Can We Exempt Employees from PF if Their Basic Salary Exceeds 15,000?

Hello, I have a query regarding PF. Can we exempt an employee if their basic salary increases above 15,000 by filling out Form 11?

If the employee is already registered with EPF, PF membership has to be retained until the end of the employee's service.

Regards,
Abbas.P.S

No, once you start contributing to EPF for a particular employee, you cannot stop the contributions even if their wages exceed the ₹15,000 limit.

Yes, what Mr. Radhakrishna said is correct. Once covered, an employee cannot be exempted from PF, even though they are drawing more than ₹15,000. If you hire a fresher on a salary of more than ₹15,000, you can exclude them since they were not covered under PF before joining you.

I think you got it.

Regards,
Giri

Excluded Employee Under PF Act

Under a special condition as per the PF Act, a member whose basic salary is above Rs. 15,000 and gross monthly salary is above Rs. 100,000 cannot be a member of PF and will be treated as an "excluded employee."

Regards,
J.B. Panda

The above statement does not seem to be correct. Kindly quote the provision (under which section or clause).

Regards,
Abbas.P.S

Please refer to FAQs No. 49, WC 13 on the EPFO website, which states as follows:

"In cases where the gross wage of an employee is more than Rs. 1,00,000/- per month and the basic is more than Rs. 15,000/- per month, he cannot be a member of the fund and thus be treated as an excluded employee."

Exclusion of PF Members from Membership

That means the existing PF members who fall under this category can be excluded from membership by ceasing to be members in the monthly ECR. They can then withdraw the fund amount through Forms 19 and 10-C/D, whichever is applicable.