Businesses with 20 or more employees are required, under Law No. 3308, to provide vocational and technical students with workplace training (internships) as part of skill development. The number of trainees must be no less than 5% and no more than 10% of the total workforce.
Who Is Considered an Intern, Apprentice, or Trainee?
Apprentice: A person who has completed the age of 14 and works at a workplace engaged in a trade or craft in order to learn the occupation practically. An apprentice gains practical experience and develops skills and knowledge related to the trade.
Trainee (Candidate Apprentice): A person who has completed primary school and receives preliminary training at a workplace under the title of candidate apprentice while preparing for a trade.
To be classified as an apprentice, there must be a formal apprenticeship agreement that specifies the type of work, daily working hours, and the duration of the contract.
Intern (Stajyer): A student who aims to acquire practical skills by observing and applying workplace processes in a business operating in the student’s field of study. Interns learn on the job by participating in work-related activities and supervised tasks.
At What Age Does Apprenticeship Insurance Start?
To be eligible for apprenticeship status, a person must have reached the age of 14. Apprenticeship insurance can be registered once the individual has turned 14.
Who Is Responsible for Reporting Apprentice Social Security?
Insurance reporting for candidate apprentices, vocationally trained interns, and apprentices is carried out by the Ministry of National Education or by the schools where the students receive their education.
If students at institutions of higher education have a mandatory internship requirement, the responsibility for reporting their insurance lies with the institution where they are studying.
The insurance coverage for candidate apprentices, vocational interns, higher education students required to complete internships, and apprentices begins on the date they start mandatory internship or vocational training and ends on the date their education or internship finishes. It is required that the start and end dates of insurance be reported to the Social Security Institution by the educational institution in which the person is enrolled.
How Much Is the Apprenticeship Insurance Premium?
The wage paid to apprentices, candidate apprentices, vocationally trained interns, and higher education students completing mandatory internships must be at least 30% of the minimum wage. In accordance with Article 39 of Law No. 4857, social security premiums are calculated at 50% of the minimum wage rate and must be paid accordingly.