Turkey: Activity Permits And Conditions Of Private Employment Agencies

First of all, it should be stated that; Applications for an activity permit certificate for a private employment agency are made through the provincial directorates/service centers of the Turkish Employment Agency ("Agency"). In order to establish a private employment agency, with the activity permit to be obtained by applying to the regional directorate of the Authority in the region where the company headquarters is located, it will be possible to operate in specially determined areas where private employment agencies can operate. However, in order to operate as a private employment agency and to obtain an operating permit, pursuant to Article 13 of the Regulation on Private Employment Offices ("Regulation") published by the Authority;

• The entities authorized to represent and bind the private employment agency ("Authorized Person") meet the requirements specified in the Law No. 4904 on Certain Regulations Relating to the Turkish Employment Agency ("Law"),
• Guarantee should be provided in an amount equivalent to twenty times the gross minimum wage amount on the date of application,
• The trade appellations of the real or legal entities who will apply for a permit which bear the appropriate expressions for their main activities,
• No receivables of the Authority, t
• The expenses determined by the Authority have been paid
• To have the technical equipment and a suitable workplace or website to carry out the recruitment activities,
• To employ qualified personnel

must be fully met.

If the conditions specified in the Regulation and listed above are encountered, the activity permit process is concluded within one month at the latest as specified in Article 15 of the Regulation and if the result is positive, the applicant is informed in written form. The important point to be emphasized here is that the permission granted is not indefinite. Paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the Regulation stated that;

"The permits issued by the institution are valid for three years. The permit may be renewed for a period of three years provided that a written request is made at least fifteen days before the expiry date of the permit, the conditions required for the issuance of the permit exist, and the renewal fee is paid." statements.

As it can be implied from the provision of this article, the permission granted by the Authority is valid for three years and if it is appealed to continue to operate at the end of the third year, a written request must be made to the Authority fifteen days before the end of the permit at the latest and the conditions required for the activity permit must not be lost.

In particular, it is requested to renew the letters of guarantee deposited as collateral in practice and the renewed letters of guarantee must be submitted to the Authority in order to renew the permission. Following the renewal request, the duration of the permit may be extended for three years if the expenses are paid, the letter of guarantee is renewed and the following conditions are maintained.

1. Conditions to be Present in the Authorized Person

In accordance with the provisions of the Law and the Regulation, the Authorized Person to represent and bind the private employment office must meet certain conditions. In this context, the Authorized Person should encounter below circumstances;

• Have a certificate of education at least at the undergraduate level,
• Not to have previously been bankrupt or to have declared a concordat,
• Crimes against the security of the State, crimes against the constitutional order and its functioning, embezzlement, embezzlement, bribery, theft, fraud, forgery, abuse of trust, fraudulent bankruptcy, mischief in the tender, mischief in the performance of the act, smuggling of immigrants and human trafficking, laundering of the value of assets resulting from the crime or have not been convicted of smuggling.

2. Guarantee/Assurance Requirement

In accordance with the provision in Article 17 of the Law, a guarantee equivalent to twenty times the gross minimum wage amount must be deposited with the Authority on the date of application. In this regard, in order to obtain an activity permit to open a private employment agency in 2023, a durable and indefinite bank guarantee letter or cash guarantee of TL 200,160,00.-TL and TL 2,001,600,00.-TL must be given to the Authority in order to obtain temporary employment relationship authorization.

It should also be asserted that; in accordance with Article 19.3 of the Regulation, the amount of coverage is increased by recalculating it according to the gross minimum wage with effect from the beginning of each calendar year. In this case, private employment agencies must complete the amount of coverage or provide additional collateral by the end of February of the relevant year.

3. Trade Appellation Requirement

In accordance with Article 13.4 of the Regulation, the trade appellations of real or legal entities who will apply for a permit to operate as a private employment agency must bear the phrases appropriate to their main activities. However, activities that are prohibited or not authorized by the Regulation should not be included in the trade appellation. In this regard, the legal entity applying for a permit must carry the phrases such as "education, consultancy, intermediary, human resources, career" in the trade appellation, which indicates that it will engage in labor market, employment and human resources services within the scope of the activity of intermediation in finding jobs and workers.

4. Payment of Expense Provision

The expense provision, which is determined by the Authority every year and announced on the website of the Authority, must be paid in order to obtain an operating permit. In this regard, the cost provision for 2023 has been determined as 15.318,00.-TL.

5. Workplace/Website Requirement

In accordance with Article 17 of the Law; In order to obtain an activity permit, it is necessary to have an appropriate workplace or website with technical equipment to perform job and employee finding activities. Workplaces that are allocated for the intermediary activity of finding jobs and workers and that have a physical place where the job seeker can be interviewed are considered suitable. In addition, private employment agencies that will operate on the internet are required to document that they have a website. A visit to the workplace is organized by the institution and a general assessment is made about the condition of the district/locality in the province / district where the workplace is located, the condition of the building, the approximate distance to the city / district center, and the size of the square meter.

The headquarters and branches of private employment agencies that will carry out intermediary activities over the Internet are expected to be able to appear on the main page of their websites on the date of their commencement of their activities with the slogan "It operates with a numbered brokerage permit given by the Turkish Employment Agency ...... dated and ...... numbered. In accordance with the Law No. 4904, it is forbidden to charge wages to job seekers" and the contact information of the provincial directorate issuing the permit and the logo of the private employment agency determined by the Authority should be included at the bottom of the internet home pages in a way that everyone can see.

6. Qualified Personnel Requirement

As a private employment agency, it is mandatory to employ qualified personnel during the obtaining of an operating permit. Qualified personnel, who have a certificate of professional competence of a business and vocational consultant approved by the Vocational Qualifications Authority or who are at least at associate degree level; departments of information management, office management and executive assistant, public relations and publicity, human resource management, business administration or at the undergraduate level; political sciences, economic and administrative sciences, economics, business or management sciences refers to the person who has graduated from the faculties. In this context, it is necessary to employ qualified personnel within the private employment agency. However, with the provision in Article 13 of the Regulation, it is also regulated that the Authorized Person can be considered as qualified personnel if they meet the conditions required for qualified personnel.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.