On-the-job training programs are intended for the unemployed people to get trained at the workplaces meeting the key conditions, thus reinforcing their previous theoretical knowledge and gaining professional experience. This program allows employers to personally provide training to candidates they have selected or requested from the Authority. This will provide the employer an opportunity to train qualified employees without paying an expense during the program.

The training program is particularly designed for occupations that can offer participants a professional experience. The program is not organized in the fields that do not require any qualification. The Provincial Directorates of Labor and Employment have the authority to decide which professions are suitable for the program.

EMPLOYERS ELIGIBLE FOR THE PROGRAM

Subject to the Labor Law No. 4857 and the sub-paragraph (a) of the first paragraph of article 4 of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, the employers employing minimum 2 employees and registered with the authority are eligible for this program.

However, the commercial enterprises - where public institutions and organizations have a share of less than 50% - and public institutions are not allowed to make an application to this program as a rule. In addition to this, if there are minimum 2 employees subject to the Labor Law No. 4857 and the sub-paragraph (a) of the first paragraph of article 4 of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 and if the participants can be employed within the scope of the Labor Law No. 4857 and the sub-paragraph (a) of the first paragraph of article 4 of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 after they complete the program; then the programs may be organized in cooperation with the associations, foundations, professional organizations with public institution status, professional societies, unions, chambers of commerce and industry, notaries public etc.

The employer is liable for providing the participants the facility to learn their profession on-the-job and gain experience, and employing the participant only for the profession related to the program. The employer also has to take the measures required for occupational health and safety during this process.

CANDIDATES ELIGIBLE FOR THE PROGRAM

The conditions sought are a) being an unemployed person registered to the authority, b) completed the age of 15, c) not being first or second level relative by blood or spouse, d) not being retired, e) not being the employee of the employer - where the program will be held at - during the period of 3 months before the starting date of the program, e) obtaining the approval of the consultant by benefiting from the job and profession consultancy services, f) not being a student (except the students of open elementary school, secondary school, high school and higher education).

The most important difference from the other programs is that no document regarding the existence of any tax, SGK premium and premium debt and administrative fine finalized by the SGK is requested from the employer who wants to benefit from the program.

SETTING THE QUOTAS AND IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM

The employers with 2 to 10 employees can request one training program participant, while the employers with more than 11 employees can request training program participant in the rate of 1/10 of their actual insured employees.

The number of people attending to the training program is established through a quota that is calculated over the number of employees available in the document showing the number of actual employees on the starting date of the program for the workplaces of the same employer within the borders of the same city as of the starting date of the program. All workplaces of the same employer within the borders of the same city with various insurance registration numbers of the same legal entity and same tax ID number are taken into account.

The employer may submit the document showing the number of the employees as of the application date, or may also submit an undertaking related to this. In case the number stated in the undertaking is high and this causes the use of an extra quota, then the payments made to the participant over the quota are collected from the employer together with legal interest from the date it is found out, the surplus participant is removed from the program, and the program continues.

In case the application made for the training and the starting date of the program are not on the same date, then the procedure is carried out according to the current date - not the application date- and the same procedure applies.

In case it is determined that the number of actual employees on the ending date of the program is less than the number of actual employees on the starting date of the program and if the employer does not inform the provincial directorate with a statement of employment latest within 5 business days after the ending of 1-month period stating that the employer employs a number of people corresponding to the difference between the number of actual employees on the starting and ending date of the program within 1 month after this determination date, then the employer cannot organize any course and program within the scope of this Regulation for 12 months starting from the last day of this 1-month period.

The employment liability is not considered to be fulfilled in case of half time employment, periodical employment, casual employee, and extra employee etc.

In order to accept the request of an employer requesting for a new participant, the employer has to submit an undertaking that at least 20% of the participants who completed the training program during the last 1 year from the application date are employed at the workplace of the employer or employed for at least 60 days at another workplace for the same profession.

The employee, who hires some or all of the participants and/or who has a decrease in the number of the participants and/or who starts a program with a number of participants less than the number of participants they can request for, can request new participants in every stage of the ongoing program. Training program can be organized with the number of participants for the remaining quota except the existing participants, if available, by taking the new request into account.

