What Is Employer's Liability Insurance in Türkiye?

What Does the Cover Respond To?

Employer's Liability Insurance (İşveren Sorumluluk Sigortası) responds, within the policy limits, to compensation claims made against an employer after an accident at work. It concerns any business with employees, because the exposure is not limited to the employee's own claim: it also includes the recourse action brought by SGK, Türkiye's Social Security Institution.

Article 1 of the Employer's Liability Insurance General Conditions builds the cover on two pillars. The first is compensation demanded from the employer by employees bound to it under a service contract, or by their dependants, arising out of the employer's legal liability for workplace accidents. One detail matters: the cover responds only to amounts above and outside the benefits the social security institution provides.

The second pillar is the compensation payable at the end of recourse actions brought against the employer by that same institution over workplace accidents. This is often what gives the policy its real value, because the recourse claim arises independently of the employee's own action and is frequently larger.

Court costs and attorney fees awarded in proceedings also fall on the insurer, subject to one limit: where the compensation awarded exceeds the sum insured, the insurer contributes to litigation costs only in proportion to the sum insured. One reading note: the general conditions were last revised on 12 April 2005 and still use the name "Sosyal Sigortalar Kurumu"; its present-day successor is SGK.

Where Does the Employer's Liability Come From?

A policy assumes a liability; it does not create one. The employer's liability for a workplace accident is grounded in Article 417 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (Law No. 6098). Its third paragraph subjects compensation for an employee's death, injury to bodily integrity or infringement of personality rights caused by the employer's conduct contrary to law or contract to the rules on breach of contract, rather than to tort.

The distinction looks technical but its effect is substantial: the claim escapes the shorter tort limitation periods, so a file can reach an employer many years after the event.

Notification is a separate duty. Article 14 of the Occupational Health and Safety Law (No. 6331) requires the employer to notify SGK of workplace accidents within three working days, and of occupational diseases reported by healthcare providers or the workplace physician within three working days of learning of them. Definitions and the notification regime sit in Articles 13 and 14 of Law No. 5510.

Liability in damages is fault-based. Yet fault is usually settled by expert examination at the end of lengthy proceedings, and the defence-cost element of the policy is meaningful precisely for that period.

How Does the SGK Recourse Action Fit In?

Article 21 of Law No. 5510 provides that where a workplace accident or occupational disease results from the employer's intent or from conduct contrary to the legislation protecting insured persons' health and workplace safety, the payments made and to be made by the institution, plus the first capitalised value of the income granted, are charged to the employer — capped at what the insured person or the dependants could claim from the employer.

The same article provides that where an accident is not notified within the statutory period, the temporary incapacity benefit paid up to the notification date is collected from the employer — a direct financial consequence independent of any argument about fault.

Article 1 expressly brings recourse actions within the cover, but refers to actions brought "in respect of workplace accidents". Occupational disease claims enter only through a separate article and only where a buy-back has been agreed. Where the workplace involves exposure to noise, dust or chemicals, that distinction decides whether the policy works at all.

Buy-Back Sections and Absolute Exclusions

Article 2 lists the situations excluded "unless otherwise agreed". These are not prohibited; they can be written back into the policy. Most disputes arise because the employer assumed the five headings below were standard cover.

The situations in Article 3, by contrast, cannot be bought back; they are the absolute boundary of the policy.

• Claims for loss arising from events caused intentionally or knowingly brought about
• Claims resting on a contract or special agreement that exceed the measure of the insured's statutory liability
• Loss caused by war, warlike operations, invasion, civil war, revolution, rebellion, insurrection and the measures they require
• Loss caused by ionising radiation from nuclear fuel or waste and by radioactive contamination
• Damage arising from acts of terrorism defined in the Anti-Terror Law (No. 3713), from sabotage connected with them, and from official interventions against them

What Should an Employer Do After an Accident?

Whether the cover responds depends on post-loss duties performed on time. Article 8 imposes a sequence of obligations:

• Notify law enforcement immediately and SGK within three working days (Law No. 6331, Art. 14).
• Give the insurer written notice within five days of becoming aware of the event (Art. 8/a).
• Take the necessary salvage measures and follow the insurer's instructions (Art. 8/b).
• Collect and preserve documents showing the circumstances, including those assisting rights of recourse (Art. 8/c).
• Pass on without delay any notices received once a claim or criminal proceedings begin (Art. 8/e).
• Grant a power of attorney to the lawyer nominated by the insurer (Art. 8/f).

The Agency's Role in Choosing a Policy

Article 9 stresses one point: without the insurer's express consent, the policyholder may not admit a claim and may not pay the injured party. Even a well-meant handshake can put the cover in dispute. All claims under the contract are time-barred after ten years (Art. 15).

Two policies can look identical on paper and behave very differently at the moment of loss. One carries only the core cover in Article 1; the other includes the shuttle, assignment travel, overseas, occupational disease and moral damages buy-backs. The difference is read in the schedule of cover, not the premium line.

RYL Sigorta Aracılık Hizmetleri Limited Şirketi is an insurance agency. We prepare quotations from the insurers we act for according to your headcount, sector and risk profile, and set the buy-back headings and limits side by side. The policy is issued by the insurance company, and the indemnity is paid by the insurance company.

To discuss the right cover for your workplace, complete the quotation form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• SEDDK — Insurance General Conditions
• Employer's Liability Insurance General Conditions (full text)
• Law No. 5510 on Social Insurance and Universal Health Insurance
• Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety
• Law No. 6098, Turkish Code of Obligations

This article is for information only; the scope of cover is set by the policy’s specific and general terms.