Turkey: 2021 Minimum Wage Support Procedures And Principles

Social Security Institution has published Communiqué No. 2021/28 and explained the 2021 minimum wage support procedures and principles.

The statements about the procedures and principles that need to be followed up by Social Security Institution can be summarized as below:

1) The Workplaces Within the Scope

The workplaces that employ employees under status 5510 Article 4/a can benefit from that support.

There would be no application required to benefit from the support.

2) The Process for the Workplaces Established Before 01.01.2021

This support would be given for the employees who are under long term insurance benefits with the document type no. 1, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 20, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 47, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 90, 91, 92 on the system.

The related premium days are calculated by deducting the days on canceled declarations from the regular declarations submitted on time in 2020.

For the processes after 01.03.2021, the premium days and social security base amount belonging to the related month declarations in 2020 would not be considered.

The premium days of the employees who are within the scope of long-term insurance and have less than daily social security base amount of 147 TRY in 2020 would be considered. In addition, for the same employees, the premium days in the current month would be considered.

If an Income Tax & Social Security Premium Declaration cancellation is submitted in 2021, the support amounts would be re-calculated.

Under Law No. 3213, regarding the employees working in the workplaces that process lignite and coal and the salaries are determined as a higher amount of 2 times of minimum wage; the premium days of the employees who have less than 392 TRY social security base and the declarations with the document no. 4, 5, 35, 36 and 55, and line of work code 0510, 0520, would be considered. Also, the premium days with the increased rate of 50% of the above premium days would be considered in the current month calculation.

Regarding the workplaces that have collective agreements, the premium days for the employees who have less than the social security base amount of 294 TRY in 2020 would be considered in the current month.

The support amount would be calculated as the premium days X 2.50 TRY in the current month's Income Tax and Social Security Premium Declaration. And that amount would be deducted from the following month's social security premium payments automatically.

The Procedures and Principles for the Support

The employers should submit the Income Tax and Social Security Premium Declarations in time during 2021 to benefit from that minimum wage support.

If the declarations are not submitted on time, that would not be possible to benefit from that support for that related month.

Regarding the workplaces established before 2021, if there is an outstanding social security payment in the system for the previous months or current month, there would be no issue, and the employers can still benefit from that support.

If the premium days are declared less or not declared to the authorities between 2021 January – December, it would not be possible to benefit from this support. And, if the officials realize that the employer benefits from that support, although the premium days are declared less or not declared, the total benefit amount would be refunded with interest from the employer.

If the declared current employees within the scope of 5510 Article 4/a with the long-term insurance on the Income Tax and Social Security Declaration form are less than the same month's declaration in 2020, the benefit would not be applicable in that current month.

3) The Processes for the Workplaces Established After 2021

This support would be given for the employees who are under long term insurance benefits with the document type no. 1, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 20, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 47, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 90, 91, 92 on the system.

The premium days would be calculated by deducting the days on canceled declarations from the regular declarations in 2021.

In any case, the premium days and the social security bases that would be processed after 28.02.2022 by checking the same month in 2021 would not be considered.

The minimum wage support on the current month is calculated as the premium days on the current month's declaration * 2.50 TRY. And the resulting amount would be deducted from the following month's premium amounts automatically.

To benefit from that support, the Income Tax and Social Security Premium Declaration forms should be submitted within the deadline.

The related premium payments for the current month in 2021 should be paid within the legal period until the payment deadline to benefit from the support.

There should be no outstanding premium depts for the retrospective periods, or if there is any outstanding premium payment, these should be an instalment plan Law No. 6183  Article 48 for that outstanding premium payment.

If the employees are not declared to the authorities, or the social security bases are declared less, or if the officials realize that the declared employees do not actively work, it would not be possible to benefit from the support.

4) The Support Amount in Case that the Government Pays the Total Premium Amounts of Employee and Employer Premium Portions

Under that incentive cases, if the employer premium amount is less than the amount supported by the unemployment insurance fund, the minimum wage support amount can be equal to the employer portion maximum.

5) Alt Isvereni Bulunan Is Yerleri ve Alt Isverenlerle Ilgili Islemler

To benefit from this minimum wage support for the subcontractors' employees, the subcontractors would need to continue to perform their works for the period 01.01.2021 – 31.12.2021 under Law No. 7333, or if they start their work within that period, they can be able to benefit from that support.

6) The Employees Work More Than 10 Days as a Household Employee and Doormen / Gatekeepers

With regards to these employees, the process is the same as mentioned above as the other employers.

7) Transfer, Transmission, and Address Changes

For the transfers to another place within the same providence or outside of the current providence; during the workplace registration, the "address change" box would need to be selected on the system to be able to benefit from that support.

8) The Deduction of That Support Payment from the Premium Payments

The minimum wage support amounts are deducted from the following month's premium payments upon the declaration submissions.

You can reach the related SSI Communique via the link (In Turkish).

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.