When a staff member stops coming to work: absence reports, termination and SGK

An employee absence report in Türkiye (devamsızlık tutanağı) is a same-day record of a missed shift: who was scheduled, when the hotel called, how the shift was covered. It supports, but does not replace, the legal steps: hearing the worker's explanation, terminating under Article 25 of Labour Law 4857 inside the Article 26 time limit, and declaring the missing days to SGK.

The 07:00 handover ends and the night auditor's relief is not at the desk. The front office manager covers the shift, the day runs, and by Friday nobody can say which days the worker missed, who called him, or what he said. In a seasonal hotel this happens between two shifts in July, and the department head writes nothing down until payroll asks.

This article gives you one routine: what to record on each day of absence, who signs, how the worker is reached and asked for an explanation, what the law actually says, and how the exit notice, the final pay and the SGK filing follow from that first page.

What should a hotel write down on the first morning a worker does not arrive?#

One page, written the same day by the person who noticed the gap: who was scheduled, when the hotel called, what was said, and how the shift was covered.

Day one belongs to the department head, not to payroll. The gap appears at shift handover, so the handover sheet is the first record and should carry the missed name and shift. Call the worker at the start of the shift and write down the time and the result. If there is no answer, call once more later the same day and write that down too.

Record the shift that was missed, with date, start and end time and department. The word "absent" on its own tells a reader nothing a month later. Name who covered the shift and on what basis: overtime, a cancelled day off, a second shift. That cost is part of the file and part of the decision.

Never write the report at month end from memory, and never backdate one. A report written after the fact is worth less than no report, because it invites the question of why it was not written then. Use one form across housekeeping, kitchen, the desk and the spa, so that records from different departments can be read side by side.

What does Turkish labour law actually say about absence?#

Article 25(II)(g) of Labour Law No. 4857 lets an employer end the contract without waiting for the notice period when the worker, without permission or a just reason, misses two consecutive working days, or the working day after a holiday twice in one month, or three working days in one month.

The three situations are alternatives, not steps. Two consecutive days is enough on its own; the other two cover a pattern of single days around holidays and across a month. The disputed words are "without permission or a just reason". A doctor's report, an approved leave, a workplace accident or a duty the hotel itself created is not this ground, and a sick or injured worker must not be run through the absence routine at all.

The article gives the employer a right, not an instruction. A warning, a written explanation accepted, or continuing the contract are all still open, and in July they are often the cheaper choice. A worker who disagrees can go to court under Articles 18, 20 and 21 and argue that the termination did not fit the ground, so the file, not the argument, decides the outcome. Fixed-term and open-ended contracts are treated the same under Article 25; a seasonal contract does not create a lighter rule.

How do you write an absence report (devamsızlık tutanağı)?#

As a factual record of what was seen and done, signed by the people who were there, never as a legal conclusion about the worker.

Write observations, not verdicts: "did not arrive for the 07:00 to 15:00 shift at the front desk" rather than "abandoned the job". The second sentence is the hotel's opinion and can be argued with. Attach the evidence that already exists: the published roster, the handover sheet, the phone log, the time sheet for the days in question.

Two signatures, the recorder's and a second person who was present, make the page harder to challenge. Treat this as good practice rather than a rule you can rely on without advice. Give the worker a copy when he is reached, and keep the original in the personnel file. A report the worker never saw is easy to describe as written for the file.

Keep the report separate from the time sheet. The report describes the days; the time sheet is what payroll and SGK read, and the two must agree. If the terms are new to you, read up on puantaj and the other labour law terms a hotel payroll uses.

A filled-in template proves nothing by itself. What carries weight is a dated page that matches the roster, the calls and the signatures.

How do you reach a worker who has left the lojman and ask for an explanation?#

In writing, to the address on file and to the room, with the dates missed, a date to answer by, and a copy of everything kept.

