Struggling with EPF and UAN Activation for Irregular Contract Labor in Chemical Firms? How Do You Manage?

Issue with Irregular Contract Labor in Chemical Companies

I have a similar issue related to irregular contract labor. Being a chemical company, it is mandatory for us to cover ESIC and EPF for the contract laborers, but the workforce is irregular. They work continuously for 3 to 4 months, and later we need to search for them. We hire new laborers, and the same situation occurs. Ultimately, we end up with a list of employees on our EPF and ESIC count who have not obtained an IP Pehchan card for ESIC, and their UAN card cannot be activated since we require the PIN to get the UAN activated.

I earnestly request the forum and the senior members to guide us on how to handle this matter.

Regards

Hi Amrita,

Yes, you are right. If you see many of the contract laborers or even the regular ones who work as baseline workers, there is a higher employee turnout. To address this employee turnout, it is preferred to have counseling with the individuals and train them for better career opportunities.

As per the law, they have to be enrolled with no option to skip. It is better to enroll them for ESI and EPF benefits, collect their details and proofs, and initiate the UAN when they join the organization.

Challenges with Contract Labor Enrollment

We enroll contract laborers immediately, but the issue is that the UAN number gets generated within 2-3 months. By that time, many contract laborers change companies, leaving us at a loss. Even the ESIC IP gets generated, and we have no idea how to track these people to provide their ESIC card. Many have already created the ESIC card in their previous company, and they are unable to provide the ESIC number generated earlier for the same reason of changing companies.

They are mainly handled by contractors, and we have to negotiate with them by creating policies, which turn out to be of no use. These workers are from other states, and the addresses provided by them are temporary. Thus, we randomly keep intimating them at their home address, to which no one replies, as they might be working with any company within our state itself, and we have no idea about it.

You have not stated how much labor you require or the location of your company. The best way to avoid this kind of situation is to hire labor through a third-party agency. If you are in a metro city, there will be a number of outsourced companies that work on a percentage basis. You can hire the labor according to your needs, define their salary structure, leave, etc. At the end of every month, they will request you to submit approved attendance, calculate the monthly CTC, and charge a certain percentage as agreed upon. You will need to sign an agreement with the third party.

Since outsourced companies are accustomed to dealing with a large workforce, they have expertise in handling UAN, ESI, etc. By doing this, you can save valuable time and avoid getting involved in minor tasks. I hope you will find my suggestion helpful. Senior members can correct me if needed.

Regards