Are Tonnage and Piece Rate Contractors Required to Be Covered Under the EPF Act? Seeking Clarification

We have 600 employees in Roll (Permanent) and 60 employees in Off Role (Contractors). The Contractors are service contractors working on a Tonnage and Piece Rate basis. Additionally, all the contractors are employed below 10 employees. Here, our doubt is whether we need to cover the Tonnage and Piece Rate employees under the EPF Act. Requesting clarification on my doubts with the relevant Section or Rule. Thanks in advance.

Hi Pooja, you'll get the required guidance from this link: https://www.citehr.com/607009-contra...-separate.html.

Question on Contract Labor and EPF Act

The question here is whether the laborers working on a contract, which is being paid on a 'tonnage/piece rate' basis rather than on wages payable on a person-to-person basis, are covered under the EPF Act. Please be informed that there is no exemption granted in the EPF Act based on how the contractor is being compensated. The coverage here is whether the person thus deployed is working under the Principal Employer and within the premises/under the supervision of the Principal Employer or not.