What is alt işveren under Turkish labour law?
Under Turkish Labour Law (4857 Sayılı İş Kanunu) Article 2(6)-(7), an alt işveren (subcontractor employer) is an employer that undertakes a specific portion of the principal employer’s (asıl işveren) production or service operations, in connection with auxiliary tasks or specialised areas requiring technological expertise, and employs its own workers at the principal employer’s workplace. The structure is heavily regulated to prevent disguised employment and ensure worker protections.
Statutory conditions for valid alt işveren relationship
- Connection to a specific job: the subcontracted work must be a defined portion of the principal’s operations.
- Auxiliary or technologically specialised: not all work can be subcontracted.
- Worker identity: subcontractor’s workers must not be previously rights-held workers of the principal in the same operation.
- Workplace registration: alt işveren-asıl işveren contract must be in writing.
Joint and several liability
Article 2(6) imposes joint and several liability (müteselsil sorumluluk) on the principal employer for the subcontractor’s obligations toward its workers arising from labour law, the employment contract, and the collective bargaining agreement to which the subcontractor is a party. Workers can claim unpaid wages, severance, notice pay, and overtime directly from the principal employer.
Muvazaa risk and Yargıtay practice
Yargıtay (Court of Cassation) strictly examines whether the subcontracting structure is a sham (muvazaalı). If found sham, all subcontractor workers are deemed principal employer’s workers from the start, with full back-pay claims. Common red flags: subcontractor lacks independent operations, workers managed by principal’s supervisors, no technological specialisation, work was previously done by principal’s employees.
Do: document the technological/auxiliary nature of subcontracted work; keep subcontractor management independent; comply with Yönetmelik registration.
Don’t: use alt işveren structures to circumvent severance, union, or social security obligations — Yargıtay’s muvazaa analysis is unforgiving.