340 NEWSLETTER 2021 Legal Grounds and the Scope of Joint Liability Pursuant toTurkish Code of Obligations numbered 6098 (“TCO”), joint liability means that each of more than one debtor is responsible for the entire debt to the creditor. Below, the legal regulations under which the primary employer and the sub-employer are legally jointly liable and the scope of these regulations will be examined. Labor Law The responsibility of an employer to its employees arises from the employment contract between them or the mandatory provisions of the law-governed by this employment contract. Therefore, the primary employer has various responsibilities and obligations to its employees, both contractually and legally, due to the employment contract between them. There is no contractual relationship between the primary employer and the employees of the sub-employer. Nevertheless, pursuant to Article 2/7 of the Labor Code, the primary employer, together with the sub-employer, are liable for the obligations arising from the Labor Code, the employment contract, or the collective labor agreement to which the sub-employer is a party, to the employees of the sub-employer. With this regulation, the legislator has stipulated joint liability arising from the law to protect the sub-employer’s employees as the employees of the primary employer.As a result of this obligation, the sub-employer’s employee may apply to both the sub-employer and the primary employer separately or together for the performance of his/her receivables. Pursuant to the Supreme Court, with respect to the scope of the joint liability in terms of individual labor law, notice, severance, bad faith, and reinstatement compensations, and all labor receivables, such as wages, overtime work, week holidays, general holidays, annual leave, bonus, premium, meals and road allowances are included.1 On the other hand, there are different opinions in the doctrine regarding the calculation of the primary employer’s obligation arising from the receivables which are dependent as to the period of service, such as severance pay and annual leave. In terms of collective labor law, the responsibility of the primary employer comes into question for the 1 9th CC of the Supreme Court, No. 2008/23429 E. 2008/20721 K., 21.07.2008.
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