According to the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, “students who were subjected to internship while studying in vocational high schools or during their higher education” are considered insured within the scope of subparagraph “b” of the first paragraph of the Article 5 of Law No. 5510, as subjected to Work Accident and Occupational Diseases Insurance Branch.
Additionally, as regulated in the Article 87 of the Law No. 5510, which regulates the title of “Premium Payment Obligation”, the premium payment obligation for intern students is the schools for those who are subject to internship while studying in vocational high schools or the higher education institutions for students who undergo internship during their higher education. In this sense, there is no insurance relationship between these students and the employers of the workplace where the internship takes place before the Social Security Institution (SSI).
Although it is the school/higher education institution that is obliged to pay the premium for intern students within the scope of 5/b Social Insurance Status, in accordance with the practice of the Occupational Health and Safety Act No. 6331, as interns are not evaluated separately from other insured people in terms of occupational health and safety, it is appropriate for the work accident notification of interns to be made by the employer of the enterprise where the inters are working, not by schools.
Work accident notifications of interns must be made by the employers of the workplace where they interned. This issue is clearly regulated by the following provisions of the Circular on Short-Term Insurance Practices No. 2016/21 of the Social Security Institution (SSI), and interns’ work accident notifications must be made on paper by the workplace where the internship activity is carried out. The aforimentioned circular contains the following article:
“In case the apprentices and intern students within the scope of subparagraph (b) of the first paragraph of THE Article 5 of Law No. 5510 and the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) trainees within the scope of subparagraph (e) of the same article have a work accident or suffer from an occupational disease during their internship, “Notifications will be made manually on paper by workplace employers, and if the obligation is not fulfilled on time, administrative fines will be applied to workplace employers where they receive training or internship.”
Therefore, although the school/higher education institution is responsible for paying premiums for insured interns, employers are responsible for work accidents or occupational diseases of interns, as employers are also responsible for interns in accordance with the Law No. 6331. This notification will not be made by the interns’ schools.
While employers must report the work accident of interns to SSI within 3 business days, the relevant educational institution must also be informed in writing.
