How to Complete SGK Workplace Registration: What to Do Before Hiring Your First Employee

SGK workplace registration is the procedure by which every employer that will employ insured workers registers its workplace with the Social Security Institution (SGK) and receives a workplace registration number in return. For a company registered with the trade registry, this record is usually created automatically: the formation notice made to the trade registry office is deemed to have been made to the Institution as well. Your job is to check, before the first employee starts, that this record has been created with the correct address, the correct field of activity and the correct workplace registration number, and to set up the notification routine.

In this article we look at the topic from the employer's perspective. We explain, in turn, when the record is created automatically, when you need to submit a separate workplace notification, which five steps you should complete before the first payroll, and how the penalty is calculated if the deadline is missed.

What is SGK workplace registration, and whom does it cover?

SGK workplace registration is the Institution opening a file for a workplace and assigning it a registration number. Under Article 12 of Law No. 5510, individuals or legal entities, and institutions without legal personality, that employ insured workers under an employment contract are employers. In other words, what triggers the obligation is not the type of company but the start of employing insured workers.

The law also defines the workplace broadly. The place where insured workers do their work, together with its tangible and intangible elements, is considered the workplace. Rest, nursing, dining and training areas and the vehicles in which the work is done are also included. If the company's head office is in one place and production in another, there may be two separate workplaces for SGK purposes.

This distinction matters for foreign investors. A record is created even for a structure that sets up a company in Turkey and does not employ staff at first, but the main obligations begin with the first insured worker. We explain the general flow of formation step by step in our how to set up a company guide; here we focus only on the SGK side.

How does workplace registration work for companies?

For capital companies, workplace registration runs through the trade registry. Since the 2018 amendment made by Law No. 7099, Law No. 5510 has treated notification of company formation to the registry office as notification made to SGK. In this case, those concerned do not prepare a separate workplace notification.

The registry office also has a deadline. Under the law, trade registry offices must notify the Institution of the formation notice made to them within ten days at the latest. So if you plan to hire shortly after the registration date, we recommend checking via e-Devlet whether the SGK record has been created.

The point that causes problems in practice is the information entered in the formation application. If the address was written incompletely or the field of activity does not reflect the actual business, the SGK record carries the same error. Correction is possible later, but the first payroll may have to wait for it.

When is a workplace notification submitted separately?

The workplace notification is the form the employer submits itself in every case not covered by the trade registry route. The basic rule is in Article 11 of Law No. 5510: the employer must submit the workplace notification prepared by the Institution at the latest on the date it starts employing insured workers. The notification is made electronically via the “Workplace Notification (for Employers of 4-a Insured Workers)” menu on e-Devlet.

The main situations that require a separate notification for company owners are:

• The company opening a new workplace outside the head office where it will employ insured workers
• A change in company type, a merger with another company or absorption into another company (within ten days following the announcement date of the registration)
• Moving the workplace to an address in another province (within ten days following the date of the move)
• Transferring a business or workplace employing insured workers to another employer (within ten days following the transfer date)
• Taking on a job as a subcontractor and employing insured workers separately for that job

A change of trade name is different. According to SGK's employer guide, no new notification is required for a change of trade name; informing the Institution with the Trade Registry Gazette showing the change is sufficient. We discuss the other aspects of a change of address in a separate article.

Complete the SGK workplace registration process in 5 steps before your first hire

The sequence below was prepared for a newly established company hiring employees for the first time. The steps are interlinked; a gap in one comes back as a delay in the next.

Step 1: Verify that the formation details were transferred to SGK correctly

The first task after registration is to check the trade name, address and tax identification number shown in the company's SGK record. For legal entities, the tax identification number, and for individual employers, the Turkish ID number, is the key of the record. If any of this information is wrong, notifications go into the system under the wrong file.

Step 2: Check the workplace registration number and sector code

The workplace registration number is the number SGK assigns to each workplace and is used in all notifications. The record also shows the sector code determined according to the workplace's activity and the social security center the workplace is attached to. If the sector code does not match your actual activity, problems may arise in applying premium support measures tied to the type of activity, such as manufacturing; requesting the correction before the first payroll is the least burdensome route.

