Sick leave pay in Türkiye: who pays, and how to record it

Who pays for sick days?

Sick days are as a rule covered by the temporary incapacity benefit paid by SGK; neither the Labour Law nor Law No. 5510 requires the employer to pay a separate wage for those days. The Labour Law states expressly that no wage accrues for periods in which the contract is suspended and the employee cannot come to work (art. 25/I).

This is a floor, not a ceiling. A collective agreement, the employment contract or an established workplace practice may require the employer to pay the full wage on sick days, or the difference between wage and benefit. Where such a term exists, the employer must follow it.

Conditions for the temporary incapacity benefit

The common condition is a rest report from a doctor or health board authorised by SGK. For illness and maternity there must also be at least 90 days of short-term insurance contributions reported in the previous year; for a work accident or occupational disease no contribution-day condition applies.

Source: Law No. 5510 art. 18 (the maternity period was raised to 16 weeks by Law No. 7578 of 22/4/2026). The benefit concerns insured persons under art. 4/1-a (employed under a contract of service).

How much is the benefit? A worked example

The temporary incapacity benefit is two thirds of daily earnings for outpatient treatment and one half for inpatient treatment (5510 art. 18). Daily earnings are the total contribution-based earnings in the twelve months before incapacity began, divided by the number of contribution days (art. 17).

For an employee with fewer than 180 days of short-term contributions in the previous twelve months, daily earnings for the benefit cannot exceed twice the lower limit of daily contribution-based earnings on the date incapacity began (art. 17). A newly hired employee’s benefit may therefore be lower than expected.

Example (hypothetical earnings). An employee whose daily earnings are calculated at TRY 1,200 receives a 5-day outpatient report for illness. The daily benefit is 1,200 × 2/3 = TRY 800. Because for illness the benefit starts on the third day, they receive 3 days × 800 = TRY 2,400; SGK pays nothing for the first two days. Had the same 5 days resulted from a work accident, the benefit would start on day one: 5 × 800 = TRY 4,000.

The benefit is paid to the employee or their bank account within seven working days after the documents reach SGK; for rest periods over ten days, payments are made in amounts of at least ten days (Social Insurance Procedures Regulation art. 40/8).

The first two days: must the employer pay?

Neither the Labour Law nor Law No. 5510 contains a provision requiring the employer to pay for the first two days of a sick report. Payment for those days arises from a collective agreement, the employment contract or workplace practice. Provisions outside these two laws (for example the law of obligations) were not examined in this guide.

• If the contract is silent. SGK pays no benefit for the first two days and the employer has no statutory duty to pay; in practice these days are deducted from pay and reported as missing days.
• If the contract requires payment. The employer pays the first two days, sometimes also the difference between benefit and wage. These payments are subject to contributions and the paid days are added to contribution days (SSİY art. 100/4).
• Consistency. Whatever rule is chosen should be written and applied to all employees alike; otherwise the scope of an established practice becomes a matter of dispute.

How is a rest report recorded on the timesheet?

A rest report is marked on the timesheet not as absence or unpaid leave but with a separate “sick” code for every day between the start and end dates. Illness, work accident and maternity are kept apart, because the day the benefit starts and the pay outcome differ.

Example. An employee with a 4-day illness report in April (30 days) who receives no wage from the employer for those days has contribution days calculated on the days paid: 30 − 4 = 26 days. If the employer pays the first two days under the contract, those days are added: 28 days.

The employer must notify SGK electronically whether the employee worked during the rest period, within the deadline for the monthly contribution document of the month in which the rest period ended. Failure to notify, or late notification, leads to an administrative fine (SSİY art. 40/9). The sick-day record on the timesheet is the basis for this notification.

Five steps when a report arrives

When an employee gets a report, the employer’s work ends in five steps: receive the report, post it to the timesheet, apply the first-two-days rule, notify SGK that the employee did not work, and keep the document. Order matters; without the timesheet record both the notification and the pay calculation become guesswork.

