A. WHAT IS “VICTIMS OF DELAYED PENSION AGE PROJECT” (“EYT”) IN GENERAL?

In general terms, retirement is the name given to people who continue their lives by working and leave the business life due to age, seniority, premium days, disability and similar reasons. In our country, there are many legal regulations and changes regarding the passive period called the retirement period in daily life. One of the most frequently discussed issues, especially recently, is the so-called “victims of delayed pension age” process, and this article is prepared to briefly discuss and examine the subject in question. As it is known, before 8 September 1999, those who met the insurance period and premium day requirements could retire. However, with the amendment brought to the Social Insurance Law with the Law No. 4447 on 8 September 1999, an age requirement was added to all these criteria. Prior to this amendment, the retirement conditions consisted of 20 years of seniority for women and 25 years of seniority and 5000 days of premium for men. However, after the amendment of the law, the retirement age was determined as 58 for women and 60 for men. After this regulation, even though an insured female worker had fulfilled the 20-year seniority requirement or an insured male employee had fulfilled the 25-year seniority and 5000-day premium requirement, he could not retire because he was stuck in the age rule. With the Law numbered 5510 introduced in 2008, the retirement age for those who will start to work as insured for the first time was increased to 65 years of age, regardless of men and women. In summary, since the age requirement constitutes an obstacle for retirement, the insured persons affected by this change are nowadays referred to as “those who are stuck in retirement age”.

B. WHO ARE COVERED BY THE VICTIMS OF DELAYED PENSION AGE PROJECT?

According to the report prepared by the Social Security Board in 2019, there are approximately 6.3 million people in our country who cannot retire due to the age restriction. In short, the insured, referred to as “EYT”, consist of those whose insurance start date is before 9 September 1999 and those who do not meet the age requirement even if they have the other conditions required for retirement.

C. WHEN CAN WOMEN AND MEN WHOSE INSURANCE START DATE IS AFTER 8 SEPTEMBER 1999 RETIRE?

Between 8 September 1999 and 30 April 2008, the Social Security and General Health Insurance Law numbered 5510 (“Law numbered 5510“) introduced a detailed regulation for the insured persons. Since some articles of the Social Security and General Health Insurance Law numbered 5510, which was published in the Official Gazette dated 16 June 2006 and entered into force on 1 October 2008, entered into force on 30 April 2008, the retirement criteria of employees with insurance entry after 8 September 1999 are subject to different rules between these two dates. 

Provisional Article 9 of Law No. 5510 titled “Some transitional provisions regarding retirement age” “Those who are within the scope of subparagraph (a) of the first paragraph of Article 4 and who were insured for the first time between 8/9/1999 and 30/4/2008 shall benefit from old age pension provided that they are 58 years old if female and 60 years old if male and have paid 7000 days of disability, old age and death insurance premiums or 58 years old if female and 60 years old if male and have been insured for 25 years and have paid at least 4500 days of disability, old age and death insurance premiums. (Amended second paragraph: 17/4/2008-5754/70 Art. (Amended second paragraph: 17/4/2008-5754/70 Article) Those who are within the scope of subparagraph (b) of the first paragraph of Article 4 and who were insured for the first time between 8/9/1999 and 30/4/2008 shall benefit from partial old-age pension provided that they have completed the age of 58 if female and 60 if male and have paid 25 full years of insurance premiums or have completed the age of 60 if female and 62 if male and have paid at least 15 full years of disability, old-age and death insurance premiums. (Additional paragraph: 17/4/2008-5754/70 art.) Those who are within the scope of the subparagraph (c) of the first paragraph of Article 4 and who were insured for the first time between 8/9/1999 and 30/4/2008 shall benefit from partial old-age pension provided that they have completed the age of 58 if female and 60 if male and have paid 25 full years of insurance premiums or have completed the age of 61 and have paid at least 15 full years of disability, old-age and death insurance premiums.17 /Those who are insured within the scope of Law No. 2925 dated 10/1983 and numbered 2925 and who were insured for the first time between 8/9/1999 and 30/4/2008 shall benefit from old age pension provided that they have completed the age of 58 if female and 60 if male and have been insured for fifteen years and have paid 3600 days of disability, old age and death insurance premiums.” As can be seen, the retirement criteria are subject to a very detailed regulation. Briefly, in accordance with the relevant legislation, three separate Social Security Institutions have been gathered under one roof, in other words, SSK, Bağ-Kur and Emekli Sandığı are regulated by the same law. According to the Article 4 of the Law No. 5510, in the provisional Article 9, the retirement conditions are regulated one by one for the insured, who are currently called 4/a, 4/b and 4/c employees.

