Is an Employee Eligible for PF if Their Basic + DA Falls Below the 15,000 Slab in a New Job?

An employee had PF before, but in his new company, his Basic + DA does not fall in the PF slab i.e. 15000/-. Is he eligible for PF? Can he continue PF in his new company?

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Yes, as the employee is already a subscriber of EPF, the old UAN would be seeded by the new employer and contributions should be paid. The wage ceiling does not affect the applicability.

It's not only that he 'can' continue having PF. It's that by law, he is required to continue his PF contributions if he has joined a new company that is covered under PF. The exemption is available only to those employees who do not have any PF account at the time of joining the new job.

@saswatabanerjee, would it be possible to provide the exact clause under which PF is mandated to be continued when a new employee joins at a salary above the threshold but had a PF account with his previous employment?

Dear Gautam,

Please check if an employee has withdrawn his PF from a previous employer and joined your company. If so, you may not need to deduct any PF contribution for him.

Please obtain EPF Form #11 (New) from the employee. If he is already covered under EPF & EPS, you have to continue to cover him even though his entry-level EPF wages are above the ceiling of Rs15,000. However, the employer has the right to restrict EPF/EPS contributions to the EPF ceiling of Rs15,000.

Dear FIMDIR, The provision is in the definition of an exempted employee in the PF scheme. A person who fulfills both conditions only will be exempt. So if he has existing accounts, then he fails clause (i). Then he cannot be exempt even if he has joined at a higher salary than specified in clause (ii).

Excluded employee

(i) An employee who, having been a member of the Fund, withdrew the full amount of his accumulations in the Fund under clause (a) or (c) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 69;

(ii) An employee whose pay at the time he is otherwise entitled to become a member of the Fund exceeds [fifteen thousand rupees] per month;