1.What is the amount of support that will be provided for an SME within the scope of the FOSTER Project Employment Committed SME Support Programme Second Call for Proposals? How many jobs should be committed?

Support amount is TRY 1,000,000. 2 jobs, 1 Turkish and 1 SuTP/FuIP, should be committed and the commitment should be realized. One of these persons must be newly employed (Businesses located in the earthquake provinces- Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis and Şanlıurfa- are exempt from the “new job creation” rule.)

2.When should the purchase of machinery under the Employment Committed SME Support Program be made?

Purchase of machinery must be completed within the support period. The enterprise must make all payments associated with the expenses covered by the support through bank/PTTBank as of the support start date. The bank/PTTBank receipt date can’t be earlier than the support start date, and it must be on or before the deadline to submit a payment request.

3.Within the scope of the program, will the machinery support payments be made all at once?

Within the scope of the program, payments for other expenses such as machinery, equipment, software, training are not paid all at once. At the end of the monitoring period, the enterprise that fulfils its employment commitment for the relevant monitoring period is entitled to a support payment equal to the amount obtained by dividing the estimated support amount approved by the evaluation board by the number of monitoring periods (the sum of the monitoring period and the number of following monitoring periods). If the invoice amount is lower than the amount approved by the Board, the invoice amount is taken into account.

4.Does the machinery bought through the program require a Domestic Goods Certificate? Does buying the machinery made in Turkey have any benefits or is it mandatory? Is it required to buy machinery from Turkey?

When buying program-related items like software and machinery, there is no difference between domestic and foreign purchases. But no goods or services may be obtained from the countries sanctioned by the European Union, the KfW Development Bank, and United Nations.

5.Is the VAT included in the amount of support for machinery purchases made under the program?

Value added tax is excluded from the scope of support when calculating the support amount.

6.Does the machine that is to be bought under the program have to be brand-new?

The machinery to be purchased under the Employment Committed SME Support Programme must be brand-new.

7.Which expenses are covered by the Training Support provided under the programme?

Training support covers only the cost of training. Cost of meals, accommodation and transportation are not supported. The training service must be provided for the business owner, partner or personnel working at the address of the business in the province of application.

8.What does the “new employee” term mean?

Personnel employed after the date of the announcement of the call for proposals shall be considered as new employees. Employees who quit their jobs within four (four) months before the call for proposals announcement date, or who quit on or after that date, are not regarded as new employees, even if they are re-employed within the same company.

9.Are there any restrictions or pre-requisites for the personnel hired under the project? Is there any age advantage?

There are no restrictions or prerequisites in terms of age, gender, educational status, profession, etc. for the person to be employed. However, if the new staff to be employed is female or young, the support rate for this   staff will be applied as 100% (one hundred), and therefore age/gender status provides an advantage. If the employee is not female or young, the support rate shall be applied as 70%.

10.What age threshold must employees meet in order to be considered youth under the programme?

Young personnel are individuals who are newly employed within the scope of the support and have not yet turned thirty on the date of employment.

11.If an employee employed under the Employment Committed SME Support Programme quits or is dismissed, is the SME able to find a replacement employee?

The SME may find a replacement for the employee who has quitted or has been dismissed.  A substitute can be employed in place of the one who have quitted.

12.Is there any deadline for personnel replacements in the program?

During each monitoring period, a minimum number of premium days as explained in the related Implementation Framework of KOSGEB[1]  should be maintained for each employee. For this reason, in personnel changes, it should be ensured that the sum of the SSI premium days of the previously and newly hired personnel is equal to or more than the minimum number of premium days required for the relevant monitoring period. Apart from this, there is no restriction on the day of employment in the relevant period.

13.How is the support amount calculated if the type of employment (female, young, male) under the Employment Committed SME Support Program changes in the later periods?

The rate of personnel cost support provided under the program varies according to the type of employment (female, male or youth) in the relevant monitoring period. The support rate is 100% for young or female employees and 70% for male employees. In the event that the type of an employee changes during the same time frame, each employee’s support amount is determined independently, accounting for premium days within the context of the employee type-specific support rate

14.Does the Employment Committed SME Support Programme pay monthly for personnel support?

Payments under the program are made at the end of each monitoring period. Each monitoring period covers a period of 4 months.

15.Is there any possibility of an extension of the monitoring term in the event that a work permit is not obtained on time for the SME Support Programme with Employment Commitment?

