How Can I Politely Inform Ex-Employees About a Delay in Their EPF Claims?

Dear Seniors,

I want to inform my ex-employees that there will be a delay in the EPF claiming process due to some reasons. I want to email them with this information and have prepared a draft to be sent to them. In the email, I need to be polite and pleasant in conveying the message so that they are pleased and not frustrated by the delay. Please guide me in this.

Draft Email to Ex-Employees Regarding EPF Claim Delay

Dear All,

Greetings from XXXX! All of you are hereby informed that the process for claiming EPF will be delayed by another month. This is due to a change in the Authorised Signatory. As you are all aware, there has been a change in management. Therefore, we need to authorise the signatures of the directors who will be signing the EPF Claim Forms at the Regional PF Office. Without this authorisation, we cannot proceed with claiming the EPF Amount. This information was recently disclosed to us by the EPF Office. We are currently in the process of updating the authorised signatures at the EPF Office. Once this process is completed, your forms will be submitted for claiming the EPF amount. After that, there should not be any further delays.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Is this draft okay to proceed with, or do you have any suggestions? Please let me know.

Regards

It's indeed courteous to inform retired employees of any delay, as they eagerly await their final settlement with many commitments pressing on hand. However, it might lead to a demand for compensation of interest for the delayed payment. In all probability, EPFO might settle with accrued interest till the date of payment (please discuss with the concerned to know what is going to happen with them). If they view otherwise, saying that the delay was caused due to your internal problems, we are not responsible! You have no escape. (It's just and equitable for you to compensate.) In any case, it's open. You should be prepared for this. How many of them, too many? Your draft suggests it's a general circular to be put up on the Notice Board (which all of them may not notice at all). It could well be corrected to be sent individually as a letter if you really mean it.

Suggested Draft for Communication

Dear Sir/Madam,

Greetings to you and your family. We faithfully cherish and appreciate your devoted service with our company.

Your claim form for the settlement of your EPF accumulations is under process. However, it is likely to take at least a month to complete all the formalities required. Be assured that we take every effort to send the payment as early as possible. Till such time, kindly bear with the unavoidable delay. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you in this regard. In the meantime, thank you very much for your patience.

Wishing you very contented, comfortable, healthy retired years to come.

Yours sincerely