Applicable Law in Employment Contracts Performed Abroad

Development summary

In this article, Sibel Özel considers applicable-law clauses in standard-form overseas employment contracts prepared by the Turkish Employment Agency for Turkish workers sent abroad by Turkish employers. It assesses whether clauses referring certain matters to the law of the worker’s country of employment constitute choice-of-law agreements, the basis for applying Turkish law, and the effects of overriding mandatory rules and public policy. The article further explains that, under Article 27 of the Turkish Private International and Procedural Law Act, a choice of law cannot displace the worker-protective mandatory provisions of the law of the habitual place of work; absent a choice, that law normally applies, subject to a closer-connection exception.