What Is Unemployment Fund (Unemployment Allowance)?

Unemployment fund, or as specified in the law, "unemployment allowance," is a payment provided to individuals who have previously worked as insured and meet all the conditions specified in Law No. 4447 (In Turkish) to financially support them to prevent income loss when they become unemployed. Unemployment fund is provided to insured individuals for a specific duration and amount during the period of their unemployment, based on certain conditions as specified in the law. The purpose of providing unemployment funds is to ensure that the individual who becomes unemployed can sustain their own and their family's livelihood during the period of unemployment.

Accurate monitoring of working hours is one of the most critical pillars of modern labor law and human resources management. With the widespread adoption of digitalization, remote work, and flexible employment models, the concept of "working time" has ceased to be limited solely to the time physically spent at the workplace; instead, it has become a strategic element that must be measured, evidenced, and managed. This transformation has elevated Personnel Attendance Control Systems (PDKS) from a purely operational tool to an indispensable infrastructure component in terms of payroll accuracy, legal compliance, and organizational efficiency.

The foundation of sustainable corporate success lies in measurable performance management. While the most valuable asset of every organization is its people, effectively managing this asset is only possible through data-driven performance evaluation systems.

In Türkiye, public holidays and their duration are clearly stated in the Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and General Holidays. In 2026, public holidays and their duration are given in the table below:

Pursuant to the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 and its related secondary regulations, in workplaces classified as low hazard with fewer than 50 employees, employers or employer representatives may carry out occupational health and safety services, provided that they complete the training programs announced by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Within this scope, pre-employment and periodic medical examinations as well as medical tests are excluded from the application.

In order to ensure notification, delivery, information, and documentation, the Social Security Institution (SSI) has stipulated that documents required to be served under the Social Insurances and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, the Law on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables No. 6183, and other relevant legislation, shall be served through electronic notification.

In this context, Article 88 of Law No. 5510 explicitly regulates that electronic notification shall be carried out. In addition, the "Regulation on Notifications to be Made Electronically by the Social Security Institution" which entered into force on October 1, 2021, and Circular No. 2021/38 dated November 10, 2021, set out in detail the procedures and principles regarding electronic notification.

Termination of the employment contract refers to the unilateral ending of the contract, exercised by either the employee or the employer. It should be noted that the procedure and principles governing termination of the employment contract are primarily regulated under the Turkish Labour Law No. 4857 ("Labour Law").

In the Labour Law, it is regulated that an employment contract may be terminated unilaterally either for just cause or for valid cause, and it is also possible for the employer or the employee to terminate the employment contract without any cause, provided that certain obligations are fulfilled. The point emphasized with the existence of just cause or valid cause is that, in cases where the contract is terminated without any cause, certain obligations will arise, whereas if such causes exist objectively, these legal obligations will not arise.

Income Tax Deduction for Private Health Insurance Payments

Employees may individually include themselves, their spouses, and their children under insurance coverage against various risks. The scope of these private insurances may cover matters such as life, health, accident, and death.

The Income Tax Law stipulates that these private insurance premiums personally paid by employees can, under certain conditions, be used as deductions from income tax bases.

These conditions are set out in Article 63 of the Income Tax Law as follows:

Occupational disease can be defined as health problems, either permanent or temporary, that occur during the course of employment due to the nature of the work or the conditions under which the work is performed. Indeed, Article 14 of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 ("Law No. 5510") explicitly states that "occupational disease refers to the temporary or permanent disease, physical or mental disabilities, caused by a reason reiterated due to the nature of the work performed by the insured or by the working conditions". Similarly, the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 ("Law No. 6331") defines in Article 3 that "occupational disease means a disease arising as a result of exposure to occupational risks".