How Can Families Claim ESI Benefits if the Insured Lives Elsewhere? Plus, Handling Extended Sick Leave Dilemmas

I wanted to know how an insured person's family can claim the ESI benefits if the insured person is not staying with his/her family. Are they entitled to the benefits as long as they are in the same state, or can they avail themselves of the benefits as long as they are living anywhere in India where the Act is applicable?

Extended Sickness and Leave Accounting

In the case of extended sickness of the ESI insured employee, how is the organization supposed to account for the leaves if the employee no longer has leaves to his/her credit? Does the organization need to put it as unpaid leave, or can it ask the employee to resign for medical reasons (in case the leave required is for a very long duration)?

Regards,
Saumya

Family Medical Benefits under ESI

For the family, medical benefits are available throughout India, irrespective of whether the insured is staying with the family or not.

Handling ESI Leave

Any ESI leave is marked as ESI leave by the company, and such leaves will be considered as loss of pay only. The payment against such leaves will be given to the insured by the ESIC, and hence the employer has nothing to do with it but to mark it as ESI leave (loss of pay) even if it prolongs for months. However, such leaves shall be counted as genuine leaves while calculating or deciding gratuity, bonus, and annual leave with wages eligibility.

Legal Protection for Employees on ESI Leave

Never ask the employee to resign or terminate the employee while he is on ESI leave. This is against Section 73 of the ESI Act, which states that the employer should not terminate the services of an employee while he is in receipt of sickness benefits from the Corporation.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K