Can an Employee Continue FPF Service After Switching Between Our Offices Without a Break?

Dear Seniors, Kindly suggest what I should do in this case. One of our employees left the service in our corporate office, and the next day, she joined our branch office as a new joiner. (The corporate office and branch office names are different, and even the directors are different.) We have settled her account, and her Provident Fund is also cleared. She has availed a Scheme certificate from the PF office, and now she wants to opt for the continuation of her FPF service. Can she opt for it? Within how many days does she have to submit documents to the PF office? There is no break in service; will this be an issue?

Thanks in advance.

Provident Fund Account Continuation

If she withdraws her PF account from a previous establishment, then she cannot continue her PF account.

Regards,
Ashish
Delhi
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

As she has already received the scheme certificate, there is no need to worry about the continuity of EPS service. She may be registered in PF as a new employee. When applying for a pension (after completion of service), she may surrender the scheme certificate so that EPFO will combine both services and calculate the pension based on the total service.

Regards,
Abbas. P.S

If she has withdrawn her PF, how can she get the PF scheme certificate? The scheme certificate is issued only to those employees who have completed 10 years of service. Please clarify.

Dear Manish,

She is registered as a new employee in our branch office, and she has received her new PF number. She has already withdrawn her PF amount and obtained her scheme certificate as well.

Dear Abbas Bhai,

Assalamwalaikum, within how many days does she have to submit the scheme certificate in the PF office? Is there any time limit for that? There is no 2-month break in service. Will this be an issue during submission?

Regards,

Clarification on PF Scheme Certificate and Withdrawal

If she has withdrawn her PF, how can she get the PF scheme certificate? The scheme certificate is issued only to employees who have completed 10 years of service. Please clarify.

There is no connection between PF withdrawal and the Scheme certificate. The Scheme certificate is exclusively for the Employees' Pension Scheme-1995. The clause of 10 years' service is not for the Scheme certificate but for pension entitlement. The Scheme certificate is meant for those who have not completed the age of 58 years. The length of service is not a factor in this regard.

Abbas.P.S

Dear Manish,

She is registered as a new employee in our branch office and has her new PF number. She has already withdrawn her PF amount and received her scheme certificate.

Query Regarding Scheme Certificate Submission

Dear Abbas Bhai,

Assalamwalaikum, within how many days does she have to submit the Scheme Certificate to the PF office? Is there any time limit for that? There has been no 2-month break in service; will this be an issue during submission?

Wa Alaikkumussalam, there is no time limit. She may surrender the scheme certificate until the date of the application for a pension. However, it would be better to surrender it along with Form 5. Since she is already enrolled, it should now be surrendered separately with a forwarding letter (preferably as soon as possible).

Regards,
Abbas.P.S

You have confused yourself by mixing issues, and some of the members have further confused you by giving incomplete and incorrect advice. As stated by you, she has joined an altogether different organization. So do not say that she has joined your branch office. Maybe she has joined one of your group organizations. I suppose both these organizations are separately registered with PF.

Understanding PF and EPS Components

Please make a note of the fact that within the PF Scheme, there are two different components, namely 'Provident Fund' and 'Employee Pension Scheme'. Let's see what happens to these two components of the PF Scheme when an employee changes jobs.

In the case of PF, when an employee resigns from the services of the company, they have the option of either withdrawing their PF accumulations or transferring it into their new PF account with a new employer. (You have not mentioned anything in your post about her PF status. Has she opted for withdrawal or transfer of her PF account? Please note that transfer means continuation.)

In the case of the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS), again, the employee has the option of withdrawing or continuing membership by opting for a scheme certificate. Please note that EPS offers a monthly pension on retirement based on the length of membership. If the employee opts for withdrawal, they get back only a percentage of what is contributed to their EPS account, and that membership period cannot be considered while calculating Pensionable Membership and Pension Amount on retirement.

As stated by you, your ex-employee has opted for a scheme certificate, which simply means she has opted for the continuation of her EPS membership. She has to simply hold and preserve her scheme certificate to ensure the benefit of a pension from that.

If her PF account is still not settled, she can still opt for a transfer by stalling the withdrawal process and opting for a transfer.

