Law No. 7438, including the EYT (The Regulations for employees who meet all the conditions for retirement except age) regulation, entered into force: The content of the law and the steps of the process for employees and employers

Law No. 7438 on the Amendment of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law and the Decree Law No. 375 has entered into force as of 27.03.2023 by being published in the Official Gazette. EYT applications have started to be accepted by SGK.

1- EYT Law and its Implications:

"ARTICLE 1- The following temporary article has been added to the Social Security and General Health Insurance Law dated 31/5/2006 and numbered 5510.

"PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 95- Subparagraph (B) of the first paragraph of the provisional Article 81 of the Law No. 506 dated 17/7/1964 and numbered 506, the second paragraph of the provisional Article 10 of the Law No. 1479 dated 2/9/1971, those who will be granted old-age or pension according to the provisions of subparagraph (B) of the provisional Article 2 of the Law dated 17/10/1983 and numbered 2925 and the provisional Article 205 of the Law dated 8/6/1949 and numbered 5434 in case they fulfil the conditions other than age in the aforementioned provisions, they shall benefit from old age or retirement pension. No retrospective payment shall be made based on this paragraph and no retrospective right shall be claimed. Those who apply for old-age or pension within the scope of the first paragraph and receive old-age or pension for the first time, in the event that those who are given a notice of resignation due to old age or pension request start working subject to social security support premium in the last private sector workplace within 30 days following the date of resignation, from the date of starting to work subject to social security support premium, the amount corresponding to five points of the employer's share of the social security support premium specified in subparagraph (a) of the first paragraph of the provisional Article 14 of this Law shall be covered by the Treasury. If the insured benefiting from the social security support premium employer's share discount leaves the job, this discount cannot be utilized again due to the insured in question. The discount in this paragraph shall be utilized provided that the other conditions in subparagraph (ı) of the first paragraph of Article 81 of this Law are met. The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this paragraph shall be determined jointly by the Ministry and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance."  

ARTICLE 3- This Law shall enter into force on the date of its publication. With the law published in the Official Gazette.

Those who started to work within the scope of disability, old age and death insurance before 8/9/1999 (inclusive) and those who started to work within the scope of disability, old age and death insurance after 9/9/1999 (inclusive), but whose insurance start date is brought back to before 8/9/1999 (inclusive) with the borrowings they have made according to the provisions of the relevant legislation that allows them to bring back the insurance start date are considered to be EYT. Those who have completed their insurance period and premium payment days will be able to retire if they apply, regardless of age.

b- The period of insurance will be applied as 20 years for women and 25 years for men, and the table below is the table regarding the gradual number of days that changes according to the date of employment for 4/a insured persons with Law No. 4447 and the maximum number of 5975 days sought.

c- Those who are missing premium days will have the opportunity to complete their missing days by service borrowing or service repayments (4/b service repayment, community insurance repayment).

d- Persons who are retired within the scope of EYT and who are given a notice of resignation will be entitled to a 5-point discount if they start working in the private sector workplace where they last worked within 30 days following the date of quitting the job for retirement as subjected to Social Security Support Premium (SGDP). However, those who will start to work in a different workplace after retirement or those who will start to work at a job from the same workplace after a 30-day period will not receive a 5-point discount.

In addition, if the insured person who benefits from the social security support premium employer's share discount leaves the job, this discount cannot be benefited from again due to the said insured. As is known, as of 1/10/2008, a five-point discount is applied to the employer's share of the invalidity, old-age and survivors’ insurance for the private sector employers who employ the insured people who are covered by the long-term insurance branches. Employers cannot benefit from this discount for their employees who are subject to social security support premium in the current practice.

e- On and before September 8,1999, regardless of age, Bag-Kur (Insured Self-employed Institution) female and male employees will be able to benefit from the EYT regulation when they complete 7200 premium days (20 years) and 9000 premium days (25 years), respectively.

f- Among the civil servants affiliated to the Retirement Fund who were insured on September 8, 1999and before, women will be able to benefit from the regulation and retire when they complete 7200 premium days (20 years) and men 9000 premium days (25 years).

g- Beneficiaries who apply in 2023/March will be able to receive their first salaries in April. There may be salary calculation delays due to intensity in pensions, especially in some provinces. However, the important thing is to apply through the application channels announced, and the deserved salaries will be paid to the beneficiaries in bulk in the following months (in case of delay).

h- Partial retirement (retirement (15 years before 1999 retirement with an insurance period of 50/55 years and 3600 days) is not included in the scope of ETY. Under the current arrangement, women can retire at the age of 58 and men at the age of 60.

