Handling PF Compliance in Construction: How to Address Daily Wage Worker Queries?

Dear Sir,

I am responsible for IR compliance in a construction company. I have included excluded PF members in the wage register. However, the PF Enforcement office recently visited our site and raised a query. They mentioned that in a construction company, if daily wages are paid to workers, excluded PF members cannot be shown.

How should I respond to this query? Please advise on the specific clause related to this issue.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. Deepak,

Please confirm if these workers are hired on monthly or daily paid wages. What does their appointment letter say? Also, are all of them above the PF bracket? This information will help to answer your query.

PF Coverage for Daily Wage Workers in Construction

Being a daily wage worker does not make one an "excluded employee" under the Act. As pointed out by Mr. Manoj Kamble, if their wages are within the wage ceiling, then PF coverage is needed.

Since it is said that you are in the construction industry, which has a lot of peripheral activities, were these laborers involved "in or in connection with the work of the establishment"? If there is no nexus between their nature of work and the construction activity, then you have a cause to defend; otherwise, the facts are not in your favor.

Daily wage workers do not qualify for a 15,000/- monthly payout from any single establishment, so they have to be covered.