The Ministry of Labor and Social Security has published a Communiqué on 02.09.2021 with regards to the measures about COVID-19 on workplaces.

Per that Communiqué;

The employers have responsibility for the health and safety regulations & measures in workplaces. Accordingly, they would need to notify the unvaccinated or incomplete vaccinated employees in writing about the COVID-19 vaccines.

If the employees are still unvaccinated after the notification and in case being diagnosed by COVID-19, the employer would also need to notify the employees with regards to the possible results per the Labor Law and Social Security Law.

In addition, as of 6 Sep 2021, the employers will be able to request PCR tests once a week from the unvaccinated employees and they would need to keep the results on their reports for the necessary procedures.

Social Security Institution has published a General Instruction letter (dated 20.08.2021 and numbered 29840888) to postpone the obligations due to the flood disaster in Kastamonu province; Abana, Azdavay, Bozkurt, Çatalzeytin, Devrekani, İnebolu, Küre, Pınarbaşı and Şenpazar, in Sinop province; Merkez, Ayancık, Türkeli, Gerze, Boyabat, and Erfelek regions and in Bartın province; Ulus region.

You can find below the details of the Instruction Letter of SSI:

The statements would be applicable for the workplaces which have employees under Law 5510 - 4/a status or the self-employed individuals within the regions that were affected by the flood which are Kastamonu province Abana, Azdavay, Bozkurt, Çatalzeytin, Devrekani, İnebolu, Küre, Pınarbaşı and Şenpazar, Sinop province Merkez, Ayancık, Türkeli, Gerze, Boyabat and Erfelek, Bartın province Ulus regions.

a) All declarations that need to be done within the period between 11.08.2021 and 31.08.2021 (included) can be made until 27.09.2021, and no administrative fine would be applied per Article 102 of Law No. 5510.

b) The premium payments with the deadlines before 11.08.2021 and the premium payments related to 2021 July, August, September, October, and December can be done until 31.01.2022 without any late payment interest.

The regulation about the changes on the social security processes has been published on the Official Gazette numbered 31572 and dated August 18, 2021.

The related amendments can be summarized as below:

1) The amendments on Article 5:

Although there is no issue in the systems of SSI, if there are problems regarding the internet connections, electricity, communication systems, fires, earthquakes, floods, etc., in the employer's region, the declaration responsibilities would be done within five business days upon normalization. To be able to postpone, proof documents would be required from the related authorities.

In case of the death of the authorized CPA responsible for the Income Tax and Social Security Premium Declaration of a company within seven days before the declaration deadlines, the declaration responsibilities can be done within seven days upon the related deadline.

2) The amendments on Article 9:

The household employees who work ten days or more within a month and gatekeepers have been included under the scope of the social security insurance scheme.

Regarding the household, employees work less than ten days within a month, the occupational sickness, work accident, and long-term insurance statements would be applicable.

Social Security Institution has published Communiqué No. 2021/28 and explained the 2021 minimum wage support procedures and principles.

The statements about the procedures and principles that need to be followed up by Social Security Institution can be summarized as below:

1) The Workplaces Within the Scope

The workplaces that employ employees under status 5510 Article 4/a can benefit from that support.

There would be no application required to benefit from the support.