The Social Security Institution (SGK) leverages advancing technology to offer conveniences for both current employees and those seeking retirement. To speed up procedures, new technological systems now use specific codes in service statements. If these codes are overlooked, they can cause serious problems for people planning to retire.
Pay Attention to These Codes
Letters such as Ş, K and S appearing on SGK service documents should not be ignored by those who work as insured employees and intend to retire. These letters can create significant risks for retirement applicants because SGK uses them to flag workplaces that may involve false insurance or irregular reporting.
If these codes are not noticed, major problems can arise later. The S code indicates a fraudulent workplace, Ş denotes a suspicious workplace, and K indicates a controlled workplace. In practice, seeing the Ş letter on your e-government (e-Devlet) or SGK service record means the workplace is considered suspicious and an inspection is underway. Once a workplace receives the Ş code, an SGK inspector or auditor will examine whether employees have been shown as insured without actually working. If the investigation concludes that the notifications were incorrect or invalid, the Ş code will be removed from the service record.
The Ş code itself does not automatically prevent a retirement application. People whose service records show Ş can still apply for retirement and, if they meet the eligibility criteria, their pensions may be granted. However, if subsequent inspection confirms that the situation is indeed suspicious and the reported service periods are found to be fraudulent, the retirement right can be revoked. In such cases, the credited premiums and service periods from that workplace are completely eliminated and any pension payments already made are reclaimed.
Pension Payments Can Be Stopped
Beyond suspension of pension payments, if an inspection determines that the workplace is fraudulent, its code is changed to S, explicitly marking it as a fake workplace. When a workplace receives the S code, the insurance records of everyone employed there—or anyone who was shown as employed—are canceled. Retirees whose records originated from that workplace may have their pensions stopped and be required to repay amounts they received.
When inspections find no issues and the results are positive, the Ş code is removed and prior SGK notifications from that workplace regain validity. In some cases, even employees who actually work may see these codes on their records. If a code appears due to an error, affected individuals can apply to SGK to have the code removed and their service records corrected.
Manual processing in earlier years caused many errors and mismatches. Premiums for employees at the same workplace were sometimes credited to the wrong people, payrolls contained omissions, or records were not processed, resulting in missing insurance days. In some instances, SSK insurance registration numbers were entered incorrectly and premium days were displayed under other individuals’ records.
All SGK-covered individuals should regularly check their current status and verify their information. If any discrepancies are found, they must apply to SGK to correct them. Otherwise, when retirement age arrives it will be much harder to fix these mistakes, potentially eliminating the possibility of retiring. Timely checks and corrections also shorten the time needed to finalize and begin pension payments.