Termination of labor contract by death, presumption of death or absence

Under Articles 440 and 441 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, the employment contract expires with the death of the worker, and in the event of the death of the employer, the employment contract shall in principle continue with the inheritors of the employer. If the employment contract is established mainly by considering the personality of the employer, the employment contract ends with the death of the employer. Although the effect of the parties' being considered dead due to presumption of death or absence on the employment contract is not regulated separately, the same results arise because the Turkish Civil Code dictates that in these cases results of death will occur. In the aforementioned provisions of the Turkish Code of Obligations, if the employment contract expires with the death of the worker, death payment shall be paid to the relatives of the worker specified in the law, and in case of termination of the contract with the death of the employer, the employee may request compensation from the inheritors of the employer due to the termination of the contract. As the Turkish Code of Obligations is a general law according to individual labor laws, these provisions also apply to workers subject to Labor Code and Maritime Labor Code. Because, there is no other provision in these codes for the same purpose, which requires payment to the worker under the same conditions. Since the Press Labor Code includes the provision of death compensation, the death payment specified in the Turkish Code of Obligations shall not be paid to the workers subject to this Law. In case of termination of the contract by the death of one of the parties, if the other conditions specified in the law are met, the employee shall be paid severance payment, annual leave fee, wage and overtime fee. For the claims regulated in Articles 440 and 441 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, no action can be filed in labor courts due to failure to meet the party clause specified in the Labor Courts Code. Similarly, in the Labor Law, the case cannot be brought before the labor courts as it is stated that the severance payment will be paid to the legal inheritors of the employee in the event of the death of the employee. The beneficiaries should bring proceedings before the civil courts of general jurisdiction. As the inheritors are entitled under the principle of total subrogation, the labor courts are competent for the issues about annual leave fee, wage and overtime fee. Also under the third article of the Labor Courts Code, it is obligatory to apply to the mediator for these issues.