The path of slavery to the expatriate worker

Turkish Bad news came for workers working day and night on construction sites in countries where contractors were hired. Contrary to the practices so far, the General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Appeals made a surprise decision that, in case of disagreement between the employee and the employer, the legal norms of the country of work will prevail instead of Turkish law.

EXPENDITURE OF 70 THOUSAND TL

Turkish workers going to some countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Black Sea coast, which are in a bad situation in terms of labor rights, will now be able to work in very difficult conditions, almost like slaves. Nor will it work for workers to go to court to obtain their rights.

Because in most of the countries where Turkish workers are employed, rights such as severance pay, overtime and holiday work lag far behind those in Turkey.

Since the decision of the General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which has completely changed the jurisprudence so far (Sentence number 13 of May 2023 and 2023/428), constitutes a new jurisprudence, it will be valid not only for workers’ lawsuits that are filed in the future, but also for tens of thousands of lawsuits that are still pending.

Expatriate workers, hoping to be rewarded for their harsh working conditions with a $30-40,000 claim against their employer, are said to be in for a big disappointment in the coming days. It was claimed that workers who work long hours on construction sites abroad without saying holidays, national days, day and night, whose rights are not paid, but who keep silent there so as not to lose their job, will not be able to get their rights and will have to pay legal costs of 60-70 thousand lira.

Constitutional Court Last Hope

decision Evaluating the lawyer Ünaldı Topaklı, he said that there are provisions in Turkish law that protect workers and that work is open to exploitation because the rules of underdeveloped countries that do not care about workers will be valid in cases. Stating that with the decision, lawyers, prosecutors and judges were required to know the laws of hundreds of countries, Ünaldı stated that due to reasons such as translation and expertise, the cost of filing a lawsuit became too expensive and the hope of compensation diminished. Ünaldı also stated that an application was filed with the Constitutional Court for the annulment of the decision.