Article 19 sets the defence requirement for terminations on valid reasons under Articles 18 and 19, where the contract is open-ended and the employer must give notice. Article 25 is a separate route: a just reason allows termination without notice, and the text does not require the Article 19 defence procedure for it. Courts still examine Article 25 terminations closely, so taking the worker's written explanation before acting is a risk-mitigation step, not a statutory condition. Send the letter to the address in the personnel file and to the lojman room, and keep the courier or registered-mail receipt. A phone call alone leaves no trace of what was asked.

State the dates and shifts missed, ask for a written explanation, and give a realistic date to answer by. A deadline of a few hours looks like a decision already taken. Foreign staff raise residence, work permit and notification questions that sit outside this routine; take advice before acting, and do not improvise the steps. For the room itself, follow the staff housing rules and the lojman room inventory rather than improvising.

Can the hotel terminate, and how long does it have?#

Yes, if the missed days and the missing permission can be shown, and if the hotel acts inside the Article 26 window: six working days from learning of the absence, and never more than a year after it.

Fix the two dates the case turns on: the day the hotel learned of the absence, and the day the termination was signed. If the gap is longer than six working days, the Article 26 right has gone even when the facts are obvious. Article 19 also requires the termination notice to be in writing and to state the reason clearly and precisely. "Absenteeism" as a single word is not a reason; the dates and the ground are.

Article 18 applies the valid-reason requirement in workplaces with 30 or more workers to workers with at least six months' seniority. Article 19's defence step and Article 25 stand separately from that threshold. Article 18's last paragraph excludes employer's representatives who manage the whole business, and representatives who manage the whole workplace with authority to hire and dismiss; check where a manager sits before applying the same routine to him.

Choose between the routes on purpose: termination under Article 25(II)(g) without notice, or a written warning and continued employment. Both are legitimate; the second keeps a trained worker in a month when replacements are hard to find. Give the worker the written notice, keep a copy, and record how and when it was delivered.

What goes into the exit notice, the final pay and the SGK filing?#

A written exit notice with the reason, a settled final account, the return of keys, uniform and the lojman room against a signed inventory, and a monthly SGK return that declares the unpaid days with their reason.

Under Article 86(4) of Law No. 5510, when insured workers are not employed and not paid on some working days in a month, the employer declares the reason for the missing days and their number in that month's monthly premium and service document. Article 102(13) of the Social Insurance Procedures Regulation lists what proves fewer than 30 days of work, including time-sheet records signed by the worker and documents on absence from work. Stating the reason in the return is enough; the documents are prepared in the month but not sent to SGK.

Keep those documents for ten years from the start of the year after the year they relate to, and produce them within fifteen days if SGK asks. Documents not prepared as required are treated as invalid. If the return for the days reported as missing is not filed within one month of SGK's notice, SGK prepares it itself and collects the premiums.

Return the uniform, keys, key card and room against a signed inventory, and settle the final account. Do not deduct for unreturned items without advice; a deduction argued about later costs more than the item. The exit code is a separate decision from the absence report: see SGK exit codes and which one fits the reason the contract ended.

Which records stop this becoming a dispute?#

The roster and the daily time sheet, kept per shift and signed, because they answer the only two questions that matter: was the worker scheduled, and did he work.

Publish the roster in advance and keep every version. A change made by phone should be written into the roster the same day, not remembered later. Have the worker sign the time sheet each period; an unsigned sheet is weak evidence of either work or absence. Keep a handover sheet per shift, signed by both the outgoing and incoming shift. It is the cheapest record a hotel can keep and the first one anyone asks for.

Apply the same records in the kitchen, housekeeping and the spa, where absence is most often covered informally and least often written down. Review the file weekly, not at season end. Six working days pass quickly in July, and the Article 26 window does not wait for the payroll cycle. If the roster keeps drifting out of step with the time sheet, the fix is in shift planning that keeps the roster and the time sheet in step.

What to do next#

Give every department head one form and one rule today: on the first morning, write the page, make the two calls and sign it. Everything after that, the explanation, the decision inside six working days, the exit notice and the SGK return, rests on that page. Confirm the dates, the pay consequences and your own case with an accountant or a labour lawyer before you act on a specific worker.