Dear all, I am working in the Payroll department of a manufacturing company, where I oversee around 20 to 30 workers who earn more than 15,000. My query is whether I can include these employees in the ESIC coverage. I understand that the ESIC limit is 15,000, and there is also the workman policy. However, I am interested in providing ESIC coverage to these workers. Is this feasible?
You cannot cover employees earning more than 15,000 gross under ESI for regular employees. However, for disabled employees, the limit is 25,000. In the case of disabled employees, the employer is exempt from paying the employer contribution for up to 3 years.
If you wish to provide some insurance or medical benefits to these excluded employees, you may consider opting for a mediclaim policy. You can reach out to insurance companies that offer such policies.
Please note that insurance companies usually require a minimum number of employees to offer a mediclaim policy. Most companies provide mediclaim when there are a larger number of employees, such as 100, 500, or 1,000. However, there are a few companies that offer mediclaim even for 10 employees. You can search for options on the internet.
Another approach to consider is to make all employees, including those earning more than 15,000, feel insured by deducting PF from their salaries. In PF, the employer contributes 13.61% of the basic salary, with 0.5% allocated to EDLI.
EDLI, or the Employees' Deposit-Linked Insurance Scheme, provides death and accidental benefits of up to 3.6 lakh. There is a proposal to increase this limit to 5.5 lakh.
I hope this information proves helpful to you.