2- Issues to be considered by those who will retire within the scope of YET

• People who are within the scope of EYT and who are not working can apply for retirement to the SSI in person or via e-government as of today.
• Those who are currently working cannot directly request retirement. Job exit procedures must be carried out first.
• Employees must first obtain a letter from the SSI stating that they meet the retirement requirements.
• By giving the letter received from the SSI to the workplace where they work, their employers must carry out the dismissal procedures with the exit code 8-retirement.
• People who are dismissed from work can apply for retirement to the SSI in person or via e-Devlet application.
• As of the beginning of the month following the month in which the pension application is made, the pension will be entitled. It does not matter whether the pension is credited to the account or not, there will be no loss of rights. In case of a late pension, the accumulated pensions will be paid to the bank account in bulk.
• If the application is made in March, the pension will be paid as of 1 April. Those who apply in the following months will also be entitled to a pension as of the following month.
• Those who were insured before 99% and do not currently meet the retirement conditions will be able to retire by taking advantage of the same arrangement if they complete their days. There is no application time limit.

3- Issues to be considered by the employer during the retirement process within the scope of EYT

• Following the delivery of the letter stating that the employees have met the retirement conditions from the SSI to the employer, the resignation declaration must be submitted to the Institution with the resignation code "8-Retirement (old age) or due to lump sum payment".
• Since the link for online application and printout via e-government has not yet been defined for the resignation letter, current employees are required to manually obtain these letters from the SSI and give them to employers.
• It is recommended to take a photocopy of the allocation request declaration made by the insured who applies for retirement from the e-government or by hand / e-mail and then add it to the petition for termination of employment.
• If the insured continues to work in the same workplace after retirement, monthly premium and service notifications must be made with the law number "0000" and "Document Type 2" after the new dated employment declaration is given.
• Those who retire within the scope of EYT and are given a notice of termination of employment will be entitled to a 5-point discount if they work subject to SGDP in the last private sector workplace within 30 days following the date of termination of employment. However, a 5-point discount will not be available if they start working in a different workplace after retirement or if they start working in the same workplace after 30 days.
• In addition, if the insured benefiting from the social security support premium employer's share discount leaves the job, this discount cannot be used again due to the insured in question. As it is known, private sector employers employing insured persons covered by long-term insurance branches have been granted a five-point discount on the employer's share of disability, old age and death insurance since 1/10/2008. In the current practice, employers cannot benefit from this discount for their employees subject to social security support premium.
• A separate incentive law number has not yet been published by the SSI for those who will benefit from the 5-point support within the scope of EYT. From the information we have obtained, it is that the system will automatically apply the discount for those who retire and start working again in the same workplace as of today, whose employment date is 8.9.1999 and before.

4- Application stages to be made via E-Government

• Enter the application from the e-Devlet Gateway (turkiye.gov.tr) address.
• Enter the T.R Identity Number and e-Devlet password and click on the "Login" button.
• Type "Income, Monthly, Allowance Request Document" in the search bar at the top of the page and click on the link.
• Click on the "New Application" button in the upper right corner of the screen.
• Select "Old Age Pension" as the allocation request type.
• "4/A SSK" or "4/B BAG-KUR" is selected according to the status of the insured type and the "Apply" button is pressed. Even if the person is in a different status, he/she should apply from the status that he/she will be entitled to pension when it comes to service consolidation, and he/she should not have 4/b debt.
• On the incoming screen, "Bank where the payment will be made" is selected from the list. The bank branch where the payment will be made is written in the relevant field.
• Mobile phone number is entered as "5xxxxxxxxx" with 10 digits.
• In the address field, the address received from MERNIS is automatically displayed. If you want the application result to be sent to another address, enter the address information in the "Different Address" section.
• In the "Services in Foreign Countries" section, tick "Yes" if you are receiving a monthly salary from a foreign country and tick "No" if you are not receiving a monthly salary from a foreign country and click on the Next button.
• The application process is completed by clicking the "Apply" button on the incoming screen.

5- The stages of filling out the income/pension/allowance request document for the applications to be made to the SSI in person

• Insured's Turkish Republic Identity Number (1) and Name and Surname (2) sections are filled in.
• Income Monthly Request Type (4) is marked as "Old Age Pension".
• Bank/PTT Preference (8) section selects the bank where the pension will be paid.
• Finally, the "Mobile Phone", "Address", "Name-Surname/Signature" sections at the bottom of the request document are filled in and the "I want to be informed by SMS" box is ticked.
• The yellow fields in the form below must be filled in correctly by the pensioner candidates.