Navigating PF Transfer After Termination: Will My Last Working Date Cause Issues?

Hello, I was working with one of the IT companies for more than 4.5 years and left the company without amicable separation. I resigned from the system in November 2016 and asked for an early release (December 2016) with the condition of paying for the shortfall of notice (as per my joining letter clause). The request was not approved by HR, and I had to leave the company without serving the notice period. I served a one-month notice out of three months and informed everyone that I wouldn't be able to continue after a certain date. After that, as per the absconding procedure, there were multiple communications from the company to rejoin or face termination, to which I explained my situation and offered to pay the shortfall. Now, in July 2017, I received a 'termination letter' from the company stating my last day in the company was considered as 11th July 2017. I joined a new company in December 2016, and my PF was getting deducted from the same month.

Now that I want to apply for my PF transfer from my previous company to the new one, will there be any hurdles? My joining date in the new company is 19th December 2016, while my previous company records my last date as 11th July 2017. Will this cause any issues? I have also applied for Gratuity; will there be any issue? Any experts, please guide.

EPF Passbook and UAN Details

Please download the EPF Passbook to know the status of PF remittance. Furthermore, since you joined a new company in December 2016, the EPF remittance is UAN-based. Have you shared your previous UAN with your new employer?

You can opt for a PF transfer online or offline, as the case may be, by logging into your UAN Member Portal.

Gratuity Eligibility

You have not furnished your actual date of joining; consequently, it is not possible to determine your gratuity eligibility. Additionally, in the 5th year of your service, you might not have worked for 240 days.

From December 2016 to July 2017, your name was on the muster roll of your previous employer. However, you did not work during this period; consequently, this will not be taken into consideration for gratuity.

Thank you.

Hi Srinath Sai Ram, thank you for your reply. I tried the passbook option but received an error message stating, "Passbook not available to this Member-id as this pertains to an exempted establishment (i.e., Trust). Requested to contact your employer."

To be precise, I worked in the first company from 13/03/2012 until 16/12/2016 (4 years 8 months). Also, I had 9 days of leave balance when I left. I shared my UAN with the new employer, and the new employer is depositing my PF in the same account. I am still unsure if my old employer will cooperate with the transfer or not.

Trust fund EPF is governed by the trust managed by the employer. You have to proceed through them only.

Dear Vikas, Your PF contribution is with the Trustees of your company-managed trust. You have to contact them for your EPF balance statement. You have to submit a manual transfer form duly signed by your present employer to the Trustees.

Similarly, for the transfer of your EPS contributions lying in the PF office attached to your previous employer, again you have to submit PF transfer Form 13 duly signed by your previous employer to the Trustees of your previous company. You can apply for PF transfer with no issues.

Similarly, your total service for gratuity from 13/03/2012 to 16/12/2016 is precisely 4 years, 9 months, and 4 days. You can also submit your gratuity claim by mentioning the original date of leaving, i.e., 11/07/2017. The employer may adjust the amount due to you towards the shortfall in the notice period.

Hi Srinath Sai Ram,

Thanks again for the reply. I am using Form 13 for PF transfer; however, the only issue I have now is: I joined a new organization on 19th December 2016, but the date of leaving as per the old company is 11th July 2017. I am still not sure if I should put 16th December 2016 as the last date or 11th July 2017 in the "Date of Leaving" section of the form.

I understood from my previous PF statement until March 2017 that my PF was not deducted from December 2016 till March and henceforth. Please guide. Thanks in advance.

Dear Vikas,

You can mention your original date of leaving as per the termination order, instead of mentioning the date of abandonment of your employment, i.e., Dec-2016. Go as per the records available with you.

Did you fill up PF Form 11 (Revised) in your new organization? If you have done so, the process of transfer should have begun.