This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at SGK İşlemlerine İtiraz: Prim Borcu ve Para Cezası.
Administrative fines from the social security institution follow a two-stage route: first an objection to the institution, then the courts. The objection must be made within fifteen days of service; proceedings against a refusal are brought within thirty days in the administrative court. Fines paid within the period attract the statutory discount.
A notice has arrived from the institution: a contribution debt, an administrative fine, or an unfavourable decision on incapacity. None of these is beyond challenge.
This article covers the routes, the short periods, and the discounts available.
Challenging a Fine
Article 102 of Act no. 5510 governs the administrative fines the institution imposes, and sets out how to object.
The period: the fine must be paid to the institution within fifteen days of service. Within the same period an objection may be made to the relevant unit of the institution.
An objection stays enforcement. Where it is refused, proceedings may be brought in the competent administrative court within thirty days of service of the refusal.
The discount for paying up front: where the fine is paid within fifteen days of service, three quarters of it is collected.
Paying up front does not affect the right to go to court. You can take the discount and still challenge the fine.
That is the point most people do not know, and it is why the discount is so often lost.
The Common Grounds of Fine
- failure to file the notification of an employee starting work in time
- failure to file the workplace notification in time
- the monthly contribution and service declaration not filed in time, or filed incomplete
- failure to report an accident at work or occupational disease
- failure to produce books and documents
- records held to be invalid
What can be argued: that the act did not occur, that the notification was made in time, force majeure, that the fine was miscalculated, that the same act was fined twice, and limitation.
The Act also provides that in some cases a voluntary notification means no fine, or a reduced one; check those exceptions.
Contribution Debts
Assessments and notices of contribution debt can also be challenged, by objection to the relevant unit of the institution. The grounds most often raised:
- the service did not in fact take place
- the earnings on which contributions are based were wrongly determined
- incentives and reductions were not applied
- payment was made but not recorded
- limitation
Collection: the institution's debts are pursued under Act no. 6183 on the collection of public receivables, which allows attachment, including electronic attachment.
So ignoring a notice of contribution debt carries real risk.
Restructuring: restructuring statutes passed from time to time cover contribution debts. The application periods are short, so watch for them.
Deferral and instalments may also be requested under Act no. 6183.
Decisions on Incapacity
Decisions on incapacity, the degree of permanent incapacity for work and the rate of loss of earning capacity go directly to a person's entitlements.
An objection is made to the relevant unit, and the file goes to the high medical board of the institution.
Where the dispute continues despite that board's decision, proceedings may be brought in the labour court.
In the proceedings the court has the rate re-determined by a report from the Forensic Medicine Institute or a university hospital.
What to put in: all treatment records, discharge summaries, imaging results, operation notes and any earlier reports.
An assessment made on an incomplete file rarely goes in your favour, so assembling the complete file is critical.
Which Court
- Administrative fines: where the objection to the institution is refused, the administrative court (Article 102).
- Insurance status, establishing employment, contributions and incapacity: the labour court.
- Steps taken to collect the institution's debts: the route provided for enforcement under Act no. 6183.
Under Article 101, unless the Act provides otherwise, disputes arising from its application are heard in the labour courts.
An important procedural rule: claims about insurance status and establishing periods of employment are outside the mediation requirement and are brought directly.
Paying within fifteen days means only three quarters is collected — and it does not affect your right to go to court. Object within the same fifteen days, and if it is refused, sue in the administrative court within thirty days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to object to a fine?
Fifteen days from service, to the relevant unit of the institution. The objection stays enforcement.
Do I lose the discount by objecting?
No. Paying within fifteen days means three quarters is collected, and paying up front does not affect your right to challenge the fine.
Which court hears a challenge to a fine?
The administrative court, within thirty days of the refusal of your objection — not the labour court.
What about a decision on my incapacity?
Object to the institution; the file goes to its high medical board, and if the dispute continues, to the labour court, which has the rate re-determined by expert report.
Do I have to try mediation first?
Not for claims about insurance status or establishing periods of employment — those are brought directly.