NEWSLETTER-2017

341 PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION Breach of the Right to Govern Employees are not under the obligation to obey instructions that are against public order, law, ethics, and/or personal rights. If an employer terminates an employment contract due to improper orders that are beyond his/her right to govern, s/he will be faced with the employee seeking remedies for termination without just cause, invalid termination, and/or termination in bad faith. In the event of an abuse of the right to govern, employees shall be entitled to terminate their con- tracts with just cause and request compensation. In addition, it should be stated that if employers use their right to govern by breaching the principle of equal treatment, then it is possible that the said employer shall be levied with an administrative fine 8 . Conclusion Employers fill the loopholes in the legislation, employment con- tracts, and workplace practices through their right to govern; however, they are not as independent as it may seem. Employers who wish to extend their right to govern should add provisions to the contracts re- garding the fields they would like to move more freely in bearing in mind the limits of the legislation. In addition, they must respect their employees’ private lives and personal data while organizing working conditions and codes of conduct. Employers shall obtain the express consent of their employees before installing systems, within the scope of their right to govern, in order to protect their resources, avoid legal and criminal remedies, assess performances, and/or due to operational causes, legal responsibilities, confidentiality concerns, or their obli- gation to protect their employees, and shall inform their employees regarding the process. Otherwise, the applied systems would not have any basis in law, and may trigger the employers’ obligations thereun- der. 8 Labor Law numbered 4827, Article 99.a.