Navigating ESI Leave: Do Employers Still Contribute to Provident Fund During This Time?

Usually, when an employee avails ESI leave, the wages are paid by the ESIC, and the employer will not be paying any wages for that period. However, how should one deal with the Provident fund? Will the employee need to forgo the PF (Employer) contribution for that period? This is a common query for many employers. Proper guidance on handling such situations can help ensure compliance with regulations and fair treatment of employees.

Provident Fund and ESI Leave

PF is paid on the wages paid to the employee. If an employee has not been paid any wages, no PF is payable. That's all.

Remember that on availing ESI leaves, an employee not only loses their PF share but also loses their bonus for these days. An important point to note and convey to those who take ESI leaves for unreasonable reasons is that the PF pension, which is based on the number of days worked, will also be reduced proportionately if there are more loss of pay days. Only for eligibility for certain benefits like annual leave, gratuity, layoff, or retrenchment compensation, the days the employee remained on leave without pay (ESI leaves) will be considered as service periods.

Meera, what is NCP days? Is it not Non-Contributory Period? Then if an employee is on ESI leave for the entire month, his NCP will be 30 or 31 or 28 or 29 (February month) and not zero. I don't know the clerical part of it. Correct me if I am wrong.