  • For female employees, the arrangement for the retirement of those who were insured for the first time between 8 September 1999 and 30 April 2008 is 60 years of age, 7000 days of disability, old-age and death insurance premiums for those who belong to paragraph a of Article 4 or 60 years of age and 25 years of insurance coverage and at least 4500 days of disability, old-age and death insurance premiums; for those who belong to paragraph b of Article 4 For those who belong to paragraph b of Article 4, it is determined as 58 years of age or 60 years of age and at least 15 full years of disability, old age and death insurance premiums, and for those who belong to paragraph c of Article 4, it is determined as 58 years of age.
  • In terms of male employees, the arrangement for the retirement of those who were insured for the first time between 8 September 1999 and 30 April 2008 is 58 years of age and 7000 days of disability, old-age and death insurance premiums for those who belong to paragraph a of Article 4, or 58 years of age and 25 years of insurance coverage and at least 4500 days of disability, old-age and death insurance premiums; 60 years of age for those who belong to paragraph b of Article 4. For those who belong to paragraph b of Article 4, it is determined as 60 years of age and 25 full years of insurance premium payments or 62 years of age and at least 15 full years of disability, old age and death insurance premiums; for those who belong to paragraph c of Article 4, it is determined as 60 years of age and 25 full years of insurance premium payments or 61 years of age and at least 15 full years of disability, old age and death insurance premiums.

After Law numbered 5510 came into force, the same regulations were applied for 4/a, 4/b and 4/c insured persons. As of 01.10.2008, 58 years of age and at least 9000 days of work are required for female insured persons, while 60 years of age and 9000 days of work are required for male insured persons.

D. WHAT ARE THE APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE VICTIMS OF DELAYED PENSION AGE PROJECT?

Although there has not yet been a legal arrangement regarding those who are over the age of retirement, according to unofficial statements, it is mentioned that approximately 2 million 250 thousand people who cannot retire due to the age requirement will benefit from the arrangement to be made. In the light of the explanations made in the previous paragraphs, the primary condition to benefit from the arrangement made within this scope is to have an insurance record before 8 September 1999. Subsequently, the insured must have completed 5000 days of premium payments and have 20 years of insurance period for women and 25 years for men. In summary, insured persons who meet these three conditions will be able to apply for retirement without being stuck in the age requirement. Of course, the legal regulation to be made in this direction will definitely reveal the rules regarding the conditions. It should be underlined that there are many details regarding the conditions that have not yet been explained. For example, it is still unclear whether the insurance started in apprenticeship, internship and similar situations will be taken into consideration in terms of duration.

E. WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SOCIAL INSURANCE INSTITUTION (“SSK”) AND SOCIAL SECURITY ORGANIZATION FOR ARTISANS AND THE SELF-EMPLOYED (“BAĞKUR”)'S FOR THE VICTIMS OF DELAYED PENSION AGE PROJECT?

Formerly known as SSK, with the new regulation introduced by Law numbered 5510, the conditions sought for employees who are called as those belonging to the 4/a insurance branch are determined as 5000 days of premium and 20 years of work for women; 5000 days of premium and 25 years of work for men. In Law numbered 5510, the periods and premium days vary in terms of employees with Bağkur, which is called 4/b. For female Bağkur employees, 7200 days of premium and 20 years of work are required; for male employees, 9000 days of premium and 25 years of work are required.

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.