Step 3: Set up e-Bildirge access

To submit notifications online, a system user is defined on behalf of the workplace. SGK handles this process through approval and activation of the e-Sigorta agreement via e-Devlet. If payroll will be prepared by an accountant or payroll team, carrying out the authorization at this stage saves time.

Step 4: Make the employment start notification before work begins

Even if the workplace record is ready, employees are notified one by one. Under Article 8 of Law No. 5510, the employer notifies the Institution of a person who will work under an employment contract before their insurance coverage begins. The law provides flexibility for workplaces submitting a workplace notification for the first time: for those starting work within one month from the date the first insured worker is employed, notification can be made by the end of this one-month period at the latest.

Step 5: Set up the first month's payroll and filing routine

A monthly cycle begins with the first employee. The payroll is prepared, employee and employer premiums are calculated, and premium and service information is reported in the withholding and social security premium return (muhtasar ve prim hizmet beyannamesi). Since the conditions for benefiting from incentives are also determined in this first filing, we recommend assessing the applicable support measures together with the list in our article SGK incentives .

Employer premium burden after workplace registration: 2026 table

The SGK record is also the point at which the employer's premium liability begins. Under Law No. 5510, in 2026 the disability, old-age and survivors' insurance premium is 21% of earnings subject to premium; 9% of this is the employee share and 12% the employer share. The rate was raised from 20% to 21% by Law No. 7566, increasing the employer share by one point.

The short-term insurance branches premium covers the risks of work accidents and occupational diseases, and of sickness and maternity, and is paid entirely by the employer. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the gross minimum wage in 2026 is 33,030 TL, and when no premium reduction applies, the monthly cost to the employer of a minimum-wage employee is 40,874.63 TL. This amount should be included in the new workplace's cash plan from the first month.

How much is the SGK workplace registration penalty?

Under Article 102 of Law No. 5510, the workplace registration penalty depends on how the employer keeps its books and is calculated as a multiple of the gross minimum wage. The penalty applies if the notification is not submitted at all, is submitted late, or is submitted by another means when electronic submission is mandatory. For companies whose record is created through the trade registry, this risk mainly arises in situations requiring a notification, such as branches, new workplaces and transfers.

The amounts were calculated using the 2026 gross minimum wage of 33,030 TL announced by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Since capital companies keep books on the balance-sheet basis, the first row usually applies.

The law also rewards voluntary correction. If, before being detected through an inspection or information from another institution, the notification is submitted within 30 days after the legal deadline and the penalty is paid within 15 days of notification, the penalty is applied at one quarter. For penalties outside this scope, if payment is made in advance within 15 days of notification without filing an objection, three quarters of the amount is collected; it is also possible to object to the Institution within the same period.

What should companies with foreign shareholders watch out for?

In a company with foreign shareholders, the workplace record is created the same way as in a domestic company; the difference lies mainly in the insurance status of individuals. Under Article 7 of Law No. 5510, the self-employed insurance coverage of limited liability company shareholders begins on the date the company is registered with the trade registry. In a joint stock company, this date is the date the shareholder is elected to the board of directors. The status of foreign shareholders is assessed separately under the social security agreement concluded with their country.

If you will hire a foreign national, the order does not change: first the work permit process is completed, and then the employee is reported as insured. Starting work before the permit is issued may lead to separate sanctions under both SGK and work permit legislation. We therefore recommend planning the start date according to the permit date.

Mistakes we often see in practice

The delays our clients experience on the SGK side usually stem from a few recurring mistakes:

• Hiring immediately after registration without allowing for the registry's ten-day transfer period
• Reporting staff working at a branch or warehouse under the head office's registration number
• Preparing the first payroll without noticing a sector code that does not match the actual activity
• Missing the ten-day notification deadline after a company merger or change of type
• Leaving e-Bildirge authorization until the day of hiring

What all items on this list have in common is that they can be resolved before the first employee arrives. Planning the SGK workplace registration steps backward from the hiring date reduces both the penalty risk and the rush of the first month's payroll.

Sources: SGK: Workplace, employer and workplace notification · Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 · Ministry of Labor and Social Security: 2026 minimum wage

Last updated: 17.10.2026