In short
A signature does not erase every employment claim automatically. The kind of the document and the payment record are read separately. In a worker's release, the written form, the period after the termination, the kind and the amount of the claim, and the bank payment are looked for together. The panic of the day of leaving is in the article I was dismissed. The amount that was paid is not ignored. The remaining item is looked at against the condition of the document.
Your having signed a document, when leaving the job, that writes "I received all my rights" does not mean, in every situation, that all your employment claims have ended. Workers' releases are tied in the law to strict conditions. What is determinative is not the name of the document, but when it was signed, which claims it showed in which amount, and how the payment was made.
The first thing to be done is to obtain a readable copy of the release and the relevant bank movements. The day of the signature, the date of the termination, and the date of the payment should be recorded separately. This text is general information. An assessment particular to the person, in the form of valid or invalid, cannot be made without the content of the document being seen.
A release, a receipt, and a waiver are not the same thing
A release is a document in which the creditor declares that he releases the debtor from a certain debt. In the employment relationship, the worker may declare that he releases the employer as regards claims such as seniority, notice, wage, leave, or overtime. For the purpose of the protection of the worker, special conditions of validity are applied to this declaration.
A receipt shows that the payment was received. Even if a document does not carry the conditions of a release, it can show the effect of a receipt as regards a payment that was really made. For example, if a certain amount was deposited into the bank account with the explanation "seniority compensation", this payment is appropriated from the same claim.
A waiver is mostly a procedural institution in the sense of giving up the right of claim in an action that was brought. A mediation agreement document is also a special contract the parties formed before the mediator. The results of these four documents are not the same. "Release" being written in the heading does not show that the content automatically has that legal character.
The basic conditions looked for for validity
The Turkish Code of Obligations ties a release contract relating to the worker's claims against the employer to strict conditions. In general, the following elements are looked for together:
- The contract should be in writing.
- As of the date of the release, at least one month should have passed from the end of the employment contract.
- The kind of the claim that is the subject of the release should be stated openly.
- The amount of each claim should be separate and certain.
- The payment should be made through the bank in a manner fitting the amount of the right.
The lack of one of these conditions can do away with the release effect of the document. If the payment was really made, the amount in which it was paid is not ignored. A document that contains an incomplete payment can be assessed as a receipt instead of a release, and the remaining claim can be the subject of a request.
"It is a valid and irrevocable release" being written in the standard text the employer prepared does not cure the statutory lack. In the same way, the worker's sentence "I signed with my free will" does not hold the place of the one-month period or of the bank-payment condition.
Why is the one-month period looked for?
On the day the employment contract ends, the worker may be under economic and psychological pressure. In order to be able to receive the last wage, the leaving documents, or a reference, he may not be able to assess sufficiently the text placed before him. The waiting period of at least one month in the law aims to prevent a hasty release being taken in this sensitive period.
The period is calculated from the date on which the employment contract ended in law. If the date on the release and the actual date of the signature do not match, the real date can be researched with evidence. A date being put backwards harms the reliability of the document.
An account slip or a payment document drawn up on the day of termination is not entirely unimportant. It may not carry the character of a release. It can show which amount was paid to the worker. For this reason, the approach "one month has not passed, I can throw the document away" is not correct. The document and the bank record should be kept together.
The kind and the amount of the claim should be written separately
For a valid release, collective expressions such as "I have no claim against the employer" may not be seen as enough. Which claim is how much should be shown openly. Seniority, notice, annual leave, wage, and overtime are different items.
The following structure can be found on an example account slip:
- Seniority compensation: the period, the gross amount, and the deduction
- Notice compensation: the notice period and the calculation
- Unused leave: the number of days and the wage
- The last month's wage: the days worked and the net payment
- Overtime: the period and the accrual that was appropriated
Only a net total being on the document leaves uncertain which claim closed. The figure that was written should also be compared with the amount the worker was really entitled to. If an incomplete amount was written and a payment of that much was made through the bank, a release effect may not arise as regards the remaining part.
