What is a fixed-term employment contract in Türkiye?
A fixed-term employment contract (belirli süreli iş sözleşmesi) is an employment agreement that ends on a set date or on completion of a defined work. Under Article 11 of the Turkish Labour Code (Law No. 4857), it is the exception, not the rule: it must be in writing and requires an objective justification — work of a fixed duration, a specific project, or a similar objective condition. Without one, the contract is treated as indefinite-term from the start.
The chain-contract trap
Renewing fixed-term contracts back to back (“chaining”) without a new essential reason converts the relationship into an indefinite-term contract retroactively. Turkish courts police this strictly, because fixed-term status strips the employee of job-security protections — so employers who roll the same contract every year are usually holding an indefinite contract without knowing it.
What founders get wrong
Startups reach for fixed terms hoping to avoid severance and notice obligations, but the math rarely works: at natural expiry there is no notice pay, yet Court of Cassation case law grants severance pay to fixed-term employees whose contract ends after at least one year in circumstances that would entitle an indefinite-term employee. Early termination without just cause can trigger damages for the remaining term (residual-term wages), which can exceed ordinary exit costs. For genuinely temporary needs — a funded project, a maternity-leave cover — the tool fits; as a default hiring template, it creates risk instead of removing it.
Does a fixed-term employee get severance?
Often yes — one year of service plus qualifying end circumstances can found entitlement; assuming “fixed term = no severance” is the single most common employer error.
Can we renew once?
Renewal is possible only with an essential reason justifying it; each renewal needs its own objective basis, and repetition without one collapses the structure into an indefinite contract.
Related: severance pay (kıdem tazminatı).