Do Employers Have a Duty to Notify Employees Before Terminating Their Employment Contracts?

For indefinite-term employment contracts, the party wishing to terminate must give prior notice to the other party. Accordingly, the contract will be deemed terminated:

• Two weeks after notice is served, if the employee’s length of service is less than six months;

• Four weeks after notice is served, if the length of service is six months to one and a half years;

• Six weeks after notice is served, if the length of service is one and a half to three years;

• Eight weeks after notice is served, if the length of service is more than three years.

  
  

These are the statutory minimum notice periods set out in Labor Law No. 4857 and may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties. A party who fails to comply with the notice requirement must pay the other party compensation equal to the employee’s wages for the notice period (payment in lieu of notice).

However, the rule is subject to an exception: the right to immediate termination without notice on the grounds regulated in the Labor Law (i.e., just cause) remains reserved.

AKL

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