Preparing for an SGK inspection: timesheets, payroll and employment start records

Gökhan Bey the pastry shop owner's letter

The rules described in this lesson are those of Turkish law.

Nine people work in Gökhan Bey's pastry shop. An employee who left last winter applied to SGK (Social Security Institution): "My overtime was underpaid, and my premiums were paid short too." In March a letter came from SGK: the timesheets, wage payrolls, salary payment receipts, employment start notifications and missing-day documents since 2024 were requested within 15 days.

Gökhan Bey's first question was this: "Was I the one keeping all this?" Yes. The mali müşavir (accountant) does the payroll, but keeping and showing the records is the employer's job.

The load on the weighbridge

Let a truck go onto four weighbridges with the same load. All four should show the same weight. If one is different, either the weighbridge is broken or the load changed on the way.

An SGK inspection works the same way. The inspector weighs the same month of an employee on four separate records: the employment start notification (işe giriş bildirgesi), the timesheet (puantaj), the payroll (bordro) and the bank payment. If needed, they also talk to the employee. If the records say the same thing, the inspection is short.

Who comes, what do they ask for, how much time do they give?

On behalf of SGK, inspections are carried out by social security inspectors and auditors (Law No. 5510, art. 59). An inspection can start with an employee's application, a tip-off, information from another institution, or as a planned inspection. On working hours and wages, the labour inspectors of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı) can also carry out inspections; the records they ask for are largely the same. An unannounced workplace check can also come from SGK: at that moment the employees' identities are checked and whether an employment start notification has been filed is checked. So no one whose notification has not been filed should work even for a day.

Keeping. Workplace records and documents are kept for 10 years from the start of the year following the year they relate to (5510 art. 86). The general way of keeping documents is in the lesson Keeping documents in order.

Deadline. Records requested in writing are handed over within 15 days of the day the letter reaches you. The letter can come on paper or by electronic notification; talk with your mali müşavir about who will check which box. If you see that you cannot gather them, ask for extra time before the deadline runs out, in writing and with your reasons; a request made after the deadline has passed may not be considered.

If they are not handed over. Not handing over the records at all and handing them over late or incomplete carry the same fine. In 2026 this fine is 396,360 TL for those who keep books on the balance-sheet basis (bilanço esası), 198,180 TL for those who keep other books, and 99,090 TL for those who keep no books (12, 6 and 3 times the monthly gross minimum wage; 5510 art. 102). So don't take the 15 days lightly; the real task is for the records to be ready already.

Four weighbridges: which record should match which?

We saw how the timesheet is kept in the lesson Paying wages and the timesheet, and the deadline for the employment start notification in the lesson SGK employment start notification. Here we look at whether these records match one another.

Common mismatches and how to fix them

The employee started before the notification. The timesheet says 1 March, the notification 4 March. If this comes out in an inspection, the days in between may count as employing someone uninsured. If employing someone uninsured is found in an inspection, the workplace cannot use SGK incentives for a while, including the Treasury premium discount (Hazine prim indirimi) (in 2026, 2 points outside manufacturing and 5 points in manufacturing): one month on the first finding, and one year each time if it happens again within three years (5510 additional art. 14). Ask your mali müşavir how a delay you corrected on your own affects this. Fix: the notification before the person starts work; if you have noticed a past delay, have your mali müşavir correct it straight away.

Timesheet filled in afterwards, unsigned. A timesheet written from memory at the end of the month can contradict what the employee says. Fix: keep the timesheet day by day, and at the end of the month have the employee read and sign it.

Overtime not in the records. This was Gökhan Bey's problem. Fix: write overtime down hour by hour, and show on the pay slip that it went onto the payroll. The details are in the lesson Overtime, the weekly day off and holidays.

More money paid into the bank than on the payroll. The difference may be an advance, an expense refund or a bonus; but if there is no explanation, it looks like unreported wages and a premium difference may be demanded. Fix: write what each payment is in its description ("September 2026 salary", "travel expense refund, with invoice"). Tie an advance to a signed paper.

No missing-day document. The documents are not sent to SGK every month; they are kept at the workplace. But if they are not handed over within 15 days when requested, they are considered invalid; the premium for those days may be demanded with a late payment penalty and interest. If missing notification is found, the workplace's minimum wage support may also be taken back. Fix: every sick report, leave request and absence report should be in that month's folder.

If you have noticed a gap before an inspection comes, don't wait. Correcting the missing notification on your own with your mali müşavir is generally less costly than it coming out in an inspection; your mali müşavir calculates the amount.

Set it up from today: two folders

A personnel file for each employee: the employment contract, a copy of their ID, the employment start notification, the employment termination notification if any, and the final settlement documents.

A folder for each month: the signed timesheet, the payroll, the signed pay slips, the salary payment receipts, the missing-day documents, the combined withholding tax and social security premium return, and the tax assessment slip (tahakkuk fişi, the document showing the amount to be paid).

If the two folders are ready, 15 days becomes one afternoon's work.

Gökhan Bey's hand-over

Gökhan Bey had his timesheets, because two years earlier, at his mali müşavir's insistence, he had started having them signed every month. The overtime hours of the employee who left were written on the timesheet and had gone onto the payroll. The only gap was a notification filed three days late in 2024; his mali müşavir had already corrected it that year. Gökhan Bey handed over the documents with a list on the twelfth day. The inspector's only question was about an advance payment; the signed paper was in the folder.