When Is the Employment Termination Notice Filed? How It Differs from the Start Notice

The employment termination notice (işten çıkış bildirgesi) is the electronic form through which the employer notifies the Social Security Institution (SGK) that the insurance coverage of an employee whose employment contract has ended has terminated. Its official name is the “insured termination notice” (sigortalı işten ayrılış bildirgesi), and it is filed within ten days at the latest from the date the employment contract ends. The form shows the employee's last working day, their earnings for that month and the code indicating the reason for leaving.

In this article we explain when and how the notice is filed, where it differs from the employment start notification, and why the termination code matters for the employee. In the last section, we have gathered the five mistakes we encounter most often in payroll files.

What is the employment termination notice, and who files it?

The employment termination notice is the notification that closes the insurance coverage at that workplace of an insured worker employed under 4/a (under an employment contract). The obligation rests with the employer; the employee resigning, retiring or their contract expiring does not change this obligation. The notification can be made by a company officer or by a payroll team or accountant authorized on behalf of the workplace.

Its legal basis is Article 9 of Law No. 5510. The article states that the insurance coverage of those employed under an employment contract ends “from the date the employment contract ends” and requires the employer to notify the Institution of this within ten days at the latest. In everyday language, the procedures called the “exit notice”, “SGK exit” or “termination notice” all refer to this notification.

The notice does not only serve to close a record. The employee's service record, the premium days for the last month, eligibility for unemployment insurance and when access to health services ends are all shaped by the information in this notification. A wrong date or code later causes trouble for both the employer and the employee.

When is the termination notice filed?

The termination notice is filed within ten days following the date the employment contract ends. SGK's page describing employer obligations states the same deadline and requires the notification to be made through the e-Sigorta channel. In other words, what starts the deadline is not the day the termination decision is taken but the day the contract actually ends.

This distinction becomes important in terminations where a notice period is used. If the notice period is worked, the contract ends at the end of this period, and the ten-day deadline starts to run after that date. Calculating notice pay is a separate topic; here we only emphasize which day the notification is based on.

The end of insurance coverage does not mean that every right ends on the same day. Under Law No. 5510, for the purposes of sickness and maternity provisions, insurance coverage is deemed lost starting from the tenth day following the date the employment contract ends. We recommend sharing this point too when explaining the exit process to the employee.

Through which channel is the notification made?

The termination notification is made through the same application as the employment start notification. According to SGK's 4a insured employment start and termination notice page, there are three methods:

• Single entry: the employee's details are entered one by one on screen.
• Bulk entry: the details are uploaded with an XML file; SGK also provides an Excel template for termination purposes.
• Web service: the payroll software sends the notification directly to the SGK system.

For a company with few employees, single entry is sufficient. For workplaces with many periodic hires and exits, bulk entry or the web service reduces errors arising from manual data entry.

The difference between the employment start notification and the termination notice

The employment start notification starts insurance coverage, and the termination notice ends it. Although both are filed on the same screen, their deadlines, exceptions and penalties differ. Article 8 of Law No. 5510 requires the employment start notification before insurance coverage begins; SGK's employer page also states that the notification must be made at least one day before work starts.

The law provides some exceptions for employment start notifications. At construction, fishing and agricultural workplaces, the notification can be made at the latest on the day work starts. At workplaces submitting a workplace notification to the Institution for the first time, for those starting work within one month from the date the first insured worker starts, notification can be made by the end of this one-month period. We explain how a workplace's SGK record is created in our article on SGK workplace registration .

The amounts in the table were calculated using the gross minimum wage of 33,030 TL in effect from January 1, 2026 according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. If the same situation recurs within one year after it is detected that an employment start notification was not filed, the law raises the penalty to five times the minimum wage per insured worker.

The main difference the table shows is this: being late with a start notification is ten times more expensive than being late with a termination notice. Even so, postponing the termination notification is not right, because the employee's unemployment benefit and new employment depend on it.

How is the termination notice penalty calculated?

The penalty is calculated under subparagraph (j) of Article 102 of Law No. 5510. If the notification is not made on time, is not made in the form prescribed by the Institution, or is submitted by another means when electronic submission is mandatory, an administrative fine of one tenth of the minimum wage is imposed for each insured worker. The same subparagraph also states that the total penalty arising from these acts in a calendar month cannot exceed the penalty amount prescribed for failure to produce books and documents.

For example, suppose a company (a fictional case) files late the notifications for four employees who left in the same month. Based on the 2026 gross minimum wage, the penalty is 4 × 3,303 TL = 13,212 TL. If the notifications were made voluntarily within 30 days after the legal deadline, before the delay was detected by an inspection, and the penalty was paid within 15 days of notification, the same penalty is applied at one quarter, i.e., 3,303 TL.