For the employer who has been imposed to a sanction for not benefiting from the program for 12 months, if the employer documents that at least 50% of the total participants, who attended to the programs causing a sanction during the last one year, are employed in the same profession for minimum 60 days, then the sanction is removed and the employer in question can apply for a new program.

If employment undertaking is given by the employer in the beginning of the program, then it is checked whether this undertaking is fulfilled at the end of the program; if the liability in question is not fulfilled, then the employer is not allowed to organize any course and program within this scope for 12 months.

And the employers who fail to submit the documents requested by the provincial directorate during the beginning and continuance of the program are not allowed to benefit from this program for 12 months.

TERM OF PROGRAM

The program term shall be minimum 5 hours and maximum 8 hours daily (excluding the resting time), and shall not be more than 45 hours weekly and 160 actual days in total. The participants may only benefit from maximum 160 actual days of training program within 24 months.

There is a waiting period of six months between the courses and/or programs for the participants. But this condition is not sought in case the participants want to attend to an training program organized for the same profession within one month after the course.

EXPENSES AND SOCIAL INSURANCES

First of all, the employee has no liability to make any payment.

Participant's compulsory expenses, General Health Insurance premiums, and Occupational Accident and Illness premiums are paid by the authority for each day the participant attends to the training program. No permission more than one tenth of the total program period is given to the participants for any reason, except maximum five days of sick leave proven with a doctor report. In case this term is exceeded, then the participant is discharged from the program and sick leaves exceeding 5 days are deducted from one tenth leave period.

TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT

The agreement will expire with the ending of the term set out in the agreement, the employment of the participants, and the termination of the agreement. The parties are entitled to terminate the agreement by applying articles 24 and 25 of the Labor Law No. 4857. The provincial directorate may terminate the agreement if the provisions set out in the agreement are not complied with or misstatement is found. Provided that the provincial directorate also approves it, the parties are entitle to terminate the agreement with mutual agreement within 1/4 period of the program.

THE INCENTIVE PROVIDED BY THE OMNIBUS BILL NO. 6645

The following Temporary Article 15 has been added to the Law No. 4447 with Article 28 of the Law on the Amendment to the Occupational Health and Safety Law and Certain Statutory Decrees No. 6645. Accordingly, for the participants;

  • Older than 18 and younger than 29
  • Completing the training programs started by the Turkish Institution of Providing Jobs and Employees until 31/12/2016;
  • provided that they are employed by the private sector employers in the field of profession they completed latest within 3 months following the ending of the program within the scope of the sub-paragraph (a) of the first paragraph of article 4 of the Law No. 5510 and
  • that they are added to the average of the insured employees available in the monthly premium and service documents submitted by the workplace during the calendar year before the year they are employed,

the amount calculated according to the employer rate for their insurance premiums remaining after applying the sub-paragraph (i) of the first paragraph of article 81 of the Law No. 5510, as well as the lower limit of income subject to premium determined pursuant to article 82 of the same Law are covered by the Fund for 42 months if the workplace operates in the production industry, and for 30 months in the other sectors.

The terms stated in this sub-paragraph are applied with a 6-month increase for the participants of the training programs started until 30/06/2015.

In order to cover the premiums of the employer share from the Fund, the employers;

  • should submit the monthly premium and service documents pursuant to the Law No. 5510 to the Social Security Organization within the legal term,
  • should pay the amount of insurance premiums of all insured employees corresponding to the employer share, as well as the amount related to the employer share not covered by the Treasury and the Fund within the legal term,
  • should not have any premium, administrative fine, and relevant default fine and default interest debt to the Social Security Organization related to the workplace where the insured employee within the scope is employed at.

If the premium, administrative fine, and relevant default fine and default interest debts to the Social Security Organization are postponed and split into installments according to the article 48 of the Law No. 6183 or if the premium debts are restructured and split into installments pursuant to the other relevant laws, this does not prevent the employers from benefiting from the provision of this sub-paragraph as long as the postponement, installments and restructuring in question continue.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.