What is The Scope of The Maritime Labour Law??

In Turkish law, the general principle is that all employment contracts are subject to Labour Law No. 4857. However, the distinctive nature of certain special employment relationships necessitates their subjection to different legal regulations. Taking this into consideration, the legislator, in Article 4 of Labour Law No. 4857, stipulated that the provisions of the Labour Law shall not apply to maritime transport work and enacted the necessary legal regulations within the scope of maritime labour law through Maritime Labour Law No. 854.

For a maritime transport operation to be subject to the Maritime Labour Law, one of the following three conditions must be met:

• The employer engaged in maritime transport operates a vessel entitled to fly the Turkish flag and having a gross tonnage of 100 or more,
• The total gross tonnage of the vessels operated by the employer engaged in maritime transport is 100 or more,
• The employer employs 5 or more seafarers.

If one of these three conditions is met, the worker, who is the obligor of the work performance in the relevant maritime transport operation, shall be subject to the Maritime Labour Law. In other words, all employment relationships of such a worker shall be resolved according to the Maritime Labour Law. Conversely, if none of these three conditions are present, the provisions of the Turkish Code of Obligations shall apply to the relationship between the worker and the employer.

Although maritime transport operations are generally excluded from the scope of the Labour Law, loading and unloading operations performed on vessels at coasts, ports, and piers are exceptionally included within the scope of the Labour Law. In this context, a worker performing the loading of goods onto a vessel or the unloading of goods from a vessel shall be subject to the Labour Law.

Therefore, the nature of the work performed by the worker within the scope of maritime transport, along with certain conditions that the employer may or may not possess, plays a role in determining the law to which that worker shall be subject.

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Pursuant to Article 2 of the Maritime Labour Law, an employer is defined as the shipowner or the person operating the vessel on their own behalf and for their own account, while a seafarer refers to the captain, crew, and other individuals working on board a vessel under an employment contract. In this context, seafarers constitute the employee party to employment contracts under the Maritime Labour Law.

Severance pay entitlement for a worker under the Maritime Labour Law does not arise in every instance of employment contract termination. For example, if an employer terminates a seafarer's employment contract based on grounds for immediate termination, the seafarer will not be entitled to severance pay. Similarly, if the seafarer has terminated the employment contract through ordinary termination, no severance pay entitlement will arise.

In the following cases, a seafarer is entitled to severance pay:

• Termination of the employment contract by the employer through ordinary termination
• Termination of the employment contract by the seafarer through immediate termination
• Termination of the employment contract due to compulsory military service
• Termination of the employment contract by the seafarer for the purpose of receiving old-age, retirement, disability pension, or a lump-sum payment from affiliated institutions or funds
• Termination of the employment contract upon the death of the seafarer
• Automatic termination of the employment contract due to the loss, abandonment, declaration as a prize of war, or loss of the right to fly the Turkish flag by the vessel

According to the Maritime Labour Law, for each full year elapsed from the seafarer's start date until the termination of the employment contract, the seafarer shall be paid an amount equivalent to 30 days' wages. For periods remaining less than a full year, payment shall be made proportionally. You can ascertain the amount of severance pay you are entitled to from our severance pay calculation page.

A crucial factor in determining severance pay is the worker's period of service. Accordingly, the worker's period of service shall be calculated by summing all periods worked for the same employer on board their vessel(s) and in their service, starting from the first day of employment. The fact that the employment contract may have been re-established periodically during this period shall not affect the calculation of the period of service.

Which Wage is Taken as the Basis for Severance Pay Calculation?

According to the Maritime Labour Law, severance pay is calculated based on 30 days' wages for each year of the seafarer's period of service. The calculation shall be made based on the seafarer's last wage.

However, in some employment relationships, the seafarer's wage may not be fixed. Indeed, wage determination may have been made on a lump-sum basis or by percentage. In such cases, the wages paid to the seafarer in the last year shall be divided by the number of days worked during that period to find the average wage, and the severance pay calculation shall then be made based on this average wage.

How is Severance Pay Calculated in Case of a Seafarer's Death?

According to the Maritime Labour Law, there is no change in the calculation of severance pay in the event of a seafarer's death. In such a case, the calculated amount of severance pay shall be paid to the seafarer's legal heirs.

What is a Seafarer's Daily Working Hours?

Pursuant to the Maritime Labour Law, a seafarer's working hours are 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, and this period must be equally distributed among the working days of the week. Working hours refer to the time during which the seafarer is on duty or keeping watch.

It is mandatory for the employer to display the aforementioned working hours, as well as the seafarers' meal and rest breaks, in a clearly understandable schedule, posted in a place visible to all seafarers.

