What is a Work Accident Compensation Case?
A work accident compensation lawsuit is a material and moral compensation lawsuit filed by an employee or their relatives against the responsible employer, demanding compensation in the event of injury or death of the employee at the workplace due to the employment relationship.
A work accident compensation lawsuit can be filed against both the principal employer and all subcontractors. For example, if Company X subcontracted the electrical work for a construction project to Company Y, and Company Y subcontracted part of the electrical work to Company Z, then if a worker employed by Company Z dies as a result of a work accident, a lawsuit for material and moral damages due to the work accident can be filed against all companies (Z, Y, and Z) on the condition that they pay jointly and severally.
What Constitutes a Work Accident?
According to Article 13 of the Social Insurance Law No. 5510, the following situations constitute work accidents and are eligible for compensation claims:
Any physical or mental harm suffered by an employee while at the employer’s workplace constitutes a work accident. It does not matter how the employee was injured or died. If the incident to which the employee was exposed occurred at the workplace, it is considered a work accident and may be subject to a compensation claim. For example, if a heart attack occurs at the workplace, it is considered a work accident by the Court of Appeals solely for this reason.
If an employee working for an employer is sent to another location outside the workplace on official business and suffers an injury while not performing their main job, this is considered a work accident and may be subject to a compensation claim.
If an employee is working independently on their own behalf and account due to work being carried out by the employer, any incident that occurs due to the work being carried out is considered a work accident and may be subject to a compensation claim.
Accidents suffered by a breastfeeding female employee during the time allocated to feed her child in accordance with labor legislation are work accidents. For example, an employee injured by a chair falling from the upper balcony while breastfeeding her child may file a work accident compensation claim against the employer.
Any accident that occurs while the worker is traveling to and from the place of work in a vehicle provided by the employer is a work accident. In practice, such accidents are referred to as traffic work accidents.
In practice, workers.
Accidents suffered by a breastfeeding female employee during the time allocated for breastfeeding her child in accordance with labor legislation are considered work accidents. For example, an employee injured by a chair falling from the upper balcony while breastfeeding her child may file a work accident compensation claim against the employer.
Any accident that occurs while the worker is traveling to and from the place of work in a vehicle provided by the employer is a work accident. In practice, these types of accidents are called traffic work accidents.
In practice, the question that workers are most curious about is how long a work accident compensation lawsuit will take. Many factors determine how long a work accident compensation lawsuit will take, such as whether the work accident resulted in death or injury, the nature of the work accident between the employee and the employer, the degree of fault of the parties in the occurrence of the work accident, the employee’s salary, and whether the disability rate in injury work accidents will be contested. In Turkey, an average compensation case takes at least 1.5-2 years to be resolved.
Time Limit for Filing a Work Accident Compensation Case (Statute of Limitations)
The time limit for filing a compensation case due to a work accident, in other words, the statute of limitations, is 10 years from the date of the work accident (Civil Code, Article 146). There is no difference in the general statute of limitations between injury (disability) or death resulting from a work accident.
It should be noted that if a criminal case has been filed due to a work accident and the “statute of limitations period” for the criminal case is longer, the statute of limitations period for the criminal case will also apply to the compensation case due to the work accident.
It should be specifically noted that if a criminal case has been filed due to a work accident and the “statute of limitations” for the criminal case is longer, the statute of limitations for the criminal case also applies to the compensation case due to the work accident. For example, if two workers employed in the construction sector die, a criminal case will be filed for the crime of causing death by negligence. In the case of causing the death of two people by negligence, the statute of limitations for the criminal case is 15 years. The 15-year statute of limitations in the criminal case will also apply to the compensation case due to the work accident. However, if two people are injured by falling from a construction site, the crime will be negligent injury, and the statute of limitations for criminal proceedings will be 8 years. In this case, the 10-year general statute of limitations for civil proceedings will be considered, not the statute of limitations for criminal proceedings.
Another point to note regarding the statute of limitations is when it begins to run in cases of disability (injury) resulting from a work accident where the degree of disability cannot be definitively determined. If the disability increases due to a “progressive condition,” the statute of limitations begins to run from the date of the final report in which the disability is definitively determined.
Competent Court in Work Accident Compensation Cases
The labor courts competent to hear work accident cases are determined as follows (Labor Courts Law No. 7036, Article 6):
In work accidents, the court with general jurisdiction is the court of the place of residence of the defendant natural or legal person at the time the case is filed. If there is more than one defendant, the court of the place of residence of any one of them is also competent.
The labor court of the place where the work accident or damage occurred is also competent to hear material and moral compensation lawsuits arising from work accidents.
The labor court of the place of residence of the worker who became disabled due to the work accident or, if death occurred, the close relatives of the deceased worker who are the plaintiffs, is also competent.
Jurisdiction agreements between the worker and the employer that are contrary to the above provisions are invalid.
Work Accident Determination Case
The employer must report the work accident to the Social Security Institution. Upon notification by the employer or employee, the SGK conducts an investigation through its inspectors and prepares an investigation report determining whether the incident was a work accident, the circumstances of the incident, and the fault of the parties. If the investigation report qualifies the incident as a work accident, the entitled party may file a direct lawsuit for material and moral damages in the labor court.
If the incident is reported to the Social Security Institution (SGK) but is not recognized as a work accident by the SGK, a “work accident determination lawsuit” must be filed, naming both the SGK and the employer as defendants. Disputes regarding the determination of a work accident directly concern the jurisdiction of the Social Security Institution, and the institution is not a party in the compensation lawsuit. Therefore, the work accident determination lawsuit is heard as a separate lawsuit from the compensation lawsuit. The time limit for filing a work accident determination lawsuit is subject to a 10-year statute of limitations from the date of the work accident. The work accident compensation lawsuit must await the finalization of the work accident determination lawsuit, which is filed as a separate lawsuit.
Once the work accident determination case is finalized in favor of the employee, the Social Security Institution (SGK) provides the employee with a regular income in the event of disability, or to the deceased’s eligible relatives in the event of death. A certain portion of this income is deducted from the amount of compensation claimed in the compensation case.
If a compensation lawsuit is filed without reporting the work accident to the institution (SGK), the labor court must give the plaintiff time to report the work accident claim to the Social Security Institution. If the incident is not accepted as a work accident by the Institution, the claimant should be given time to file a “work accident determination lawsuit” against the employer, as this will affect the Social Security Institution and the claimant’s rights. The outcome of this determination lawsuit should be awaited by the court hearing the compensation lawsuit, and the trial should proceed accordingly.