In Turkish Social Security Law, the insurance branches referred to as short-term insurance branches include “work accident and occupational disease insurance”, “sickness insurance” and “maternity insurance”. The legal rules regarding the insurance branches in question are determined by the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Code No. 5510, and the application procedures and principles are regulated by the regulations, circulars and general letters issued by the Social Security Institution (SSI), as the sole authority for implementation of social insurance in Türkiye.
According to the Article 13 of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Code No. 5510, which is the primary law of social insurance in Türkiye, a work accident is defined as an incident that occurs in the following situations or places and renders the insured physically or mentally disabled immediately or later:
- Occurs while the insured is at work,
- Occurs due to work carried out by the employer,
- Occurs due to work carried out by the insured if the insured is working independently on his own behalf and account,
- Occurs during the time when the insured working for an employer is sent to a place other than the workplace on duty and does not do his actual work,
- Occurs during the breastfeeding leave hours used by breastfeeding female employees in accordance with the Turkish Labour Code No. 4857,
- Occurs while the insured is travelling to and from the place where the work is done in a vehicle provided by the employer.
Even if the insured person who has a work accident suffers even the slightest physical or mental damage, even if there is no permanent damage as a result of the accident or even if the insured person has not received any medical rest report due to accident, the incident in question still must be reported as a work accident to the relevant authorities.
Although incidents referred to as near miss incidents (number-behind incidents), in which the insured person does not suffer any mental or physical damage but damages machinery, buildings, tools and equipment have occurred, are required to be investigated by the employer in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, they do not require to be reported to the SSI.
Employers who employ insured workers must immediately report work accidents to the local law enforcement authorities and to the Social Security Institution within three working days following the occurrence day of the accident. If the accident occurs in a place beyond the employer’s control, the three-day period begins from the date the work accident is learned.
In accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, administrative fines are imposed on employers who do not comply with the work accident notification period or do not make a notification. The amount of the administrative fine to be given depends on the number of insured employees working at the workplace and the hazard class of the workplace.
You can determine the amount of administrative fines to be applied in case of failure to report a work accident, based on the hazard class of the workplace and the number of employees, from the table in the annex of our circular.
Within this context, although the school or the higher education institution is responsible for paying premiums of interns who are working at workplaces, since employers are also responsible for the interns according to Law No. 6331, the notifications of the interns in the event of a work accident shall be made by the employers. In the event that the interns’ work accident notifications are not made, the administrative fine is applied to the workplace in which vocational training is being provided to the trainee.
While the employers must notify the Social Security Institution within 3 working days following the occurrence day of the accident for the interns that have work accident, the relevant educational institution must also be informed in written form. But failing to comply with the latter does not require any administrative fine. The notification obligation is towards the Social Security Institution.