How is Overtime Pay Calculated According to the Maritime Labour Law?

According to the Maritime Labour Law, overtime pay arises when the seafarer's working hours, as specified above, are exceeded. In other words, if a seafarer has worked more than 8 hours per day or more than 48 hours per week, they are entitled to overtime pay.

The remuneration payable for each hour of overtime work cannot be less than 25% of the hourly wage calculated based on the normal working wage. The legislator has set a minimum limit for overtime pay. There is no impediment to overtime pay being more than 25% of the normal hourly wage.

How is an Employment Contract Terminated According to the Maritime Labour Law?

According to the Maritime Labour Law, there are two primary methods for the termination of employment contracts. Parties may resort to immediate termination, which does not require any notice period, provided certain conditions are met. In the absence of these specific conditions, the employment contract shall terminate only after a certain period following notice given to the other party. In other words, ordinary termination will come into play.

How is Immediate Termination Effected?

The grounds for immediate termination of employment contracts subject to the Maritime Labour Law are regulated in Article 14 of the Maritime Labour Law. In cases falling within the scope of this article, the party entitled to terminate may directly terminate the employment contract without being obliged to give any notice period to the other party.

An employer may immediately terminate an employment contract based on one of the following reasons:

• The seafarer fails to return to the vessel before its departure from a port or, despite returning, fails to commence service,
• The seafarer is unable to perform service on board due to reasons such as arrest, imprisonment, or prohibition from working on the vessel,
• The seafarer acts contrary to the working conditions arising from law or the employment contract towards the employer,
• The seafarer acts contrary to generally accepted maritime rules and customs or morality towards the employer.

A seafarer may immediately terminate an employment contract based on one of the following reasons:

• Their wages, which should be paid according to legal provisions or the employment contract, are not paid as required,
• The employer acts contrary to law or the employment contract towards the seafarer,
• The employer acts contrary to generally accepted maritime rules and customs or morality and decency towards the seafarer.

Both the employer, the employer's representative, and the seafarer may immediately terminate the employment contract if one of the following two conditions exists:

• The vessel is taken out of service for more than 30 days for any reason,
• The seafarer contracts an illness or becomes disabled, permanently preventing them from working on board the vessel for any reason.

What is the Procedure for Immediate Termination?

According to the Maritime Labour Law, an employer or seafarer wishing to terminate an employment contract based on grounds for immediate termination must give notice of termination to the other party within 6 working days from the date they learned of the termination ground, and in any case, within 1 year from the occurrence of the termination ground. These periods are peremptory (statutory limitation periods), and if the right is not exercised within the specified periods, the right to terminate shall lapse.

How Does an Employment Contract Automatically Terminate Under the Maritime Labour Law?

If a vessel is lost, abandoned, declared a prize of war, or ceases to fly the Turkish flag, the employment contract is automatically dissolved. This situation is referred to as the dissolution of the contract, and the contract terminates automatically without the need for any further action by the parties. If the vessel continues to have the right to fly the Turkish flag, the transfer of its ownership to another person does not necessitate the termination of the employment contract.

What are the Conditions for Ordinary Termination and Notice Pay According to the Maritime Labour Law?

Employment contracts of indefinite duration established within an employment relationship subject to the Maritime Labour Law cannot be terminated unless 6 months have passed since the seafarer's employment, in the absence of grounds for immediate termination. For the termination of indefinite-term employment contracts, the terminating party must first notify the other party. The timing of the employment contract's termination after such notice will vary depending on the seafarer's length of service.

Accordingly, the relevant employment contract shall terminate: two weeks after notice is given to the other party for a seafarer whose employment has lasted less than 6 months; four weeks after notice is given to the other party for a seafarer whose employment has lasted from 6 months to 1.5 years; six weeks after notice is given to the other party for a seafarer whose employment has lasted from 1.5 years to 3 years; and eight weeks after notice is given to the other party for a seafarer whose employment has lasted more than 3 years. While these periods may be extended by contract, they cannot be reduced. In other words, the legislator has stipulated these periods as minimums.

How is Notice Pay Calculated According to the Maritime Labour Law?

Pursuant to the Maritime Labour Law, if a party terminates the contract through ordinary termination without observing the relevant notice periods, they shall be obliged to pay the other party an amount equivalent to the wages corresponding to that period as notice pay.

If the reason for the seafarer's dismissal is based on a trade union-related ground, such as being a member or non-member of a trade union, or filing a complaint, or any reason generally constituting an abuse of the right to terminate, the employer shall be obliged to pay the seafarer the amount of compensation corresponding to the relevant period determined by their length of service.

Av. Mehmet Yücesoy

İzmir Attorney & Legal Consultancy