The omission of the dressed-wage elements in the seniority calculation is a problem often met. For this calculation, the wage components in the guide how is seniority compensation calculated? can be examined.
The bank payment, and the condition of full payment
For it to be accepted that the worker's claims ended by a release, the payment being made through the bank, and in a manner fitting the amount of the right, is looked for. The bank record makes the date of the payment, the sender, and most often the explanation visible. A claim of a payment by hand creates a problem both as regards the statutory condition and as regards proof.
The total deposited into the bank account should match the items on the document. If the employer made more than one payment on the same day, the explanation of each should be checked. Whether an amount with the explanation "wage" can be appropriated to the seniority compensation may be disputable.
If the payment is incomplete, even if the document is accepted as entirely ineffective, the amount that was received is appropriated. The worker cannot ask again for the money he really received. The discussion is what the remaining amount is, and whether the signed document is effective over this remaining part.
How is the signature and the copy of the document checked?
First examine all the pages of the document and the annexes. A signature being on the last page can give rise to the question whether the earlier pages belong to the same text. The page number, the initials, the date, and the blank spaces should be checked.
If it is claimed that the signature does not belong to you, the examination of the original of the document, and, when needed, an examination of the signature, may come onto the agenda. If the signature belongs to you but the text was filled later, a blank signature, the character of the writing, a difference of print, a witness, and the correspondence of the person who delivered the document gain importance.
If a copy of the document was not given, ask for it from the employer in writing. In the text of the request, the date of the signature and the name of the document should be stated. If the employer does not present it, the production of the document can be asked for in the mediation or at the action stage. Making an assessment of the claim based only on memory, without seeing its content, is not sound.
A claim of pressure, of a mistake, or of deceit
The worker may sometimes put forward that he was told "we will make the payment only if you sign this", that a blank paper was signed, or that the document was presented for another purpose. A threat, intimidation, deceit, and an important mistake are examined as regards a vitiated will.
The claim should be made concrete. The following evidence can be useful:
- The messages before and after the signature
- The persons who know the conditions of delivery of the document at the workplace
- Correspondence showing that the payment was tied to the signature
- Traces of a later addition on the date or on the text
- The worker's written objection made on the same day
- The bank record not matching the amount written on the document
Relying on a vitiated will can have results of a period. For this reason, it should not be waited with the thought "it is invalid anyway". A lack of the statutory form, and a claim of pressure, are separate legal grounds. If one cannot be proved, the other can still be assessed.
What is a document signed on the day of termination useful for?
A classic release taken on the day of termination may not give rise to a release effect, because it does not carry the one-month condition. Despite this, if the document contains the real payment items, it can have the character of a receipt, of an account slip, or of the employer's explanation of the debt. For the worker as well, it can serve as a record that shows which amount he received.
For example, if the document writes the equivalent of ten days of unused leave, and this amount was deposited in the bank, the payment is appropriated. If the worker puts forward that he actually had twenty days of leave, the evidence is examined for the remaining ten days. The document not being a release does not give rise to the result that all the written figures are meaningless.
If the termination notice and the release take place on the same paper, the function of each part should be separated. The worker, while signing that he received the termination, may not have noticed that he waived the claims. The arrangement of the text, its readability, and the signature section play a role in the assessment.
Why is a mediation agreement different?
In compulsory mediation, the parties can agree on certain claims at the end of the process the mediator carried on. This agreement is not the same as an ordinary release the employer prepared one-sidedly. The parties, and their lawyers if there are any, form the agreement document by negotiating certain items of the dispute.
In the agreement document, which claims were resolved, in which amount, and in which term, should be clear. If there is a partial agreement, the items that remain open should be written separately. An uncertain scope can give rise to a dispute later about whether an action can be brought.
The effect of the mediation agreement in the direction of being capable of enforcement, and of an action not being able to be brought, is assessed according to the structure of the signature and the statutory conditions. For this reason, if a signature was put in mediation earlier, looking only at the classic release conditions in the Turkish Code of Obligations is not enough. The final minutes of mediation and the agreement document should also be separated from each other.
