What Is Incapacity for Work? Under Which Conditions Is the Temporary Incapacity Benefit Granted?

In addition, a settlement protocol may be arranged between the SSI and workplaces. During the period in which the employee is on medical leave, the employee’s wage is paid in full by the employer. Subsequently, the Temporary Incapacity Benefit to be paid to the employee by the SSI is offset against the contribution debts to be collected by the SSI. The related regulation is set forth in paragraph six of Article 18 of Law No. 5510 (In Turkish) as follows: “Temporary incapacity benefits may be paid to insured employees on behalf of the Institution by employers of workplaces covered by collective bargaining agreements and by public administrations, in accordance with the procedures and principles determined by the Institution, and may subsequently be collected through set-off with the Institution.”

What Are the Conditions for Receiving the Incapacity Benefit?

In order for the employee to receive the temporary incapacity benefit, the following conditions must be met:

• The insured employee who declares that he or she is incapacitated due to illness, occupational disease, maternity, or occupational accident must document this situation with a medical report issued by physicians or medical boards authorized by the SSI.
• The insured employee applying for temporary incapacity payment must have had SSI contributions paid for 90 days prior to the report date. This condition is not required in applications made due to occupational accidents.

How and When Is the Incapacity Benefit Received?

According to the SSI: “For insured employees under Article 4/a, employers are required to notify the Institution electronically whether the employee worked at the workplace during the period of rest. However, for 4/a insured employees to receive temporary incapacity benefits, it is not required that the employer submit a notification stating that the employee did not work at the workplace. After the notification period has expired, the temporary incapacity benefit of the insured employee is paid regardless of whether the notification has been made. As of the end date of the rest period, the temporary incapacity benefit to which the insured employee is entitled is transferred to the account in such a way that it can be withdrawn from any branch of the contracted bank.”

The SSI begins to make the temporary incapacity payment to the insured employee as of the third day of the report. There is no provision in the law stating that the wage for the first two days of the report must be paid by the employer. In addition, insured employees who receive a report due to an occupational accident are paid by the SSI for each working day. At the same time, for these employees, neither the 30-day contribution payment requirement nor the retroactive 90-day working requirement is sought.

How Is the Temporary Incapacity Benefit Calculated?

The temporary incapacity benefit is calculated by dividing the total earnings subject to contribution for the last three months within the 12-month period prior to the date on which the report was obtained by the number of contribution payment days in the same last three-month period. While payment is made for the entire report period in cases of occupational accident, payment is not made for the first two days in cases of illness.

To explain with an example:

Let us assume that an insured employee has a monthly gross salary / earnings subject to premium of 50,000.00 TRY and 90 contribution payment days. In this case:;

50,000.00 × 3 = 150,000.00 TRY (Three-month earnings subject to contribution)

150,000.00 / 90 = 1,666 TRY (Daily earning subject to contribution)

Accordingly, the calculation of the insured employee’s daily incapacity benefit (medical report payment calculation) should be as follows:

Inpatient treatment payment: 1,666 / 2 = 833.00 TRY (Daily)

Outpatient treatment payment: 1,666 / 3 = 555.33 TRY (Daily)

Should you have any queries or need further details, please contact your customer representative.