The General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Appeals made a remarkable non-competition decision regarding a worker who started working in a different city after retiring. In the incident subject to the decision, a worker retired after working for approximately 9 years in an accumulator manufacturer operating in Ankara.
The employment contract included a commitment not to work for a competing enterprise within the borders of Ankara or Istanbul for 2 years after leaving the job. In case of violation of this commitment, a penalty of 20 times the employee’s last gross salary was stipulated.
The retired worker soon started working in the Çankırı factory of a rival company headquartered in Ankara. Thereupon, the former employer filed a lawsuit on the grounds that the non-competition clause was violated.
DIFFERENT COMMENTS ARE EMERGED AMONG THE COURTS
Table of Contents
- DIFFERENT COMMENTS ARE EMERGED AMONG THE COURTS
- EXEMPLARY DECISION FROM THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE Supreme Court of Law
- THE DECISION CLOSELY CONCERNS RETIRERS AND THOSE WHO CHANGE JOBS
- A STRONG LEGAL BASIS HAS BEEN CREATED FOR EMPLOYERS
- “IT IS NOT WHERE THEY WORK, BUT WHO THEY WORK FOR” IS IMPORTANT
The local court ruled that the non-competition clause was valid, but found the penalty to be high and reduced it by half. The court of appeal rejected the case, stating that the worker actually worked in Çankırı, therefore there was no violation within the borders of Ankara.
The file was moved to the Supreme Court. Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, the law used in the non-competition “attempt” Drawing attention to the concept, he adopted the view that the fact that the headquarters of the rival company is in Ankara is sufficient for the violation.
EXEMPLARY DECISION FROM THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE Supreme Court of Law
The last stop of the file was the General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Appeals. With its decision, the Board emphasized a critical principle regarding non-competition.
As Türkiye Newspaper columnist and SSI expert İsa Karakaş stated in his evaluation, the following determination was made in the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals General Assembly:
“The concept of enterprise covers not only the factory address of the commercial enterprise, but also its economic integrity and independent decision-making mechanism.”
The Board ruled that since the rival company’s headquarters is in Ankara, the employee’s actual employment in Çankırı does not eliminate the non-competition violation. It was also emphasized that the contract was valid because it was made during the old Code of Obligations period, and the case was sent back for re-examination in terms of penal clauses.
THE DECISION CLOSELY CONCERNS RETIRERS AND THOSE WHO CHANGE JOBS
This decision has important consequences for workers who plan to work in another city after retirement. It has been revealed that workers who have a non-competition agreement may not be exempt from liability regardless of whether their place of employment is a district or a different city.
A message was given that the non-competition ban would be enforced more strictly, especially for employees who have knowledge of technical knowledge and production secrets.
A STRONG LEGAL BASIS HAS BEEN CREATED FOR EMPLOYERS
The decision also sets a precedent for employers. In non-competition agreements “attempt” Using the expression expands the protection area. Having a rival company’s branch in another city increases the likelihood of winning a lawsuit if the company headquarters is in the same city.
For companies operating in strategic sectors such as batteries, chemicals and technology, this decision is considered an important legal guarantee in terms of protecting production secrets.
“IT IS NOT WHERE THEY WORK, BUT WHO THEY WORK FOR” IS IMPORTANT
With this decision of the General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Appeals, a new era has begun in the prohibition of competition. Now, the basis is the economic integrity of the enterprise in which the worker is located, rather than which city he actually works in. This approach has strengthened the employee-employer balance one step further towards protecting employers’ trade secrets.
All copyrights of the articles, news and photographs published on the website www.sozcu.com.tr belong to Mega Ajans and Rek. Tic. It belongs to A.Ş. It cannot be quoted without permission, even by citing the source.