• 1. Receive the report. Note the type (illness, work accident, maternity), the start and end dates and whether treatment is outpatient or inpatient.
• 2. Post it to the timesheet. Every day covered by the report is marked “sick”; weekly rest days and public holidays inside the report are shown with the same code.
• 3. Apply the first-two-days rule. Check whether your contract requires the first two days of an illness report to be paid; if so, those days are paid and count as contribution days.
• 4. Notify. Notify electronically that the employee did not work during the rest period, within the deadline for the contribution document of the month in which the rest period ended (SSİY art. 40/9).
• 5. Keep the document. The report is a missing-day document; it is not sent to SGK but must be produced within fifteen days if SGK asks (SSİY art. 102/13).

Common timesheet mistakes

Most sick-day disputes come from record errors rather than legal knowledge. The most common are:

• Marking a sick day as absence; a report is a valid reason and does not count as absence.
• Applying the “first two days are not paid” rule to work accident reports too; the rule applies only to illness.
• Leaving the Saturday and Sunday inside a report as “weekly rest” and understating the number of sick days.
• Not subjecting a top-up paid under the contract to contributions (SSİY art. 100/4).
• Deducting sick days from the annual leave balance (art. 56).

Set-off: how do the SGK benefit and the wage combine?

Set-off is used in two senses. In the statutory set-off the employer pays the benefit to the employee on SGK’s behalf and deducts it from its contribution debt to SGK; in contractual set-off the employer pays the full wage and deducts from it the benefit SGK paid to the employee.

• Statutory set-off. Temporary incapacity benefits may be paid to the employee on SGK’s behalf by employers at workplaces with a collective agreement and by public administrations, and then set off with SGK (5510 art. 18). At workplaces that request it, this is done under a protocol with SGK and the benefit is set off against the employer’s contribution debt (SSİY art. 40/7).
• Contractual top-up. If the contract provides full pay on sick days, the employer either pays only the difference between benefit and wage, or pays the full wage and claims the benefit back. The route should be written in the contract; otherwise the employee may be paid twice or receive no difference at all.
• Contributions. The top-up or full wage the employer pays to an employee receiving the benefit is subject to contributions (SSİY art. 100/4).

What happens to the contract during long sick leave?

The contract of an employee who cannot work for a long time due to illness or accident does not end automatically. The employer’s right to terminate without notice arises only after the notice period for the employee’s seniority has been exceeded by six weeks (art. 25/I). For birth and pregnancy this period starts at the end of maternity leave.

Source: Labour Law No. 4857 art. 17 and art. 25/I. Notice periods are minimums and may be extended by contract; if extended, the six weeks are added to the extended period.

A different rule applies to illness caused by the employee’s own intent or disorderly life: if the resulting absence exceeds three consecutive working days or five working days in a month, the right to terminate without notice arises (art. 25/I-a). A sick day is not an absence; we also explain this in the absenteeism records guide.

How do sick days affect annual leave and the weekly rest day?

Sick days cannot be deducted from annual leave and, up to a limit, count as time worked for the annual leave entitlement. Sick leave given on a doctor’s report also counts as a day worked for the weekly rest-day pay.

• Annual leave calculation. Days missed due to accident or illness count as time worked, but not beyond the period in art. 25/I-b (notice period + six weeks) (art. 55/a).
• No set-off. Rest and sick leave cannot be set off against annual leave (art. 56).
• Weekly rest day. Sick and rest leave given on a doctor’s report within a one-week period counts as days worked (art. 46).

A medical report contains health data and is special-category personal data; access should be limited to the people who approve the leave and prepare payroll. Details: KVKK-compliant employee tracking.

In our workforce management software, sick leave is a separate leave type and the report is attached as a document; documents such as medical reports are stored encrypted, seen only by the leave owner and the approver, and every view is logged. Approved leave is posted to the timesheet automatically; leave days and sick days are counted separately. Your payroll adviser calculates the benefit and pay in their own software. Details: timesheet software.

This guide is for information only and is not legal or payroll advice. Your collective agreement or employment contract may contain more favourable terms.