Maternity Leave and Salary Payment
If the employee is on maternity leave from ESI Corporation, why should you pay salary to her? If no salary is paid, how can you deduct PF out of that zero salary?
ESI-Covered Employee Scenario
In the case of an ESI-covered employee, the leave is given by ESI Corporation. However, if she is not qualified to get maternity benefits from ESI (for example, she has not contributed to ESI for at least 70 days in the two contribution periods immediately preceding the date of delivery), then naturally, the employer will have to pay salary. In such cases, you should definitely deduct both ESI and EPF from the salary.