Turkish Labor Law
Related Articles
C I R C U L A R
2013/39
Procedures carried out according to the social security contracts/agreements that Turkey enters into shall hereafter be performed as follows:
1- Periods less than one year
No monthly allowance will be granted in turkey for files with the following insured employment periods:
a) Less than 1 year for Albania, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Canada, Quebec, Luxembourg, and Romania,
b) Less than 12 months for Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Georgia, Macedonia and Norway,
c) Less than 12 months or 360 days for Switzerland,
d) Less than 360 days for TRNC,
e) Less than 180 days for the United Kingdom,
Since the procedures carried out within the scope of a contract/agreement and foreign borrowing must be dealt with separately, and since the aforementioned periods are still applicable, such periods will be taken into consideration in both domestic and foreign borrowing cases, notwithstanding whether the countries grant a monthly allowance or not.
Example: The insured employee with 270 days covered with premium within the scope of sub-paragraph (a), first paragraph of article 4 of Law no. 5510 on Social Insurances and General Health Insurance from 11/1/1978 to 7/31/1979, who claims a pension from Austria, will not be granted a pension in relation to such work pursuant to the contract. However, if the insured employee requests foreign borrowing as per Law no. 3201 on “The Assessment of Periods Spent by Turkish Citizens Abroad in terms of their Social Security”, their foreign borrowing will be concluded in accordance with 4/1-(a) of the Law, taking into account 270 days of premium paid. Regarding all allocation requests, 270 days covered under premium will be evaluated together with the periods of borrowing.
2- Unilateral invalidity pensions
Regarding the files with invalidity pensions granted pursuant to contracts/agreements entered into in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland where invalidity pensions are granted unilaterally, no invalidity pension will be granted by our country even if they have been covered by insurance in Turkey for a period of more than the minimum. However, old age pensions in these files will be processed without waiting for the relevant country to transform the invalidity pension into an old age pension.
Further, these periods will be taken into account while the status is being determined in relation to the granting of an old age pension and both domestic and foreign borrowings.
Example: The 3510 days of service performed by the insured from 4/1/1983 to 12/31/1992 in our country within the scope of 4/1-(b) of Law no. 5510 (Turkey) who claims for an invalidity pension while working in Switzerland, will be notified to the Swiss security institution for evaluation within the scope of Swiss invalidity pension pursuant to the Social Security Contract entered into between Turkey and Switzerland. The invalidity pension claimed by the insured will not be reviewed by the Institution and no invalidity pension will be granted by our country for the relevant period. However, if that person makes a request for an old age pension, their 3510 days of service will be considered together with the period of service in Switzerland, and the request will be concluded within the scope of 4/1-(b) of the Law.
3- Overlapping of premium payment periods in our country and other countries with contracts
Periods of insurance in our country overlapping with the countries with social security contracts will not be canceled unless they are canceled in accordance with the determinations based on reports prepared by the officers authorized with audits and checks by the Institution. Periods abroad overlapping with these periods will not be debited in accordance with Law no. 3201 on “The Assessment of Periods Spent by Turkish Citizens Abroad in terms of their Social Security”.
These periods will be merged with periods abroad, in a way not exceeding 30 days for 1 month and 360 days for 1 year. Periods exceeding 1 month or 1 year after service merging will be deducted from the periods spent in countries with contracts.
Example: The insured, who actually worked in Germany from 01/01/1981 to 12/31/2010 according to the German rota, worked for 360 days in Turkey between 7/1/1990 and 6/30/1991.
The 360 days covered by insurance will be deemed valid. Accordingly, periods of insurance for this person will be as follows in procedures to be carried out according to the Turkey-Germany Social Security Contract;
for 1990, 180 days in Germany 1/1/1990-6/30/1990, 180 days in Turkey 7/1/1990-12/31/1990, in total 360 days,
for 1991, 180 days in Turkey 1/1/1991-6/30/1991, and 180 days in Germany 7/1/1991-12/31/1991, totally 360 days.
4- Option in monthly contract allowances
Regarding Belgium and the United Kingdom, without considering the option, the highest individual or contract pension the insured is entitled to will be granted. However, if the insured later chooses the other pension option, the decision will be revised.
Example: An insured person making a request for an old age pension within the scope of the Turkey-Belgium Social Security Contract has 3800 days of insurance in Turkey within the scope of 4/1- (a) of the Law and 4500 days in Belgium, 8300 days in total. In this case, the insured is entitled to receive TRY 985.02 individually, and TRY 985.02 x 3800 / 8300 = TRY 450.97 under the Contract.
In this case, without waiting for the preference of the insured, the individual pension amounting to TRY 985.02 will be granted and begin to be paid. However, if the insured later prefers to receive a contract pension, the decision will be revised and a contract pension will be granted.
Provisions of the circular will apply to the social insurance contracts/agreements that will enter into force after the issuance of this circular.
Regulations stipulated in this Circular will enter into force as of the date of its issuance. Nevertheless, except the files for which revision or borrowing procedures are completed, procedures to be carried out after the date of issuance will be concluded according to the provisions of the Circular.
Yadigar GÖKALP İLHAN
Head of the Institution
