Does a New Employee Sick in June 2008 Qualify for ESIC Benefits? Seeking Clarity

Hi all,

I wanted to check if an employee who joined an organization on the 1st of May 2008 and falls sick on the 1st of June 2008 would still come under the ESIC bracket. According to the act, if the contribution period is from the 1st of April to the 30th of September, benefits can only be availed from the 1st of January of the year until the 30th of June.

Kindly reply.

Dear Pooja,

Any employee who joins any organization within the ESI salary bracket will be eligible for ESI treatment. The following are required for treatment:

1. Organization should have a code.
2. Temporary ESI card or permanent card.
3. Dispensary details.

As per ESI, if any employee works for even 1 hour, they are eligible for treatment.

Thanks,
Gopi

Dear Pooja,

Gopi is right in mentioning that you can get an employee treated at the ESI Hospital/Dispensary once he has become an ESI member. Now comes the second part, i.e., Sickness Benefit which is given as under:

"55. Sickness Benefit

(1) Subject to the provisions of the Act and the regulations, a person shall be qualified to claim sickness benefit for sickness occurring during any benefit period if the contributions in respect of him were payable for not less than 78 days in the corresponding contribution period and shall be entitled to receive such benefit at the daily standard benefit rate for the period of his sickness:
PROVIDED that he shall not be entitled to the benefits for the first two days of sickness in the case of a spell of sickness following, at an interval of not more than fifteen days, the spell of sickness for which sickness benefits were last paid:
PROVIDED FURTHER that sickness benefits shall not be paid to any person for more than ninety-one days in any two consecutive benefit periods.
(2) The daily rate of sickness benefits in respect of a person during any benefit period shall be the "standard benefit rate" specified in rule 54 corresponding to the average daily wages of that person during the corresponding contribution period."

This is the benefit paid by ESI for the period during which the employee remains absent from his duties.

I hope the matter is now clear.

You can ask for further clarification, if needed.

Please let me know about the ESIC rules which are needed to know in general, such as Sickness Benefits and Maternity Benefits provided under the ESIC Act.