Millions of employees beware… Can a worker whose workplace is moved receive severance pay? Is it advantageous to borrow the missing premium day from EYT for retirement?

The written consent of the employee must be obtained in order to make any significant changes in working conditions. Moving the company or changing the location of duty may mean a fundamental change in the employee’s working conditions, but there are certain conditions required for the employee to not accept the change and receive severance pay. Ahmet Kıvanç from Habertürk answered the questions.

“The company I work for moved from Başakşehir district of Istanbul to Arnavutköy Deliklikaya district. Do I have the right to receive compensation due to the change of address? (Name withheld)

If there is a provision in your individual employment contract or collective bargaining agreement, if any, stating that the place of duty can be changed when necessary, you cannot rightfully terminate the employment contract due to relocation of the workplace.

If there is no such provision in the contract, whether you can make justified termination depends on the circumstances. If the relocation of your workplace does not cause you additional transportation costs or does not negatively affect your daily life, you cannot make justified termination. If the employer has provided convenience to the workers whose workplace has been moved in order to solve the problems arising from the move, for example, if it has provided a shuttle service for transportation, you cannot make a justified termination.

However, if additional transportation costs arise due to relocation of the workplace, even if it is within the same metropolitan borders, if the employer does not provide convenience in transportation, and if the commuting hours are at a level that will negatively affect your daily life, you can make a justified termination.

The Supreme Court has various decisions on this issue. For example, he found it justified to terminate the employment contracts of workers who were transferred from Avcılar on the European side of Istanbul to Beşiktaş on the same side, or from Güngören on the European side to Çekmeköy on the Asian side.

However, it ruled that the worker could not make justified termination because the workplace that was moved to Temelli, 70 kilometers away from Ankara center, provided ease of transportation by providing a shuttle service after the move.

LETTER ON SEVERANCE PAY FOR THOSE WHO STARTED WORK AFTER 2008

I started working with insurance on August 31, 2009. I currently have 3,853 bonus days. In a previous article, you stated that those who started working after 2008 will be able to receive severance pay when they leave the job voluntarily if they complete the gradual bonus days between 4600 and 5400. However, the officials at the SGK center where I went to get information said that they did not have such information. I am trying to understand whether it is possible for me to receive severance pay when I complete my bonus day. I would be happy if you help. (Tuğba A.)

Before moving on to your question, let me make a general reminder. The right to receive severance pay by meeting minimum retirement conditions other than age varies depending on the date of starting insured employment.

Those who started working on or before September 8, 1999: 15 years of insurance period and 3600 premium days must be provided together.

Those who started working between September 8, 1999 – April 30, 2008: 25 years of insurance period and 4500 premium days must be provided together, or 7000 premium days must be completed regardless of the insurance period.

Those who started working after April 30, 2008: The premium days to which this group is subject will gradually increase from 4500 to 5400. Those who started working from April 30, 2008 until the end of 2008 will be required to wait 4600 days. Every subsequent year, the premium day will increase by 100 days. Insurance period will not be required.

Those who meet the minimum retirement conditions other than age must first receive a letter from the Social Security Institution in order to receive severance pay from the employer. SSI’s circular on the subject is clear for those who started working before September 8, 1999, but it is not clear for those who started working after this date.

However, SGK gives its opinion on the issues that are hesitant about the implementation, if requested by the units that are hesitant about the implementation. An opinion letter is being sent upon requests from social security centers regarding the ability of those who started working after September 8, 1999, and those who started working after April 30, 2008 to receive severance pay.

Since those who started working after September 8, 1999 have just started to meet the necessary conditions, there will be more demands from the provincial organizations from now on. For this reason, I think it would be useful to provide information, even through internal correspondence.

IS IT ADVANTAGEOUS TO BORROW THE MISSING PREMIUM DAY FROM EYT FOR RETIREMENT?

I was born on June 4, 1981. I did my military service for a short period in 2008. My first SSK entry date is 01.12.1998. My total premium days are 5683 and I am subject to 5975 days. Within the scope of EYT, I meet the age requirement for retirement on June 4, 2024, but my premiums are 82 days short on that date. Do you think I should wait for August 26, 2024, when I will complete 5975 days without incurring military service debt? Or would it make sense for me to pay off all my military service debt and retire earlier? (Süleyman G.)

With the retirement age requirement (EYT) regulation that came into force in March, the age requirement was abolished for those who started working with insurance before September 8, 1999. Since you started working when you were under 18 years old, your 25-year insurance start date is considered to be June 4, 1999, when you turned 18 years old. Accordingly, you will complete the 25-year insurance period on June 4, 2024.

To complete your missing premium days, you pay 142.08 TL per day based on today’s minimum wage. Even if the pension you receive is at least 7,500 TL, it is more advantageous to borrow money for military service. Thus, by submitting a retirement petition in June, you will start receiving a pension as of July 1, 2024.

“You do not need to borrow the entire military service period, it is sufficient to borrow only the number of days you calculate that you will be missing as of June.”