Is an Employee Entitled to Benefit from a Wage Increase Implemented During the Notice Period

a) For an employee whose employment lasted less than six months, two weeks after the notice is given to the other party,
 

b) For an employee whose employment lasted between six months and one and a half years, four weeks after the notice is given to the other party,
 

c) For an employee whose employment lasted between one and a half and three years, six weeks after the notice is given to the other party,
 

d) For an employee whose employment lasted more than three years, eight weeks after the notice is given.
 

The party who fails to comply with the notice requirement is obliged to pay the other party compensation in the amount of the wages corresponding to the notice period. These periods constitute minimum limits and may be extended by contract; however, they cannot be shortened to the detriment of the employee.
 

The established precedents of the Civil Chambers of the Court of Cassation responsible for adjudicating labour disputes indicate that the employer is liable for wage increases implemented during the notice period and that the employee is entitled to benefit from such increases. According to scholarly opinion, the employment relationship continues until the end of the notice period, even after a notice of termination has been given (Hamdi Mollamahmutoğlu, Muhittin Astarlı, Ulaş Baysal, İş Hukuku, Ankara, Updated Seventh Edition, 2022, p. 956). Accordingly, if the employee continues working until the end of the notice period and a wage increase is implemented in the workplace during this time, it is clear that the increased wage must be taken into account when calculating the employee's termination-related entitlements.
 

At this point, the dispute focuses on whether the employee is entitled to benefit from the wage increase in cases where an indefinite-term employment contract is terminated by the employer without granting the statutory notice period and the notice compensation is not paid in full.
 

• By the decision of the Denizli Regional Court of Appeal, 5th Civil Chamber, dated 10.01.2025 and numbered 2024/176 (Merits) and 2024/211 (Decision), the judgment of the First Instance Court-which determined the claimant's final wage affecting the calculation of the compensation claims based on the termination date, and accordingly did not accept the claimant's request to benefit from wage increases that would occur within the notice period-was found to be lawful and appropriate. The claimant's attorney's appeal request, asserting that the termination date of 27.12.2022 should not be taken as the basis and that the "final wage should instead be determined according to the minimum wage applicable as of the date on which the notice period would have expired, namely the 2023 minimum wage," was therefore dismissed.
   

• By the decision of the İzmir Regional Court of Appeal, 9th Civil Chamber, dated 28.03.2019 and numbered 2017/2685 (Merits) and 2019/373 (Decision), the judgment of the First Instance Court-where the claimant employee's final wage was determined without allowing him to benefit from wage increases that would occur during the notice period, and calculations were made on the basis of this wage-was found to be incorrect. The Court held that, in cases where the employer terminates the employment contract without granting the statutory notice period and without paying the full amount of notice compensation, the employee whose contract is terminated must also benefit from the wage increase implemented in the workplace until the end of the notice period. Accordingly, the judgment of the First Instance Court was overturned, and a new ruling was issued in line with these considerations.
   

• Upon examination of the decision of the Samsun Regional Court of Appeal, 8th Civil Chamber, dated 25.12.2020 and numbered 2020/1885 (Merits) and 2020/2138 (Decision), it appears that the First Instance Court judgment subject to appellate review concerned certain labour receivables. In the reasoning of the First Instance Court's decision, there is a section providing general explanations regarding severance pay, as follows: "The wage to be taken as the basis for the calculation of severance pay is the employee's final wage. In other words, it is the wage that is applicable at the moment the employment contract is terminated. In cases where the employment contract is terminated by granting the statutory notice period, the termination is deemed to occur on the date on which the notice period expires; therefore, the wage applicable on that date must be taken as the basis. Conversely, where the employer terminates the employment contract without granting the statutory notice period and without (fully) paying the notice compensation, the employee whose contract is terminated must also benefit from any wage increase implemented in the workplace until the end of the notice period, and the severance pay must be calculated on the basis of this increased wage." It is understood that this explanation was included in the decision of the Regional Court of Appeal merely because the reasoning of the First Instance Court judgment was incorporated by way of quotation, and that, in essence, this explanation is not directly related to the specific dispute at hand.
   

It was asserted that there was a divergence among the aforementioned decisions of the different Regional Courts of Appeal, and the referral of the file to the 9th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation was requested in order to resolve the conflict. Upon examination and evaluation, the 9th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation, by its decision dated 18.06.2025 and numbered 2025/1599 (Merits) and 2025/5178 (Decision), concluded that the inconsistency between the Regional Court of Appeal decisions should be resolved in line with the ruling of the İzmir Regional Court of Appeal, which held that, where an indefinite-term employment contract is terminated without granting the statutory notice period and without fully paying the notice compensation, the employee must benefit from any wage increase implemented in the workplace until the end of the notice period.
 

Pursuant to the decision of the 9th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation dated 18.06.2025, an employee is entitled to benefit from any wage increases that take place during the notice period while actively working, and likewise, where an indefinite-term employment contract is terminated by the employer without granting the statutory notice period and without fully paying the notice compensation, the employee shall also benefit from the wage increases implemented during the notice period. However, where the employer terminates the contract without granting the notice period but fully pays the notice compensation, the employee shall not be entitled to benefit from such wage increases.