The penalty appearing small does not make the risk small. In a month with collective departures, the penalty is calculated separately for each employee not properly notified. An exit with a wrong date also affects the day and earnings information in that month's withholding and social security premium return (muhtasar ve prim hizmet beyannamesi), which creates a second correction task.

How are SGK termination codes selected?

SGK termination codes are two-digit numbers indicating why the employment contract ended. The code is the field in the notice that requires the most attention, because whether the employee qualifies for unemployment benefit depends on it, and in a possible dispute the code is on file as the employer's own statement. The code must be selected according to the actual reason stated in the termination letter.

The most commonly used codes in SGK's reasons for leaving list are as follows:

Code 29, seen in old payroll records, does not appear in SGK's current list. Terminations due to the employee's conduct contrary to the rules of morality and good faith are now reported with codes 42 to 50, corresponding to the relevant subparagraph of Article 25/II of the Labor Law. This change ensures that the reason for termination is shown by a specific subparagraph rather than a general heading.

The list also includes codes 19 (end of season), 20 (end of campaign) and 30 (expiry of visa period). According to SGK's explanation, these codes are for cases where the employment contract is suspended; if the employee will not be re-employed, code 04 is used.

Why does the termination certificate matter for unemployment benefit?

The termination certificate (işten ayrılma bildirgesi) is the document governed by Article 48 of Unemployment Insurance Law No. 4447 and is the basis of the employee's unemployment benefit application. Under the law, the employer prepares three copies of the certificate for an insured worker whose contract ends in one of the cases listed in Article 51. It sends one copy to the Turkish Employment Agency within 15 days, gives one to the employee and keeps one at the workplace.

The employee also has a deadline. Under the same article, an unemployed insured worker must apply to the Agency within thirty days from the day following the date the employment contract was terminated; except in cases of force majeure, any delay is deducted from the benefit period. Delaying the notification may therefore also delay the employee's application.

Under Unemployment Insurance Law No. 4447, the daily unemployment benefit is 40% of the insured worker's average daily gross earnings calculated on the basis of their earnings subject to premium over the last four months, and cannot exceed 80% of the gross minimum wage. The benefit period is determined by the premium days reported in the last three years, provided the worker has worked continuously for the last 120 days: 180 days for 600 days, 240 days for 900 days, and 300 days for 1080 days.

Article 51 of the Law lists one by one the termination cases that qualify for benefit. An employee resigning without just cause and termination by the employer for conduct contrary to the rules of morality and good faith are not among these cases. A wrongly selected code may therefore deprive the employee of benefit to which they are entitled, or open the door to a payment to which they are not entitled.

5 common mistakes in the employment termination notice

When we take over payroll files, we see that most problems with termination notifications cluster around the same five points:

1. Counting the deadline from the wrong day. The ten days start to run not from the day the termination decision is taken or communicated but after the day the contract ends. If the notice period is worked, the exit date is the last day of this period.
2. Selecting a code that does not match the termination letter. Reporting an employee who submitted a resignation letter with code 04, or an employee dismissed by the employer with code 03, leads the employer to contradict its own documents in the event of a dispute.
3. Using suspension codes for a permanent exit. Codes 19, 20 and 30 are for cases where a return is expected. If the employee will not be re-employed, code 04 is selected in line with the explanation in the SGK list.
4. Treating an internal transfer as an exit and a new hire. There is a transfer code, number 16, for an employee moving to another workplace of the same employer. A transaction processed as an exit and a hire may cause confusion in calculations that depend on continuity of service.
5. Not checking consistency with the monthly return. The exit date is also reported, together with that month's premium days and earnings, through the withholding and social security premium return (muhtasar ve prim hizmet beyannamesi) . The dates and day counts in the two notifications must match.

None of these mistakes arises from a complex legislative question. Most stem from the exit procedure being done in a hurry during the month-end rush. Handling the exit in a single file together with the termination letter, the final payroll and the monthly return greatly reduces these risks.

Checklist before the employment termination notice

Once an employee's departure is confirmed, we recommend laying out the following documents side by side before sending the notification:

• The termination notice or resignation letter and their dates
• Correspondence showing whether the notice period was used
• The final month's timesheet and the payroll showing wages and additional payments
• The copy of the termination certificate to be given to the employee
• Work permit details, if a foreign national employee is involved

This check bases both the SGK notification and the final settlement with the employee on the same information. For other payroll and filing obligations, you can browse the guides in our tax legislation category.

Sources: SGK: Employer obligations · Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 · Unemployment Insurance Law No. 4447 · Ministry of Labor and Social Security: 2026 minimum wage

Last updated: 17.10.2026