Application Of Administrative Fines Reduction In The Late Submission Of New Hire And Termination Declaration

Regarding to Article 102 of Law No. 5510, if the new hire declaration of the insurance holder subject to sub-clause (a) of the first paragraph of Article 4 of Law No. 5510 are not submitted within the legal period, an administrative fine shall be applied at the rate of one minimum wage per insurance holder.

In the event that the new hire declaration is given automatically within 30 days after the expiry of the legal period, and the aforementioned penalty is paid within 15 days from the date of the declaration to be made by the concerned parties, the penalty is applied over the amount corresponding to one fourth.

The circular called "Declaration with regard to non-working days entry" numbered 2013-19 has been published on 6 April 2013 by Social Security Institution. Please find below the Social Security Institution's announcement regarding to regulation of employees' recovery reports:

1-Be effective as of 02.03.2013; if employees' recovery reason is shown as 01- Recovery in Monthly Premium and Service Document, this declaration will replace the declaration of non- working days during the recovery period. On the other hand, if the recovery reports are recorded on the old-system, there won't be needed to an additional notification.

Capital Decrease According To The New Turkish Commercial Code

In the new Turkish Commercial Code, the decrease of the capital is stipulated in Articles 473, 474 and 475. In the former version of Turkish Commercial Code, capital decrease was included in Articles 396, 397 and 398. Between the new provisions and the old ones, there is a statement that the reasoning of the new articles is identical to the old article with minor changes in wording.

Regarding the decrease of the capital, the law does not decide to decrease the capital unless the presence of the amount of active in the company that will fully meet the rights of the creditors of the company is determined by the law. The most important change seen here is that the old law requires a 3-person expert report to be appointed by the court to fulfill this provision, while the new law requires the report of the Transaction Auditor.

Changes in Absences Days Notification of SSI

For companies that have less than 30 employees, missing social security days must be notified to the authority using the related form EK-10 SGK Eksik Gün Bildirimi (Absences Days Notification  of the Social Security Institute) which must be submitted along with supporting documents (Such as unpaid leave forms, sickness reports, etc…). A new change announced in the official gazette on the 21st of August 2013 under the title ‘Sosyal Sigorta İşlemleri Yönetmeliğinde Değişiklik Yapılmasına Dair Yönetmelik’ (Amending the Regulation on Social Security Procedures) has reduced the number of employees for companies that this rule applies to from 30 to 10. According to this change, all companies with less than 10 employees must make monthly notifications to the authority using the related forms and documents mentioned above. Companies with 10 employees and above can provide information related to missing social security days by including it in the Aylık Prim ve Hizmet Bildirgesinde ( Monthly Declaration of Premium and Service).

Changes in Short Term Insurance Premiums

The short term insurance premium rate is determined by the SSI following registration with the Social Security Institute by taking into account the level of occupational accident and illness risks and applying a rate ranging from 1%-6.5%. Workplaces that have premiums based on the 1% pay a much lower employer premium amount than workplaces that are known to be more dangerous. In a publication of the official gazette on 19.01.2013, it was announced that as of 01.09.2013 the Premium rates will be fixed at 2% and will be independent of danger level. As of result of this change, workplaces that are currently paying premiums at a rate lower than 2% will be faced with an increase in their SSI contribution amount, while workplaces that are paying over 2% will see a decrease in their premium amounts. Organizations that are currently paying a 2% premium will not be affected by this changes. It is important to note that only the employer premium contribution amounts will be affected by this change.

The Cabinet of Minister have the authority to reduce the 2% fixed rate to 1.5% and also to increase it to 2.5%

The changes can be explained using the following example: The short term insurance employer contribution for an organization with a danger level resulting in the 1% rate and who has an employee who earns a monthly gross salary of 5000 TRY is 50 TRY. As of the 1st of September, this figure will be increase to 100 TRY.

As a result of the aforementioned changes and, the SSI sent out a notification stating that the e-declaration system will be out of service and inaccessible due to updates on the dates of August 30-31 2013.