Posted by meb at June 25th, 2007

Ministries and public institutions authorized to grant work permits or to employ foreigners are required to notify the Labor Ministry of the work permit grant, extension or cancellation within 30 days after the relevant action.

Ministries and public institutions that employ foreigners are required to do the same with respect to the commencement of the employment within 30 days. Likewise independent foreigners and employers with foreign workers are required to make the same notification.Furthermore independent employee foreigners are required to notify the Labor Ministry of the date of work commencement or its termination within 15 days. Employers with foreign workers are required to notify the ministry of the work commencement within 15 days, in case of failure to commence work in 30 days after work permit has been granted or the termination of the employment contract within 15 days.

Foreigners identified as working illegally with valid residence permits are reported to the Interior Ministry. The next action is taken in accordance with the instructions provided by the Ministry, which reviews the case. Foreigners with no valid residence permit who work illegally in Turkey based on a valid or expired visa are deported by the relevant governorates without any instruction from the Interior Ministry.

In case of the recurrence of the above breaches, the administrative fines are doubled. In such cases the employer will be required to cover accommodation, travel and even the health expenses of the foreigner, his or her spouse and children until they are deported.

Insurance of foreign employees and their tax liabilities

Foreigners may not be considered civil servants in Turkey. For this reason, they may not benefit from the Emekli Sandığı (Retirement Fund), the social security fund specifically allocated to retired civil servants. However they may be insured through Social Insurance for the Self-Employed (Bağ-Kur) or the Social Security Authority (SSK), two separate yet interconnected social security systems mainly developed for workers.

Foreigners who are insured by an insurer based in a foreign country and sent to Turkey for business-related purposes on behalf of this insurer are not considered insured in Turkey. Non-Turkish individuals who work in return for salary, wage, commission or other similar remunerations are considered insured under SSK legislation irrespective of whether they are refugees, immigrants or stateless.

This also applies to citizens of countries which may or may not have social security agreements with Turkey who work in Turkey independently, but have made payment of premiums before the commencement of employment in Turkey and still make the same payments, or have retired abroad are not considered within the scope of mandatory insurance provided they submit documents indicating that they pay their insurance premiums or are retired to provincial directorates. However those who did not work in his or her country insured or whose country does not have social security institutions are required to be insured by Bağ-Kur.

An unemployment insurance premium is deducted from the payments made to foreign workers in Turkey whose countries have social security agreement with Turkey on this matter. No deduction is made from payments made to other foreigners. The countries which signed social security agreements with Turkey include Germany, Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Canada, Quebec, Libya, Macedonia, Norway, Romania and Luxembourg. There are ongoing works to accord similar agreements with Australia, Belarus, China, Croatia, Israel, Egypt, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Aliens who settle in Turkey are considered full taxpayers whose income and revenues inside and outside the country are levied. Those who have legal residence in Turkey or who stay more than six months within a year in Turkey are considered settlers — for this reason their incomes and revenues inside and outside Turkey are taxable.

However as an exception, businessmen, scientists, experts, public servants, press members, reporters and so on who are in Turkey for a temporary and certain duty are not considered settlers even if they have stayed for more than six months. Natural non-settlers in Turkey are obligated to pay taxes for their incomes and revenues in Turkey alone.

Conclusion:

Aliens seeking employment in Turkey should first obtain a work permit in compliance with the legislation in effect as their employment is expected to make contributions to the alleviation of imbalances in the country’s labor force and capital accumulation.

Legal incompetence as reflected in the employment of foreign workers who came from countries with relatively lower income level is rectified through Law No. 506, which stipulates insurance of the aliens and foresees significant sanctions in case of non-compliance. The International Labor Organization’s Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention — which Turkey is party to — requires equal treatment between native citizens and alien workers. Ends.

Source: Today’s Zaman by Şevket Tezel (specialist in Human Resources and social security issues)