08.08.2026 07:00
The Court of Cassation has made an important decision regarding the severance pay calculation for employees who receive variable bonuses tied to sales targets in addition to their salary. The Court ruled that the fact that bonuses are not paid regularly and in the same amount every month is not sufficient grounds for excluding them from the calculation, and stated that the monthly average of bonuses received over the last year should be added to the grossed-up wage.
The Court of Cassation has made a notable decision regarding the calculation of severance pay for bonuses paid based on sales targets.
The High Court ruled that the fact that bonuses are not paid regularly every month and in the same amount is not, by itself, sufficient to exclude such payments from the wage base used for severance pay calculation.
Accordingly, the monthly average of the sales bonuses received by the employee over the last year will be calculated, and the resulting amount will be added to the grossed-up wage used as the basis for severance pay.
REGIONAL COURT OF APPEAL EXCLUDED BONUSES FROM THE CALCULATION
According to the news in Türkiye newspaper, in the incident subject to the decision, the employee received a bonus based on the amount of sales achieved, in addition to the base salary. However, the bonus payments were not made consistently. The employee only earned the bonus during periods when the determined sales targets were met.
The Regional Court of Appeal excluded these bonuses from the grossed-up wage used for severance pay calculation, on the grounds that the payments, listed as "CPS Bonus" on payrolls, were not continuous.
After the file was appealed, the Court of Cassation found the Regional Court of Appeal's assessment to be erroneous.
NOTABLE EVALUATION FROM THE COURT OF CASSATION
The Court of Cassation pointed out that the variability in the amount of bonuses calculated based on sales figures or other data does not prevent these payments from being considered within the scope of the grossed-up wage in the severance pay calculation.
Thus, it was established that bonuses received in months when the sales target was met, but not received in other months, cannot be entirely excluded from the severance pay calculation solely because they are irregular.
THE AVERAGE OF BONUSES FROM THE LAST 12 MONTHS WILL BE TAKEN
Experts stated that, according to the decision, based on the employee's current payrolls, the monthly average of bonuses received over the last year will be calculated, and this amount will be added to the grossed-up wage used for severance pay.
For example, for an employee who, in addition to a fixed salary, receives sales bonuses only in certain months of the year, the bonuses earned over the last 12 months will be summed, and the monthly average will be calculated.
Including the resulting amount in the grossed-up wage may allow the compensation to be calculated higher for the employee entitled to severance pay.
"FRINGE BENEFITS ARE ADDED TO SEVERANCE PAY"
Social security expert İsa Karakaş noted that in the calculation of severance pay, in addition to the base salary, monetary benefits or benefits measurable in money provided to the worker are also added.
Karakaş said, "According to the established jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation, any regular benefit with continuity is included in the grossed-up wage. Variable-amount sales and performance bonuses, even if target-based, are included in the calculation by taking their monthly average over the last year. There are numerous precedent decisions on this matter."