Minimum Wage Support for 2026 Announced

The Social Security Institution (SSI) has announced the procedures and principles regarding the minimum wage support to be applied during the period between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2026. The main points that concern employers are summarized below.

Amount of Support and Implementation Principles

For 2026, the minimum wage support has been determined as TRY 33.33 per insured employee per day. The support will not be paid in cash to employers; instead, it will be offset against the social security premium liabilities payable by the employer.

The support will apply to employees reported between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2026.

In determining the number of employees eligible for the support, the average number of employees reported to the SSI in 2025 will be taken as the reference. However, an increase in the number of employees in 2026 compared to the 2025 average does not prevent employers from benefiting from the support. Nevertheless, the reference employee number and the applicable earning thresholds will be taken into consideration when calculating the support.

Within this framework, the daily earnings subject to social security premiums (prime-based earnings) of employees must remain below the thresholds determined by the SSI. The minimum wage support will not apply to earnings exceeding these thresholds. In addition, the number of days reported under long-term insurance branches will be taken into account in the calculation of the support.

For workplaces newly registered in 2026, since there is no reference employee number for 2025, such workplaces may benefit from the support based on the number of employees reported in 2026.

Conditions for Benefiting from the Support and Practical Considerations

In order to benefit from the support, employers must submit their Withholding and Premium Service Declarations within the legal deadlines and pay their social security premiums on time. In addition, the workplace must not have any overdue premium debt to the SSI, unless such debts have been restructured.

If undeclared employment or false employee notifications are detected, the relevant workplaces will not be eligible to benefit from the support. Likewise, failure to submit the required declarations on time or failure to pay the premiums within the legal deadlines will result in the loss of the support.

Assessment

The minimum wage support to be applied throughout 2026 aims to reduce employers’ social security premium costs. In order to benefit from the support without interruption, it is important for employers to ensure that SSI declarations and premium payments are made accurately and on time.