Within the framework of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, which is the fundamental law of the Turkish Social Security System, the “Short-Term Insurance Branches” cover the social insurance branches of work accident and occupational disease insurance, sickness insurance and maternity insurance.
These insurance branches offer various assistance aimed at eliminating the risks that the insured may face in the short term and providing them with certain income guarantees.
Work Accident and Occupational Diseases Insurance: In the event of an accident or occupational disease that the insured has at work, assistance such as treatment expenses, temporary incapacity allowance, permanent incapacity income and death income are provided.
Sickness Insurance: If the insured cannot work due to an illness not related to their profession, they receive temporary incapacity allowance that compensates for the loss of income they have experienced for a certain period of time. Temporary incapacity allowance is given from the first day of incapacity in cases of work accident and occupational disease, while it is given from the third day in cases of illness and maternity.
Maternity Insurance: Temporary incapacity benefit is paid to insured individuals who become pregnant and give birth to compensate for the loss of income they experience due to not being able to work for certain periods before and after birth. In the case of maternity, temporary incapacity benefit is given for a total of 16 weeks, eight before and eight before birth, and for a total of 18 weeks in the case of multiple pregnancies.
Short-term Social Insurance Premiums
Premiums for short-term insurance branches are calculated according to the gross amount of the employee’s premium-based earnings. In Turkey, the short-term insurance branch premium rate is 2.25% of the premium-based earnings. This premium is entirely the employer’s share. These premiums are deposited into the Social Security Institution (SGK) and are necessary for the insured to benefit from these benefits.
Short-term insurance branches help minimize economic losses in unexpected situations by increasing the social security of the insured. In this way, job security is provided and the living standards of the employees are also protected.
In short, within the framework of Law No. 5510, short-term insurance branches are an important system that aims to protect employees against various risks.
