In brief
In a temporary employment relationship, the worker's employer is the private employment agency or the transferring group company, but the worker does the job at the user employer's site and under its instructions. Providing OHS training, taking measures and reporting work accidents are therefore the user employer's obligations; both employers are jointly responsible for the OHS conditions relating to how the work is done. The contract should state clearly who arranges health surveillance.
What is a temporary employment relationship and between whom is it established?
During a seasonal surge in orders, a warehouse takes on ten people from a private employment agency for four months. Another factory in the same group sends its maintenance technician to a sister company for two months. In both cases the worker works at the site of an employer that is not a party to their employment contract, and under its instructions. From the point of view of OHS in temporary employment, the first question is this: if a worker is on one company's payroll but does the job somewhere else, whose duty is it to take measures?
Under Art. 7 of Labour Law No. 4857, a temporary employment relationship is established in two ways:
- Through a private employment agency: An agency licensed by the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) signs a temporary worker supply contract with an employer and temporarily assigns its worker. This route is limited to the cases listed in the law (for example, replacing an employee whose employment contract is suspended, seasonal agricultural work, an unforeseen increase in capacity or periodic increases in work) and to set durations. In this relationship, the worker's employer is the private employment agency.
- Through assignment within a holding or group of companies: The employer, with the worker's written consent at the time of transfer, temporarily assigns them to another workplace in the same group. This relationship is established in writing, for no more than six months, and may be renewed at most twice.
In both cases, the authority to give the worker instructions lies with the employer that has the worker working for it. This is the basic difference from a subcontracting relationship: with a subcontractor, part of the work is given to another employer, which manages its own employees; in a temporary employment relationship, it is the worker, not the work, that is transferred. For the subcontractor side, see our article on subcontractor OHS responsibility.
OHS responsibility table for temporary employment
The division of OHS obligations is read from three texts: Law No. 6331, Art. 7 of Law No. 4857 and the Regulation on Occupational Health and Safety in Temporary or Fixed-Term Work.
| Subject | Transferring employer (private employment agency or group company) | User employer (employing the temporary worker) | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information on the risks of the work | Passes the information it receives on to the worker | Notifies the transferring employer of the risks and the professional knowledge and skills required; has them written into the contract | Regulation Art. 10 |
| OHS training | — | Provides the necessary training | Law 6331 Art. 17/6; Law 4857 Art. 7; 2026 Training Regulation Art. 23 |
| Measures and PPE | — | Takes OHS measures; may not treat the worker differently from other employees, including on PPE | Law 4857 Art. 7; Regulation Art. 5 |
| Informing OHS professionals | — | Notifies the specialist and physician of temporary workers | Regulation Art. 9 |
| Reporting work accidents and occupational diseases | Receives information from the user employer | Reports immediately to the private employment agency and within the time limit to the SGK | Law 4857 Art. 7; Law 6331 Art. 14 |
| OHS conditions relating to how the work is done | Jointly responsible | Jointly responsible | Regulation Art. 11 |
Information flow: what should go in the contract?
Art. 10 of the regulation requires information on the risks of the work and the professional knowledge, skills and characteristics of the work to be passed from the user employer to the transferring employer and included in the contract. In practice this is an OHS annex added to the temporary worker supply contract. The annex should include:
- The work the worker will do, the equipment they will use and the area they will work in,
- The main risks of that work from the risk assessment,
- Specific qualifications required, such as a vocational training certificate, an operator certificate or work at height,
- The medical report and special health surveillance required, and who will arrange them,
- Who will provide the PPE,
- The flow of information in the event of a work accident or occupational disease: who notifies whom, and within what time.
The same annex can be used for assignments between group companies; the complacency of "we're in the same group anyway" is the most common reason this information is skipped.
Temporary worker training: who, when and with which certificate?
Training temporary workers is the user employer's obligation. Law 6331 Art. 17/6 and Art. 23 of the training regulation that entered into force on 2 April 2026 state this explicitly; Law 4857 Art. 7 also obliges the temporary worker to attend this training.
- Induction training: At least 2 hours, face to face and hands-on, at the workplace before the worker actually starts work. It is not skipped for temporary workers; for details see our article on the induction training programme.
