) and the cash value of unused annual leave. Enter five things — gross monthly wage, reason for termination, start date, termination date and unused leave days — and it returns each item separately plus a gross total you can print or copy.
- Use the broadened gross wage, not your base salary. Severance is calculated on the final wage, and Law No. 1475 art. 14 requires the calculation to take into account, in addition to the wage itself, the benefits in money or measurable in money that the employee was given under the contract and under the law. Regular bonuses, employer-paid private health cover, a company car and a housing allowance belong in the figure. Law No. 4857 art. 17 applies the same broadened basis to notice pay. Entering base salary alone understates both.
- Choose the reason for termination honestly. It decides whether severance is payable at all. Under Law No. 1475 art. 14 severance is due where the employer terminates for reasons other than the employee-misconduct ground, where the employee terminates with just cause, on compulsory military service, on qualifying for a retirement pension or lump sum, on a woman employee resigning within one year of marriage, and on the employee’s death — in which case it passes to the legal heirs. A plain resignation, or a dismissal that genuinely falls under the misconduct ground, does not carry severance.
- Enter the real start and end dates. Severance accrues at 30 days’ wage for each full year of service from the day work began, and periods over a full year are paid at the same rate pro rata. Seniority is counted across one employer’s different workplaces and across broken periods, so include earlier spells with the same employer.
- Notice pay follows seniority, not negotiation. Law No. 4857 art. 17 fixes the periods at two weeks under six months’ service, four weeks from six months to a year and a half, six weeks from a year and a half to three years, and eight weeks beyond three years. These are minimums that a contract may increase, and a party that terminates without observing them owes compensation equal to the wage for that period.
- Add unused annual leave. Untaken statutory leave is paid out in cash on the final gross daily rate when the contract ends.
Where to go next. For the underlying rights and how a claim is run from abroad, see unpaid wages and severance for foreign employees. If you were a manager or director, read wrongful dismissal for expat managers — reinstatement is not open to everyone. To check whether you are still in time, use the claim time-limit checker, and note the mandatory mediation deadline set out further down this page.
Turkish labor protections for expat employees and foreign managers
Under Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 and the principle of territoriality (mülkilik), foreign citizens legally employed in Türkiye have identical statutory employment rights to Turkish nationals. Whether you are employed by a Turkish tech startup, an international corporation, a bank, or a manufacturing enterprise, your employer cannot terminate your contract without complying with statutory notice periods and severance obligations.
How Severance Pay (Kıdem Tazminatı) is Calculated
An employee who has worked for at least one full year is entitled to 30 days' gross salary for each year of service. However, under statutory regulation, severance pay is subject to an official statutory severance ceiling (kıdem tazminatı tavanı) determined semi-annually by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
If your monthly gross salary exceeds the statutory ceiling, severance is calculated at the ceiling rate. An employment or collective agreement can improve the 30-day rate, but under Law No. 1475 art. 14 the annual amount it sets cannot exceed the ceiling either.
Notice Pay (İhbar Tazminatı) Entitlements
Under Article 17 of Law No. 4857, if an employer terminates an indefinite employment contract without providing advance written notice periods, it must pay notice compensation equivalent to:
- Tenure under 6 months: 2 weeks of gross salary
- Tenure between 6 months and 1.5 years: 4 weeks of gross salary
- Tenure between 1.5 years and 3 years: 6 weeks of gross salary
- Tenure exceeding 3 years: 8 weeks of gross salary
Constructive Dismissal: Terminating with Just Cause for Unpaid Wages
If your employer delays your salary payments by more than 20 days (Article 34), fails to pay overtime or premiums, or subjects you to mobbing, you are entitled under Labour Law Article 24/II to terminate your employment immediately with just cause (haklı nedenle derhal fesih). In this scenario, you retain full rights to your complete statutory severance pay despite initiating the resignation.
The One-Month Mandatory Mediation Window (Zorunlu Arabuluculuk)
Under Turkish Labor Courts Law (Law No. 7036), direct litigation in Turkish labor courts is inadmissible without first exhausting the mandatory legal mediation process (dava şartı arabuluculuk). For wrongful termination, discrimination, and reinstatement claims (işe iade), you must apply to a mediator within one month of service of the written termination notice (İş K. art. 20/1) — a period reckoned to the corresponding day of the following month, not 30 calendar days. If mediation ends without agreement, the claim must be filed with the Labour Court within two weeks of the final record.