One of the obligations imposed on employers within the scope of the Turkish Social Security System is the obligation to keep books, records and documents belonging to workplaces and to submit them to authorized public officials if necessary.
Within the scope of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Act No. 5510, employers and business owners; are obliged to keep the books, records and documents of the workplaces for ten years, starting from the beginning of the year following the relevant year.
The retention period of books, records and documents is thirty years for workplaces belonging to public administrations. Likewise, liquidators and bankruptcy administration officers who are responsible for the liquidation and bankruptcies of companies are also obliged to keep the books, records and documents of the workplace during their duties.
It is also obligatory to submit these stored workplace books, records and documents, if requested, by the officers of the Social Security Institution (SSI) assigned to audit and control. Accordingly, employers and business owners; are obliged to submit their workplace books, records and documents within fifteen days if requested by the SSI officers assigned to audit and control. If there is a force majeure that obstructs the submission this has to be declared to the requesting authority within fifteen days and to be proven with documents.
The fifteen-day period may be extended if additional time is given by the public official requesting the submission. At the end of the fifteen-day period, or at the end of the additional period, if additional time is given, if the books, records and documents are not submitted completely and wholey, administrative fines are imposed on employers or business owners in accordance with the Article 102 of the Act No. 5510.
Those who do not fully comply with the workplace books, records and documents requested by the officers assigned to audit and control of SGK without force majeure within 15 days, despite the written warning made by the Institution, or who submit them incompletely, are being given administrative fines accordingly:
- If the workplace is obliged to keep records based on balance sheet basis the administrative fine to be imposed is 12 gross monthly minimum wage.
- If the workplace is obliged to keep records based on other than the balance sheet basis, the administrative fine to be imposed is 6 gross monthly minimum wage.
- If the workplace is not obliged to keep books in line with the relevant legislation, the administrative fine to be imposed is 3 gross monthly minimum wage.
If the submission of books, records and documents is submitted for examination after the legal submission period has passed and it is determined by the inspector/auditor that all or part of the documents/books are invalid, this time no additional administrative fine will be imposed for the act of invalidity, only a single administrative fine will be imposed as enlisted above, as if no submission is being made.
