Thousands of young people in our country begin their working lives as interns during vocational high school or university, or start as apprentices after completing apprenticeship training. The work experience they gain during these periods often benefits them later in their careers. Apprentices and interns are also covered by social insurance while they are in these positions. In this article we will examine how the pension contributions for apprentices and interns are handled.
Today, many university programs include a requirement for mandatory internships. A mandatory internship is typically completed during the summer, and the school usually covers the cost of insurance premiums for that period. The Social Security Institution issues an insurance registration number to students for the duration of these internships.
For apprentices, the workplace provides insurance that covers work-related accidents and occupational diseases. This coverage is sometimes referred to as life insurance. In short, this insurance protects the apprentice or intern against work accidents and occupational illnesses during the internship or apprenticeship period.
Short-Term Insurance
The premiums paid during internship or apprenticeship periods fall under what is called short-term insurance. If an intern or apprentice has an accident at work or develops an occupational disease due to their tasks, this insurance covers the treatment costs.
Long-Term Insurance
The type of insurance relevant to retirement is called long-term insurance, and to earn pension rights, contribution payments must be made under this category. For interns, the start date for pensionable insurance is generally considered the date they begin actual employment. In other words, mandatory internship insurance is not usually counted as the start date for pension insurance. However, if regular pension contributions are paid during the internship, this can change the individual’s insurance start date and the apprentice’s or intern’s pension contributions will be regarded as beginning from that earlier date.
According to current laws, apprenticeship and internship periods are not accepted as creditable periods for pension contribution purposes. This means that internship durations or the time someone spent as an apprentice are not taken into account when calculating pension contributions. Because these periods fall under short-term insurance, they do not affect the official insurance start date for pension calculations.
Periods That Can Be Credited
The law specifies the types of periods that can be credited for pension purposes. These include:
- Maternity (childbirth) crediting periods.
- Military service and preparatory periods for reserve officer training.
- Unpaid leave periods of public servants.
- Doctoral study periods.
- Periods spent in detention or custody while under investigation or accusation as a person covered by insurance.
- Periods of strike participation by insured workers.
- Honorary assistantship periods for judges.
- Periods of resignation taken to run in elections.
- Partial-month periods for employees who work part-time and have gaps within a month.
- Periods of study abroad for students who received education in another country.
Reviewing these categories shows that the law does not list internship or apprenticeship periods among those that can be credited for pension purposes.
Who else falls under the short-term insurance category besides interns and apprentices? The following groups are also covered:
- Detainees or convicts who are employed while in prison or detention facilities are covered by short-term insurance.
- Apprentices, those receiving vocational training, and students completing internships during higher education are under short-term insurance.
- According to the law, students employed part-time whose monthly earnings are less than the minimum wage are included in short-term insurance.
- Retirees receiving a disability or compensation pension due to wartime injuries or terrorism-related harm under schemes 4/a or 4/b are covered by short-term insurance.
- Participants in Employment Agency (İş-Kur) courses are included in short-term insurance.
- Turkish citizens sent abroad to work are covered under short-term insurance for the period they are employed overseas.
In summary, internships and apprenticeships provide protection against work accidents and occupational diseases through short-term insurance, but unless regular long-term insurance contributions are paid during those periods, they do not count as pensionable service or alter the official start date for retirement contributions.