Whether periods taken as unpaid leave for educational purposes count as SGK (Social Security Institution) premium days is a common question. There is no explicit regulation stating that educational leave counts as premium days; therefore, it should generally be treated as normal unpaid leave during which the employment contract is suspended.
What Is Unpaid Leave for Employees?
Unpaid leave for employees temporarily suspends the employment contract. During this time the employee does not perform work at the workplace and therefore does not receive wages, but the employment relationship remains in effect and the employee’s position is preserved. If an employer proposes unpaid leave, this constitutes a significant change in working conditions, so the employer must present the unpaid leave offer to the employee in writing in accordance with the relevant law (Article 22).
The employee must reply to this offer within six business days. If the employee does not accept, the employer cannot place them on unpaid leave under normal circumstances. However, in extraordinary situations such as a pandemic, employees may not have the option to refuse unpaid leave proposed by the employer; the employer should still indicate that operations will be suspended or downsized.
Under normal conditions, if an employer forces unpaid leave on employees, the worker can leave the job and claim severance pay. In such a justified termination, the employee retains other social rights associated with the employment contract.
Premiums and Health Rights During Unpaid Leave
Premium and health entitlements for employees on unpaid leave deserve careful attention. When unpaid leave is approved for educational or other reasons, wage payments and the earnings base used to calculate social security premiums are suspended in proportion to the unpaid days. Consequently, no salary is paid for the unpaid leave period and premium payments are not made for those days.
Regarding health coverage, employees who take unpaid leave provided for under the Labor Law—such as postnatal leave or leave for travel—continue to benefit from health rights during their approved leave. When unpaid leave results from suspension of the employment contract for other reasons, SGK premiums are not paid, yet the employee’s access to health services may still continue under certain conditions. For unpaid leave initiated at the employer’s discretion, health coverage is typically maintained only for unpaid leave periods up to 10 days; unpaid leave exceeding 10 days may result in loss of the right to benefit from health services. If unpaid leave is longer and the person has no income to cover general health insurance premiums, they may be able to avoid paying those premiums by applying for an income assessment (means test) during the unpaid leave period.
Status of Premium Days During Educational Leave
Taking leave for educational purposes affects premium days in the same way as other types of unpaid leave. Because the employment contract is suspended during educational leave, premium days are effectively frozen and not recorded with SGK for the leave period. Even if the leave lasts only one day, that day will not be processed as a premium day by SGK. The same applies to many types of unpaid leave, though in cases such as maternity leave it can be possible later to purchase credit (borçlanma) to have those periods counted toward SGK records. In contrast, unpaid leave taken for reasons such as illness outbreaks or education typically does not allow those days to be counted as premium days.