In the first monitoring period, businesses that have more than 30 days between the date of application for work permit and the date of approval are considered to have fulfilled their employment commitment. This is as long as they submit documentary evidence of the situation and ensure that the employee is insured after the work permit is obtained. The amount of support will be calculated on the basis of the number of premium days. SMEs who cannot fulfil their employment commitment in the first monitoring period will continue to benefit from the program if they fulfil this commitment in the second monitoring period. In this case a deduction will be made from the total budget equal to the budget amount corresponding to the first monitoring period (25%). In other words, maximum available support amount is TRY 750,000.

16.Do people having SuTP or FuIP status need to have a certificate from the Vocational Qualification Authority in order to work under the program?

Personnel working under the program are not subject to any qualification requirements. Nonetheless, the enterprise is accountable if a document or obligation is mandated by other institutions or organizations for specific business sectors.

17.Is there any restriction on the nationality of the persons employed under the program in the status of FuIP?

There is no restriction on the nationality of the person employed under the program in the status of FuIP.

18.Should the monthly salary payments be made through the bank for the personnel employed under the program in the SuTP/FuIP status?

The enterprise must make all payments associated with the expenses covered by the support through bank/ PTTBank as of the support start date. The bank/PTTBank receipt date can’t be before the support start date, and it must be on or before the deadline for making a payment request.

19.Can the newly recruited employee be assigned to work outside of the province?

Recruited employee cannot work outside the project provinces. In the case that the personnel subject to the employment commitment works outside the Project provinces, the support will be terminated by the implementation unit.

20.How is the amount of support for personnel costs calculated?

1. a) The cost of the employee to the employer for 1 (one) day is calculated by dividing the cost of the minimum wage, as published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, by thirty (30).
2. b) The one-day cost of the employee to the employer in the relevant month is multiplied by the number of SSI premium days of the employee in that month. The support base for the monitoring period is determined by doing this calculation independently for each month of the period and adding up the results.
3. c) Support amount is calculated by taking 70% of the support base. If the newly employed is a woman or a young person this rate will be applied at 100%

21.What employment-related requirements have to be fulfilled by an SME in order to be eligible for a support payment?

To be able to receive support payment, the SME must meet the following conditions:

• 50% of the committed personnel should be Turkish citizens and 50% should be SuTP/FuIP.
• 50% of the committed personnel should be new personnel (This condition is not required for enterprises in Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis and Şanlıurfa provinces in the earthquake zone)
• The SME should have maintained more than 4 times the lowest number monthly of SSI premium days recorded between 1 January 2023 and 30 April 2024. (This condition is not required for enterprises in Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis and Şanlıurfa provinces in the earthquake zone)

The number of premium days in the SSI records must be at least 80 (eighty) in each 4-month monitoring period for each employee covered by the support. Exceptionally, it is sufficient for the number of premium days in the SSI records to be at least 40 (forty) in the first monitoring period for each employee covered by the support. (The number of premium days in the SSI records in all monitoring periods must be at least 40 (forty) in the earthquake zone provinces Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis and Şanlıurfa.) In the first monitoring period, businesses that have more than 30 days between the date of application for work permit and the date of approval are considered to have fulfilled their employment commitment. This is as long as they submit documentary evidence of the situation and ensure that the employee is insured after the work permit is obtained.   

22.Under which conditions will the enterprise be excluded from the Employment Committed SME Support Programme?

The support process will be terminated in case of the following situations:

1. a) Beginning of the company’s liquidation
   b) Closure of the business,
   c) Failure to meet employment requirements,
   ç) Board decision to stop providing support.

23.If the SME is excluded from the program, do they have to refund the support payments they received?

A return of previously paid support is not asked in the event that the support is terminated since the business begins to liquidate, closes down or fails to meet employment requirements. In case of Board Decision to stop providing support; no refund will be sought if it is determined that the termination of the support is due to death, serious illness or accident, detention, fire, earthquake, flood, theft, financial insufficiency which prevented the enterprise’s operations without the enterprise’s wilful misconduct or other similar reasons deemed appropriate by the Board. In other situations, support amount is repaid with the accrued interest.

Note: This page has been developed for informational reasons only, relevant legislation applies in all cases.

[1] https://fostersmes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Uygulama-Esaslari-Antetli.pdf

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