Liability for an Employee's Conduct and Exculpatory Proof

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Av. Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

Employer liability is a special form of liability for damage an employee causes to a third party while performing assigned work. Article 66 of the Turkish Code of Obligations requires a functional connection between the employee and the work. Liability of the same scope cannot be inferred for every private act merely because an employment relationship exists.

Proof of Care and Business Organisation

An employer may escape liability by proving that necessary care to prevent the damage was exercised in selecting the employee, giving work-related instructions, and supervising and monitoring them. This examination cannot be reduced to recruitment documents or general safety instructions. The dangers of the particular work and measures required are decisive.

For a business, proof is also required that its working organisation was suitable to prevent the damage. The employee's individual error and deficiencies in business organisation may therefore be assessed together. The injured person must establish the connection between the event, the loss, and that activity.

Recovery of compensation paid from the employee is a separate recourse relationship; the employee is answerable only to the extent of their own liability. Further, Article 116 of the Turkish Code of Obligations may apply where the employee's act causes loss within a relationship in which they are used as the debtor's auxiliary in contractual performance. Employer liability towards a third party and contractual liability for an auxiliary person's conduct are not subject to the same conditions.

Source

Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Articles 66, 116.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.