Social assistance premium incentives are a widely discussed topic today. Although the specific requirements for social assistance premium incentives are updated from time to time, the core conditions remain largely the same. You can find detailed information about the social assistance premium incentive conditions in this article.
On April 26, 2016, a new omnibus law was enacted in our country by decree (KHK). Within this omnibus law, the rules for social assistance premium incentives were also arranged. Social assistance is a monthly payment provided to people who are in need, have no relatives, are seriously ill, or are incapacitated, and who are at least 65 years old. Employers who hire people receiving social assistance are eligible for certain incentives. However, it is important that employers hire these individuals as insured employees; otherwise the incentives do not apply.
What Are the Conditions for Social Assistance Premium Incentives?
The first requirement to qualify for the social assistance premium incentive is that the person must have benefited from social assistance within the year prior to their employment start date. The premiums covered by the incentive are determined by the Social Assistance and Solidarity Promotion Fund Board. Another important condition is that the social assistance received must be monetary; in-kind assistance such as goods, medical supplies, or free wheelchairs provided by the state does not qualify. For eligibility, the assistance must be financial in nature. In addition, the person must have been registered with İŞKUR (Turkish Employment Agency) within the last year.
The conditions go beyond these points. For an employer to have premiums covered, the addition of the needy and unsupported person must increase the monthly number of insured employees reported for the employer’s workplace or factory during the one-year period prior to the hire. In other words, if the employer failed to pay contributions for existing staff or employed people without insurance before hiring the beneficiary, the employer cannot benefit from the social assistance premium incentive. Employers must also report the insurance and employment documents of their workers to the Social Security Institution (SGK) in accordance with Law No. 5510 on Social Insurances. To use the incentive, employers must regularly submit these documents to the SGK each month. Finally, an employer must not have any outstanding personal or business debts to the Social Security Institution in order to receive the incentive.
Payment of Contributions
Another common question is who pays these premiums and how much is covered. Law No. 5510 on Social Insurances specifies who covers the premiums and to what extent. Social assistance premium incentives are paid by the state. According to Law No. 5510, if an employer in the private sector employs a needy and unsupported person as an insured worker at the workplace or factory, the state covers the employer’s premium based on the lower limit of the worker’s earnings—the salary that forms the basis for premium calculation—and reimburses that amount to the employer. Employers are also often curious about the duration of this benefit. The incentive premiums are covered for one year, starting from the date the needy and unsupported person begins employment as an insured worker.
Earlier we noted that employers with outstanding debts to the Social Security Institution cannot benefit from the incentive. There is an important detail here: if an employer has debts to the SGK but has arranged a payment plan or restructured those debts, they may still qualify for the incentive. To do so, the employer must submit a petition to the SGK and continue to make the scheduled payments on the restructured or installment-plan debts.
Workplaces That Cannot Benefit from the Incentive
There are certain workplaces and employers that cannot benefit from the social assistance premium incentive. For example, employers who employ workers without insurance at their workplace or factory are ineligible. Employers who hire foreign nationals or unregistered workers also cannot receive the incentive. In addition, workplaces engaged in procurement and construction at certain levels may be excluded from these incentives. Turkish citizens working abroad and their employers are likewise not eligible for the social assistance premium incentive.
Request by the Insured
Employers often wonder where they can find eligible people to hire in order to benefit from the social assistance premium incentive. The Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) assists employers in this regard, since needy and unsupported individuals are registered as unemployed within İŞKUR. Upon an employer’s request, İŞKUR provides eligible candidates and organizes any necessary vocational training or courses they must complete. When registered unemployed applicants successfully finish the required vocational training, they can begin work at the employer’s workplace. Employers must register the employees’ social insurance on the first day they start working.