Seeking Advice on Employee's PF and EPS Continuation

Dear Seniors, kindly suggest what I should do in this case. One of our employees left service in our corporate office, and the next day she joined our branch office as a new joiner there. (The corporate office and branch office names are different, and even the Directors are different). We have settled her account, and her Provident Fund is also cleared. She has availed a Scheme certificate from the PF office, and now she wants to opt for the continuation of her FPF service. Can she opt for it? Within how many days does she have to submit documents to the PF office? There is no break in service; will this be an issue?

Thanks in Advance

She will not get her old PF number, but she will continue her membership by combining it with the previous service. The service certificate is intended for this purpose.

Regards,
Paraman. P

Dear Madam, One of your employees has left the job, which means she has resigned from the first service. Clearly, this indicates that the same PF Number cannot continue for the new job. Meanwhile, she will submit the Scheme Certificate to the EPFO through the new employer. This implies that she will transfer the PF amount to the new PF account provided by the new employer.

Regards,
Suresh

Dear MUBASHIRA.S.M,

Greetings for the day. I have gone through your case. If she withdraws the EPF accumulation, then there is no problem. A Scheme certificate is issued to her for EPS accumulation, which was contributed for 10 years or more. If she opts for the continuation of EPF, then it's no problem. She may opt for a new EPF account once she gets the new EPF number. The same will be the EPS number. Fill the form 13, enclose the Scheme certificate with form 13 with the application for the surrender of the Scheme certificate, and submit the same to the attached EPF office. The whole accumulation will get transferred itself. There is no problem to opt for the continuation of her FPF service.

Thanks & regards,

Sumit Kumar Saxena

[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons], [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

While settling her EPF account, you have to wait for a 2-month break. If yes, then don't worry. The scheme certificate itself is a tool for the continuation of the FPF account and can be submitted if her service is less than 10 years. If her service has passed 10 years, then there is no option except for receiving a pension after attaining the age of 50 years. Please confirm.

Regards,
Mangesh Wakodkar
Neepaz V Forge India Ltd.
Aurangabad.

Before posting a reply, please go through the query and subsequent postings. Based on the postings made before you, I feel the query has been rightly addressed. However, your posting has made it confusing.

1. You have stated that the status of PF is not mentioned in the query. But it was mentioned as "we have settled her account & her Provident fund is also cleared."

2. Your statement that "continuing membership in EPS is by opting Scheme certificate" is not correct. For continuation, form 13 is to be submitted, and subsequently, Annexure K will be prepared. If there is no hope for immediate PF service, a scheme certificate may be obtained. Later, if he gets a job, the past service can be clubbed with that job by surrendering the scheme certificate.

3. There is no option in EPS to either withdraw benefits or avail of a pension. It is purely based on the service in EPS. If the service is equal to or more than 9 years & 6 months, he will be entitled to a pension, and withdrawal benefit is not applicable. Otherwise, he is not eligible for a pension but will get withdrawal benefits only.

4. You mentioned that the membership period cannot be considered while calculating pensionable membership and pension amount on retirement. What do you mean by this? In EPS, even though the terms "Pensionable Service" and "Pensionable Salary" are referred to, there is no term as "Pensionable Membership." However, both pension and withdrawal benefits are related to pensionable service.

Abbas.P.S

After retirement, there are mainly two types of benefits:

1. Pension
2. Withdrawal benefit

Pension

This is for those who have completed 9 years and six months of service or more. The minimum age to receive a pension is 50 years. Therefore, those who retire before the age of 50 years can apply for a Scheme Certificate, which incorporates or records the full service details. If they join another job with EPS, they can avail pension benefits combined with the past service by surrendering the Scheme Certificate.

Withdrawal Benefit

This is for those who have less than 9 years and six months of service. If the member has not reached the age of 58 years, is not willing to immediately opt for the benefit, and has hopes of joining an EPS applicable service, they may opt for a Scheme Certificate. They can then avail pension or withdrawal benefits as the case may be by surrendering the certificate.

Abbas.P.S

I have left the service of my previous employer. The total years of service with my previous employer were 5.5 years. I applied for PF withdrawal by submitting Form 19 and 10C. I have received the payment for Form 19 but have not yet received the amount for 10C. When I inquired about this with the PF office, they informed me that I had opted for a scheme certificate instead of withdrawing the pension amount.

I would like to know if I should submit the scheme certificate to the PF office through my current employer. If I leave my current employer before completing a total service period of 9 years and six months, can I apply for the withdrawal of PF and Pension payments?

Please clarify this.

Regards,
V.S. Senthilkumar