As is known, there are several state-supported insurance branches in our country. Through these insurance branches, citizens earn the right to retirement by paying premiums and can benefit from discounted services such as healthcare. These insurance types include SSK, Bağ-Kur, the Civil Servants’ Pension Fund, and optional private insurance. According to this year’s announcement, the government will provide premium support. Below you can read the details about the treasury premium support for SSK-insured workers.
SSK is known as the Social Insurance Institution. Its purpose is to prevent citizens who struggle with income or earnings from falling into greater need. The institution ensures that people receive the discounted hospital services offered by the state and that they obtain the pension they are entitled to. It is also responsible for informing citizens about their rights.
For 2016 the monthly gross minimum wage was set at 1,647 TL, with a net amount reported as 1,300 TL. When the net and gross minimum wages were announced this way, a 30% rise in the minimum wage increased employers’ premium costs by the same rate. That increase became an additional burden for employers. Because the 30% rise created significant cost pressure and raised labor expenses, the business community requested premium support from the government, and that request was approved.
The treasury premium support for SSK-insured workers was established in this context. After discussions in the Grand National Assembly, this right was added to Law No. 5510 as a temporary article. According to that temporary article, to increase employers’ competitiveness, encourage registered employment, and support small and medium-sized enterprises with many minimum-wage workers, the treasury will provide premium support to these firms. It was announced that employers’ insurance premiums will be reduced by 100 TL and that amount will be covered by the treasury.
Under this treasury premium support for SSK-insured workers, employers will receive a 100 TL reduction from the insurance premium for each insured person they employ during 2016. Another provision states that insured employees whose gross earnings in December 2015 were approximately 2,550 TL will also be eligible for this 100 TL premium support. There is no limit to the number of workers covered by this premium support.
Of course, not everyone can benefit from this premium support. There are conditions employers must meet to receive the treasury-covered premium support for SSK-insured workers. The eligibility requirements for benefiting from the treasury-funded premium support are as follows:
- Employers who fail to submit their monthly premium and service declarations within the required period will not be eligible for the treasury-funded premium support.
- Employers with overdue premium debts, or related late-payment interest, delay penalties, or administrative fines, are not eligible for the treasury-funded premium support.
- Employers found to employ workers without insurance registration or to have registered workers who do not actually work will not benefit from this support.
- Employers cannot receive the premium support if employments have been shifted among certain companies in a way that attempts to abuse the treasury contribution.
- No premium support will be provided when sham transactions occur, such as changing ownership in sole proprietorships to evade obligations.
For the treasury premium support, the reduction per insured person is calculated by multiplying the reported number of working days communicated to the Social Security Institution for each insured person by 3.67. The resulting amount corresponds to approximately 110 TL. For workers employed in underground work, the earnings base for premiums is considered double when applying this support.