Turkish Labor Law
Short term work allowance and unpaid leave support have been the leading government incentives to fight against Covid-19 crisis. More than 3 million applications were made for the short term work allowance. With the load of applications submitted in such a short timeframe, it is highly probable to have errors in the submissions. In case of errors in short term work and cash wage support, how will the return process be handled?
The worker must meet certain conditions in order to receive short term work allowance and cash wage benefits. Employers apply to İŞKUR for their employees to benefit from these supports. Upon İŞKUR’s approval of the application, the worker is entitled to benefit from the support. For the short term work allowance, the time the worker works is of great importance. If there is a change in the work duration of the employee while benefiting from the support, the employer must report it to İŞKUR. Otherwise, overpayment will arise.
What To Do In Case Of Undue Benefit From Short Term Work Allowance?
In the event that the work hours of the worker change or the worker on short term work gets a medical leave, the employer is obliged to report the changes to ISKUR. If the employer fails to update ISKUR or the update is approved after the short term work allowance is paid, the worker is overpaid and unduly benefited.
The employer is required to prepare an Excel spreadsheet for the month in which the overpayment is made, and share it with the İŞKUR short term work allowance officer with whom the workplace is affiliated. The officer uploads Excel to the system and transmits the overpayment information to the workplace. The excess amount in the report sent by the officer has to be returned to ISKUR via the designated PTT account number.
In Case of Undue Benefit of Cash Wage Support
For the employees on unpaid leave to benefit from cash wage support, employers must notify the leave days to SSI by the end of the following month. However, the number of days reported incorrectly can be corrected later in the application system. It is necessary to update the number of days on the relevant month in order to return the false notification after the payment is made. For the update process, the SSI will need to be informed with a petition explaining the error and the related refund. The employer is obliged to return the overpaid amount to SSI via the designated bank account details.