- Basic training: If the worker has done the same job at a previous workplace and holds a valid basic training certificate, the certificate is checked and only the topic of risks specific to the job and workplace is repeated (training regulation Art. 25). If not, basic training is completed within 3 months at the latest; for short assignments, plan it at the start of the work.
- Certificate check: In hazardous and very hazardous workplaces, workers coming from other workplaces to work may not start without a certificate showing that they have received training on the risks of the work to be done (Law 6331 Art. 17/5). In work requiring vocational training, workers without a certificate may not be employed (Art. 17/3); for this, see our article on the vocational training certificate requirement.
Health surveillance and the pre-employment report
Under Art. 15 of Law 6331, in hazardous and very hazardous work an employee may not start work without a medical report showing their fitness for the work. Art. 8 of the regulation requires temporary workers in work requiring special health surveillance to be subject to that surveillance, and for the surveillance to continue after the contract ends for as long as it remains necessary.
The legislation does not specify which party arranges the report in a temporary employment relationship. So state it clearly in the OHS annex of the contract. The practical yardstick is this: the report should be issued according to the risks of the work the worker will do at the user employer's workplace; the report of someone who will work on a noisy line should be issued with that exposure in mind. For where to obtain a pre-employment report, see our article on the pre-employment medical report.
When a work accident happens: reporting and records
Under Art. 7 of Law 4857, the employer using the temporary worker reports the temporary worker's work accidents and occupational diseases to the private employment agency immediately, and to the relevant authorities in accordance with the relevant articles of Law No. 5510. Under Art. 14/2 of Law 6331, a work accident is reported to the Social Security Institution (SGK) within 3 working days of the accident. In 2026 an administrative fine of 44,443 TL applies to an accident not reported on time; for the amounts, see our OHS administrative fines tool. The reporting steps are in our article on SGK work accident e-notification.
The accident investigation is carried out by the OHS team of the workplace where the accident happened; the findings are shared with the transferring employer, which is jointly responsible for the conditions relating to how the work is done. Before returning to work, the worker receives additional training on the causes of the accident and ways of protecting against it.
Common mistakes
- Leaving agency worker safety to the agency on the grounds that "they're not our staff".
- Not notifying the specialist and physician of temporary workers, so that they never appear in the risk assessment or the training programme.
- Leaving the OHS annex of the contract blank and not stating who will obtain the medical report.
- Skipping induction training because the assignment is short.
- Giving temporary workers different, lower-quality PPE than permanent staff.
- Notifying only the agency of an accident and assuming the agency will make the SGK notification.
In our OHS specialist service, we prepare the OHS annex to be added to your temporary worker supply contracts and include temporary workers in the risk assessment and training programme. For warehouses where seasonal surges are common, see also our article on OHS in e-commerce warehouses. In businesses in Bursa and the surrounding provinces, this issue comes up most often during campaign periods and maintenance shutdowns.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who gives a temporary worker their OHS training?
The employer with which the temporary employment relationship is established, i.e. the one employing the worker at its own workplace, provides it. This obligation is set out in Law 6331 Art. 17/6, Law 4857 Art. 7 and Art. 23 of the 2026 training regulation.
Is the private employment agency released from OHS responsibility?
No. Under Art. 11 of the regulation, the transferring employer is jointly responsible with the user employer for the OHS and occupational hygiene conditions relating to how the work is done for the duration of the work. It is also obliged to pass the risk information it receives on to the worker.
Is basic training given again for temporary assignments between group companies?
If the worker is doing the same job and holds a valid basic training certificate, only the topic of risks specific to the job and workplace is given; induction training is given in every case. If the job changes, training on the risks of the new job is required.
Who reports a temporary worker's work accident?
The employer using the temporary worker reports the accident to the private employment agency immediately, and to the SGK within 3 working days of the accident.
A certified specialist matched to your hazard class: site inspections, approved logbook, training plan, annual plan and report follow-up.
Bursa SİSTEMER OSGB Technical Team — written from the field experience of our OHS specialists and workplace physicians. Legal information is valid as of the publication/update date; contact us for an assessment specific to your business.