SGK (Social Security Institution) is one of the most important institutions in our country, working to expand services and create new opportunities for people from all walks of life. SGK runs numerous programs each year to promote employment, and it pays particular attention to integrating persons with disabilities into the workforce. As part of these efforts, the institution offers various incentives to employers who hire people with disabilities. This article explains the disability employment incentives.
What Is the Disability Incentive?
The disability incentive is a system designed to increase participation of people with disabilities in the workforce. Under this system, employers hire individuals with disabilities according to defined conditions and benefit from state-supported incentives. According to Article 30 of the Labor Law in our country, private sector employers with 50 or more employees are required to employ at least 3% disabled workers, while public sector workplaces are required to employ 4% disabled workers and 2% former convicts.
Because employment of people with disabilities is part of social responsibility, the state provides support in the form of tax and social security premium relief. For example, sheltered workplaces that employ people with mental and psychosocial disabilities receive a wage support of 453.25 TL per person. This figure was set in 2016. The obligation for private sector employers to hire former convicts has been removed, but the obligation to employ people with disabilities remains in effect.
There are several points employers must consider when hiring people with disabilities. If an employer has multiple workplaces within the same province, the number of employees subject to the hiring obligation is calculated based on the total number of workers across those workplaces. For this calculation, the number of contract workers is taken into account. When selecting candidates for employment, priority is given to workers who became disabled while already employed at the workplace.
Candidates must meet the legal criteria for disability and must document their disability with an official medical report. As noted in previous articles, disabled individuals can obtain the required documentation from the chief physician’s office at authorized hospitals, either personally or through a legal guardian. The report must state that the individual has at least a 40% loss of bodily function. Disabilities below 40% do not qualify under the relevant regulations. Once the disability is documented, individuals must register with İŞKUR (Turkish Employment Agency). Incentives available to a person placed in a job via İŞKUR begin immediately upon their employment. Individuals do not need to inform SGK of employment losses themselves. After the medical report is issued, the disability type and rate are reported electronically to İŞKUR and can be queried in İŞKUR’s database.
The provincial directorate has announced the disability incentive rates. The directorate stated that for both workplaces required to hire disabled workers and those that hire them voluntarily, the insurance premiums for each employed person with a disability will be calculated based on the lower limit of earnings on which premiums are assessed, and the Treasury will cover the employer’s full share. The incentive amount was set at 337.64 TL per disabled worker. The following categories are not eligible for the disability incentive:
- Companies that provide services to the public through procurement contracts
- Workers subject to the social security support premium
- Persons covered by group insurance
- Insured workers employed abroad
- Individuals working as candidate apprentices, apprentices, or students
What Conditions Must Be Met to Employ a Person with a Disability?
To benefit from incentives provided to workplaces that employ people with disabilities, the employer must first be registered with İŞKUR. Employers that hire people with disabilities must guarantee that the duties assigned are suitable for the nature of the employees’ disabilities. Otherwise, legal action may be taken against the workplace. For workplaces that are legally obliged but fail to employ the required number of people with disabilities, the administrative fine set in 2016 is 2,211 TL per required disabled employee position.