The reinstatement period does not wait for the examination of the release
A worker who carries the conditions of job security, if he thinks the termination is invalid, should apply to a mediator within one month from the service of the termination notice. Discussing with the employer whether the release is valid, or waiting for the result of the payment, does not stop this period.
A general document of "I received all my rights" does not do away with the right of reinstatement in every event. A document taken on the day of termination is examined separately as regards the will and the time conditions. Together with this, if an open agreement was made in the mediation meeting on the results of not being reinstated and of the period spent idle, different results can arise.
For the conditions of reinstatement, the short period, and the scope of job security, the content how is a reinstatement action brought? can be used. The calculation of a money claim and the application for reinstatement are not tied to the same calendar.
Mediation and an action despite the release
The worker can apply to mediation for the claims that were not paid, despite the release. In the application, each item of the claim, the period, and the approximate amount should be stated. Which condition the document does not carry, and what the bank records show, can be explained.
If an agreement cannot be reached, an action is brought in the labour court. The employer can present the release as a defence. The court can make the examination in the following order:
- Whether the document really belongs to the worker
- The correctness of the signature and of the date
- Whether the one-month period has passed
- The clarity of the kind and of the amounts of the claims
- The existence and the sufficiency of the bank payments
- The claims of a vitiated will
- The real calculation of the claim, and the appropriations
An expert can make the calculation of the claim over the payrolls and the bank records. The court deducts the valid payments. It makes the legal assessment about the remaining amount and the effect of the document.
The risk of limitation and of delay
The discussion of the release does not stop the limitation of the claims of itself. Talking orally with the employer for months may not take the place of an official application that protects the period. The date of birth of each claim, and the transitional provisions to be applied, should be calculated separately.
An application for mediation gives rise to effects as regards the period. The starting and ending dates should be recorded. Applications subject to a period that causes a loss of the right, such as reinstatement, follow a shorter and separate calendar. The same release being examined both as regards the money claims and as regards reinstatement does not join the periods.
Asking for a copy of the document is important. Waiting without a limit for the employer to answer is not correct. An application can be made with the existing records, and the production of the document can be requested later.
Frequent mistakes
The following approaches after a release can make the seeking of a right harder:
- Guessing the content without taking a copy of the document
- Mixing the date of the termination and the date of the signature
- Ignoring the bank payments in the account
- Taking every general declaration for a valid release
- Accepting a mediation agreement as the same as a classic release
- Missing the one-month period for reinstatement
- Not explaining a claim of pressure with any event or evidence
- Postponing the calculation of limitation until the discussion of the document ends
For the employer as well, having a standard document signed on the day of termination, not explaining the payment items, or making a payment by hand enlarges the dispute. A transparent account slip and a bank explanation produce a sounder record for both sides.
A checklist for assessing the document
For the release in your hand, you can use the following order:
- Determine the date of the termination.
- Confirm the real date of the signature.
- Obtain all the pages of the document.
- Look at whether each kind of claim and its amount are written.
- Match the bank payments with the document.
- If there is an incomplete payment, calculate the remaining claim.
- Keep the evidence belonging to a claim of pressure or of later filling.
- Follow the periods of application for reinstatement and for the claim separately.
- Apply to the mediator with the necessary requests.
The general legal frame of workers' claims is on the page employment law. In the assessment of a release, the approaches of one sentence, "I signed, it ended", or "I signed, it has no effect", are not correct. The statutory conditions, the real payment, and the state of the will should be read together.
This article is not a legal opinion particular to the person. A concrete assessment should be made by examining the original of the document, the bank records, the form of the termination, and the current legislation.
Where the release is read from
An employment lawyer separates the release from a receipt and from a waiver. An employment lawyer reads the kind of the claim with the payment record. An employment lawyer does not count the signature as a result that every item was erased. An Ankara lawyer reads from the record that the office in Çankaya does not choose the competent labour court.
Conclusion
A release does not say "it ended" without the date and the bank record. In most files, a paper of the day of termination descends to the effect of a receipt. The one-month calendar of reinstatement does not stand on the document. It is in the article a reinstatement action. The money that was received is not asked for again.