Occupational Disease Compensation Lawsuit and Your Rights | Current Guide

Occupational Disease Compensation Lawsuit: What Are Your Rights If You Lost Your Health at Work?

We spend hours every day in our workplaces to sustain our lives and contribute to productivity. However, sometimes the environments we are exposed to while working, the air we breathe, the repetitive movements we make, or the chemicals used can insidiously take our health away over time. Our legal system has not abandoned workers who lose their health due to negligence or working conditions at the workplace.

If you have contracted a disease due to the work you do; you have very strong legal rights such as demanding material and moral compensation from the employer, receiving a continuous income from SGK (Social Security Institution), and early retirement. In this guide article, we have covered the compensation lawsuit process due to occupational disease, your rights, and the legal steps you need to follow in full detail.

1. Which Ailments Are Considered “Occupational Diseases”?

Not every illness seen in the workplace is considered an occupational disease. For a condition to fall into this category, it must stem from the nature of the work performed, the execution conditions of the work, or an exposure in the workplace.

According to the Social Security Institution (SGK) legislation, occupational diseases are mainly divided into the following groups:

• Dusty Environment Diseases (Lung Diseases): Serious respiratory diseases such as Silicosis, Asbestosis, and Coal Worker’s Pneumoconiosis, especially seen in those working in mining, marble, textile, sandblasting, and construction sectors.
• Physical Agent Diseases: Hearing losses occurring in workers in excessively noisy factories, white finger disease in those constantly using vibrating vehicles, and ailments caused by extremely hot/cold or pressurized environments.
• Occupational Musculoskeletal Diseases: Herniated discs and neck hernias occurring in logistics workers lifting heavy loads, carpal tunnel syndrome and tendon inflammations in those constantly working at a computer.
• Chemical and Biological Risks: Poisoning suffered by those working with agricultural pesticides, paints, and heavy metals; viral/bacterial infections exposed to laboratory or hospital workers.

2. How to Obtain an Occupational Disease Report and What Are the Notification Periods?

The first condition for claiming rights based on an occupational disease is that this situation is documented with an official health board report.

Reporting Process: If you suspect that your illness is caused by your work, you can directly apply to fully equipped state hospitals or university hospitals. However, the final diagnosis and reporting are made by the health boards of occupational diseases hospitals or training and research hospitals authorized by SGK. This report is the most important evidence revealing the causal link between the disease and your work.

Obligation to Notify: After the occupational disease report reaches the employer, it is a legal obligation for the employer to report this situation to the Institution via the e-SGK system within 3 working days. If the employer avoids making this notification, the worker or their beneficiaries can directly go to SGK directorates and file a notice themselves.

3. What Should Be Done If SGK Does Not Accept the Occupational Disease?

In practice, one of the most common problems is that SGK Health Boards or the High Health Board reject the worker’s application on the grounds that “no direct link could be found between the illness and the work.”

IMPORTANT: Occupational Disease Determination Lawsuit SGK’s rejection decision does not mean the processes are over. In this case, what the worker needs to do is file an “Occupational Disease Determination Lawsuit” in the Labor Court. In this lawsuit, the court appoints occupational safety experts to examine the working conditions at the workplace and obtains referee hospital reports from chairs such as forensic medicine or oncology/chest diseases of universities. When SGK’s erroneous decision is overturned by the court, you can win all your rights retroactively.

4. Occupational Disease Compensation Lawsuit Conditions and Statute of Limitations

The employer who does not take the necessary occupational health and safety (OHS) measures at the workplace and does not provide masks, earplugs, or ergonomic equipment to the worker is legally responsible for the resulting damages. To be able to file a compensation lawsuit, the following 3 basic conditions are sought:

1. An occupational disease diagnosis and loss of labor force (disability) rate approved by official authorities,
2. The employer’s failure to take necessary precautions (fault/negligence),
3. A causal link between the disease and the working conditions at the workplace.

What is the Statute of Limitations? The statute of limitations for material and moral compensation lawsuits to be filed due to occupational disease is 10 years. This period starts to run not on the date the disease emerged, but from the date the exact nature of the disease and its origin from the profession are learned (diagnosed) by the worker. Considering insidiously progressing diseases, this rule is a huge advantage in favor of the worker.

5. Which Compensation Items Can You Claim?

The rights that can be claimed in the compensation lawsuit to be filed vary depending on the health status of the worker and the dimension of the incident. We can summarize the basic items that can be requested from the court as follows:

Compensation Type	Scope and Details
Incapacity and Disability Compensation	Collection of the income that the worker will be deprived of in the future from the employer, according to the rate of loss of working power.
Past and Future Medical Expenses	Medication, prosthesis, hospital, and long-term rehabilitation expenses not covered by SGK.
Caregiver Expense Compensation	Caregiver expenses of the worker who has become unable to sustain their daily life alone due to the disease.
Moral Compensation	The equivalent of the deep pain, sorrow, and psychological devastation suffered by the worker and their family in severe cases such as organ/limb damage.
Compensation for Loss of Support	In case the disease results in death, the financial support that the deceased worker’s spouse, children, and parents are deprived of.

Why Should You Work with a Professional Labor Law Attorney?

Lawsuits related to occupational diseases are one of the most technical and complex areas of law as they involve processes such as determination of fault rates, compensation calculations, resolving contradictions between board reports, and examining workplace registration records. Failure to properly manage the burden of proof, relying on incorrect evidence, or miscalculating the statute of limitations can lead to you falling into an unjustified position while you are right.

To secure your future and health, to not pay the bill for the employer’s negligence alone, and to fully collect all the material/moral compensation you deserve, as NS Law and Consultancy, which has been working in the field of Labor Law for over 8 years, we will be pleased to provide you with legal support.

To have a professional legal analysis regarding your occupational disease process and to evaluate your lawsuit conditions, you can contact us directly via our communication numbers.