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Notice Pay and Severance Pay Are Not the Same Thing

Mixing these two up when leaving a job is extremely common, but they're paid under different conditions and different amounts.

Summary

Both come up when leaving a job, both have "compensation" in the name, and that's exactly why people keep mixing them up. The difference is actually pretty clear once you see it.

Step by step

  1. Severance pay goes to an employee with at least 1 year of service who leaves for a legally valid reason (whether initiated by the employer or one of the just-cause reasons in the law). It's calculated as 30 days' gross wage per full year worked, capped at 73,729.87 TRY/month in the second half of 2026.
  2. Notice pay works on a completely different logic: when either party ends the contract, they're supposed to give advance notice. If that notice isn't given, the notice period gets paid out as compensation instead.
  3. The notice period scales with seniority: 2 weeks up to 6 months, 4 weeks between 6 months and 1.5 years, 6 weeks between 1.5 and 3 years, 8 weeks beyond that.
  4. So an employee can receive both severance and notice pay, they're not mutually exclusive. In most valid-termination cases, both get calculated together.
  5. A common mistake: assuming notice pay is somehow bundled into severance. It isn't, they're separate line items that need to be calculated and paid separately.

Why it matters

Leaving a job is often discussed in a hurry, and documents signed at that moment can be hard to undo. If you don't know which payments you're entitled to, it's easy to accept a single lump sum as "everything." Telling the two apart lets you check the numbers and ask the right question. For readers outside Turkey: severance pay (kıdem tazminatı) rewards length of service, while notice pay (ihbar tazminatı) replaces a notice period that wasn't given.

General picture by type of exit

These are the general rules under Turkish labour law. Details of a specific case can change the outcome.

  • Employer dismisses you without just cause and without notice: if the conditions are met, both severance and notice pay come into play.
  • You resign of your own accord: as a rule, no severance is due. If you leave without working your notice period, you may owe notice pay to the employer instead.
  • You terminate for a just cause listed in the law, such as unpaid wages: severance may be due, and you don't have to serve a notice period.
  • Employer terminates immediately over serious misconduct: usually neither payment is due.
  • A fixed-term contract simply runs out: notice pay doesn't apply.

How they're taxed

The two payments are taxed differently too. Severance pay is exempt from income tax within the legal limits, while notice pay is subject to income tax. So two payments with the same gross amount can leave you with different net amounts.

A worked scenario

An employee with two years and eight months of service is dismissed one morning with no notice. Since that's between 1.5 and 3 years, the notice period is 6 weeks, and because it wasn't given, 6 weeks' pay is due as notice pay. Severance is calculated separately for the two full years plus the extra eight months. If the employer hands over a single total, the employee should ask in writing how it breaks down.

When to get legal advice

If you're asked to sign a mutual termination agreement or a release form, talk to an employment lawyer before signing. In Turkey, claims for these payments must go to mandatory mediation before court. Check figures that change periodically, such as the severance cap, with official sources.