Is It Mandatory to Offer EPF and ESI to All Employees, or Can We Consider Their Preferences?

Dear All,

Our firm has 60 employees. Please advise whether it is mandatory to take EPF for all employees. Also, should we facilitate ESI for all eligible employees (21000 slab)? Can we avoid these according to employees' interest?

Thank you.

ESI is a statutory provision. If your firm is in an ESI-implemented area, then ESI contributions are to be paid in respect of eligible employees. If you want to avoid this, then an exemption certificate from ESIC is to be obtained.

Thank you, Dr. Shipra.

Would you please advise me regarding EPF as well, which is mentioned with?

Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Employee State Insurance (ESI) Compliance

In the case of both acts, employees' interest is not material as both are statutes. The PF Act is applicable to you from day one of the formation of the organization. Please obtain the registration number immediately to avoid further loss of interest and damages. Also, employees may not agree to their contributions for the past period; you may have to deposit both employee and employer contributions for the past. So hurry!

Employee State Insurance (ESI) Compliance

The ESI Act is a statutory provision. If your firm is in an ESI-implemented area, then ESI contributions are to be paid in respect of eligible employees from day one. Also, employees may not agree to their contributions for the past period; you may have to deposit both employee and employer contributions for the past. So hurry!

Consultant Assistance for Compliance

The best way to go about this is to appoint a consultant who will do the needful on your behalf. You can do the registration online and obtain both registration numbers. However, you will need a consultant to do the initial work, which you can take over later. There is nothing much to do except to load the wage statement as you will see.