Yargıtay rules five-year statute of limitations for annual leave pay

The Turkish Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) 9th Civil Chamber has issued a landmark ruling regarding the statute of limitations for unpaid annual leave wages. The court determined that the statute of limitations for claiming unused annual leave pay is five years, rather than the ten-year period previously applied to the 2012–2017 period.

This five-year period begins from the date the employment contract is terminated. The decision follows the merger of the 22nd and 9th Civil Chambers in 2020 and aligns with the 7036 Labor Courts Law, which established the five-year limit for claims arising from employment contracts.

The ruling stems from a case involving a deceased ironworker who had worked for 11 years at an overseas construction site. His relatives sued for various unpaid benefits, including annual leave, after he passed away without receiving his dues. While lower courts had previously applied a ten-year limit, the Court of Cassation overturned this, clarifying that the five-year rule applies even to claims from previous periods.