Ibraname (release), employment certificate and SGK exit notification deadlines in Turkey

Monday morning, an employee hands in a resignation letter. The HR officer faces four questions at once: Within how many days must the exit notification be filed? If a hiring notification was filed by mistake for someone who has not started yet, until when can it be cancelled? Which document is given to the employee on leaving? And what is the ibraname signed on the last day, and does it actually help? The answers, all under Turkish law, are spread across different texts: one in the legislation of the SGK (Turkey’s Social Security Institution), one in the Turkish Labour Law, one in the Turkish Code of Obligations. Below, we have gathered them from the official texts in the order you can follow through the exit process.

The insured employee exit notification is the document by which an employer notifies Turkey’s Social Security Institution (SGK) that the insurance coverage of a person employed under Article 4/a has ended; in everyday language it is called the “exit notification”. The deadlines and conditions in this article were read from the official text of Law No. 5510, the Social Insurance Procedures Regulation, Labour Law No. 4857 and Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 (reviewed on 22 October 2026). Texts may change; check the current version before applying them.

What is the deadline for the exit notification in Turkey?

Under Article 9 of Law No. 5510, the insurance coverage of an employee under Article 4/a ends on the date the employment contract ends, and employers notify the SGK of this within ten days at the latest. Article 25 of the Social Insurance Procedures Regulation makes this concrete: the notification is filed within ten days after insurance coverage ends, using the insured employee exit notification in Annex 5, via e-sigorta. The date that starts the clock is the date the employment contract ends; because this date can differ in cases such as a notice period, payment in lieu of notice or mutual agreement, it should be stated clearly in the exit record.

The reason for leaving is also entered in the notification as a code. The regulation gives the SGK the authority to set and change these codes, so instead of guessing the code, you should check the SGK’s current code list.

When is the hiring notification filed, and what is the cancellation deadline?

On the hiring side, the rule differs from the exit. Article 8 of Law No. 5510 requires the employer to notify a person under Article 4/a with a hiring notification before the insurance start date. For people starting work in construction, fishing and agricultural workplaces, the law allows notification no later than the day they start work. There are other exceptions as well; check your own situation with your accountant.

Article 11 of the Social Insurance Procedures Regulation covers what happens if the person never starts work after the notification has been filed:

“…may cancel it via e-sigorta until 23:59 on the first working day following the start date stated in the notification.”

So the cancellation deadline for a hiring notification is 23:59 on the first working day following the start date written in the notification, and the cancellation is made via e-sigorta. If you are unsure which day counts as a working day, confirm with the SGK office; if the deadline has passed, ask your accountant or the SGK what to do.

What is an employment certificate?

An employment certificate is a document the employer gives to a departing worker, showing the type of work done and the length of service. Its legal basis is Article 28 of Labour Law No. 4857. The article states that a worker harmed because the certificate was not issued in time or contains incorrect information, or the new employer who hires that worker, may claim compensation from the former employer; the documents are exempt from fees.

The employment certificate does not replace the SGK notification; they are separate obligations. The article does not say within how many days the certificate must be issued. That is why preparing it on the exit date and handing it to the employee against a signature prevents later disputes that it “was not given” or “was incorrect”.

What is an ibraname, and what are its validity conditions?

An ibraname (release) is a document in which an employee declares in writing that they waive their claims against the employer. Under Article 132 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, the parties can extinguish a debt wholly or partly through a release agreement. In an employment relationship, however, Article 420 adds conditions to protect the worker. An ibraname is valid only if it meets all of the following:

1. It must be in writing.
2. At least one month must have passed between the end of the contract and the date of the release.
3. The type and amount of the claim being released must be stated clearly.
4. Payment must have been made in full, according to the amount owed.
5. Payment must have been made through a bank.

The article states that release agreements or ibranames that do not meet these requirements are absolutely void. Documents that do not show that the real amount was paid only count as a receipt, limited to the amount they contain. As a result, an ibraname signed on the last day, with no amount or with general wording, may not protect the employer. The safe route is to make payments through a bank and to draw up the ibraname after the waiting period has passed, stating the types and amounts clearly.

Exit steps: what to do and when

Exit checklist

1. Confirm the exit date and reason in writing; the date in the notification must match it.
2. If there is a notice period, record that the job-search leave was granted.
3. Collect assigned assets (computer, phone, keys, cards, protective equipment) and record the handover in a signed report.
4. Close e-mail, system and network access on the exit date; change the passwords of shared accounts.
5. File the insured employee exit notification via e-sigorta within the ten-day period; note on the list who files it and when it was filed.
6. Prepare the employment certificate and hand it over against a signature.
7. Make final payments through a bank; draw up the ibraname separately according to the payment and waiting-period conditions.
8. Keep exit interview notes and copies of the documents in the personnel file.

Where are Excel, e-mail and WhatsApp enough for tracking exits, and where not?

In a small team with a few exits a month, an Excel table with one row per exit does the job: exit date, date the notification was filed, handover of the employment certificate, ibraname status. Even adding conditional colouring to the deadline column makes the approaching ten-day window visible.

The problem is that exit work does not end with one person. Facilities handles asset returns, IT handles accounts, and accounting or the external accountant handles the notification. When the steps are scattered across e-mail and WhatsApp messages, the answer to “has the account been closed?” is found by scrolling through a chat history, and who did what and when cannot be proven. As the number of exits grows, the cost of a single missed step, such as access left open or a late notification, grows too.

How does the exit checklist work in KurumsalPortal?

In the Onboarding & Offboarding Management module, a departure runs through a separate exit checklist. Asset returns, closing accounts and access, and exit documents are assigned as separate steps to the relevant departments (human resources, IT, facilities, managers); the process moves forward as each department completes its step, and closes in a controlled way once all steps are done.

The exit documents step is the right place to track that papers such as the employment certificate have been prepared. The notification itself is filed via e-sigorta; in the portal it is tracked as a checklist step with its owner and completion status. This way, the stage of the exit process can be seen on one screen.

If you want to run the exit process with its paperwork, asset and access steps in a single checklist, see the Onboarding & Offboarding Management page, and the KurumsalPortal page for the other modules.