Onboarding and offboarding in Türkiye: a step-by-step checklist

How do you onboard a new employee in Türkiye?

Onboarding starts before the first day: you request paperwork, notify SGK (Social Security Institution of Türkiye) and prepare accounts. On day one the contract is signed and equipment handed over; training and introductions follow. An owner and deadline per step keeps it independent of anyone's memory.

What are the offboarding steps when an employee leaves?

Offboarding closes the onboarding steps in reverse order. The resignation or termination is recorded in writing, the last working day is set, access is closed, equipment comes back and the employee receives an employment certificate. The SGK leaving notification and final pay are completed in the days after the exit.

What does Turkish law say about hiring and leaving notifications?

Article 8 of Social Security Law No. 5510 requires the employer to notify SGK of a new employee before insurance coverage starts. Article 9 requires the employer to notify SGK within ten days at the latest when an employee's coverage ends.

Article 8 has exceptions (construction, fishing, agriculture, first workplace registration); check yours: Law No. 5510, Legislation Information System.

Article 28 of Labour Law No. 4857 requires a document stating the type and length of work to be given to a leaving employee. Article 8 makes written form mandatory for contracts of one year or longer. Text: Labour Law No. 4857.

Article 10 of KVKK (Türkiye's Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data) requires the data controller to inform people when it collects their data; hiring paperwork falls under this. Text: Law No. 6698.

Where do email and Excel onboarding processes break down?

When onboarding and offboarding run on email and Excel, the steps live in people's heads. With no named owner, everyone assumes someone else did it. The gap shows when a notification is late or a leaver's account is still open.

• Forgotten notifications: Nobody knows whether the SGK form was filed until someone asks.
• Open accounts: IT hears about the exit late, and email and shared folder access lasts for weeks.
• Late dates in payroll: The start or leaving date reaches the puantaj (monthly attendance ledger) at month end, and pay is recalculated.
• Missing paperwork: Outstanding items get lost in email.
• No evidence: Proof means searching inboxes.

How does Sora İK track onboarding and offboarding steps?

Sora İK runs onboarding and offboarding through task lists built from named templates. Each task has an owner, and its due date comes from the template's day offset counted from the start or leaving date. The system records who completed each task and when.

For every template item you enter a title, a description, a day offset and who is responsible: HR, the line manager or the new joiner. Office, field and management staff can each have their own template; editing it later does not touch lists already opened. Suggested templates come with SGK, İSG training, paperwork and employment certificate items.

Owners work through their tasks on the My tasks screen, with overdue ones flagged, and cannot see pay or identity numbers there. Collected paperwork goes to the Documents tab of the digital personnel file.

The exit record stores the leaving date, the official SGK reason code, a note and asset returns. Unused leave shows in days, and the leaving date reaches puantaj and payroll. An exit report for any period downloads as CSV. Sora İK does not send notifications to SGK; you file them in SGK's own system.

On the roadmap: email reminders for tasks, a process dashboard, automatic account closure at the end of the leaving date, severance and notice pay calculation, asset tracking and automatic employment certificates. For all modules and plans, see Sora İK. Product details: Onboarding & Offboarding — full feature list.

What should IT check when employees join and leave?

A former employee's account left open is one of the most common access risks in a business. Prepare the list of access to close before the last day, assign the closure as a task and record who closed what, and when.

• Access inventory: Email, VPN, shared folders, cloud apps, building cards and shared passwords belong on one list.
• HR-to-IT handover: Account set-up and closure should be IT tasks with deadlines, not a verbal heads-up.
• Shared passwords: Change those the leaver knew on the last day.
• Sora İK account: On the exit screen, the company owner or system administrator shuts the leaver's login; the card itself stays on file as departed.
• Document security: Health reports and criminal record certificates open only for holders of the special category document permission. For role design, see the HR software security guide.

Modules that work with onboarding and offboarding

Joining and leaving steps change the personnel record, documents, the employee's place in the organisation and access rights. The guides below cover them.

• Digital personnel file guide: Document groups, steps for moving from paper to digital and access rules for managing personnel files.
• Employee document and contract tracking guide: Document types, versioning, expiry tracking and access rules for managing employee paperwork.
• Organisation chart guide: Setting up departments and positions, keeping the reporting line current and how the chart drives approvals.
• HR software security guide: A vendor-neutral IT checklist for role-based access, two-step verification and audit logs.

Frequently asked questions

What documents are required when hiring in Türkiye?

The exact list depends on the job and the rules that apply to your workplace. Employers commonly ask for a copy of the ID, diplomas or certificates, proof of residence and, for some jobs, a health report and criminal record certificate. Both are special category data: request them only where the role needs them and store them separately.

When must the SGK hiring notification be filed?

Under Article 8 of Law No. 5510, the employer notifies SGK of a new employee with the insured person's hiring notification before insurance coverage starts. The article sets different deadlines for construction, fishing and agricultural workplaces and for workplaces filing their first registration. Check the deadline that fits your workplace in the official text.

When should a leaver's access be removed?

By the end of the last working day at the latest. Target end of business for remote access, email and key apps; if the employer terminates, close access with the notice. Make closure an owned, dated task, record who closed what, and include shared password changes.

Which documents does a leaving employee receive?

Article 28 of Labour Law No. 4857 requires the employer to give a leaving employee a document stating the type and length of their work, known as the employment certificate. The final payslip and any other documents your workplace uses are also handed over; record each in the personnel file.

How does Sora İK track onboarding steps?

Sora İK opens a task list for the employee from the template you choose. Each task is tied to its owner and to a due date calculated from the start date, and owners complete tasks from the My tasks screen. Progress is visible on the employee card's Processes tab. Email reminders are on the roadmap.