Navigating EPF Date of Exit After Employee's Death: Should It Reflect Last Working Day or Date of Passing?

One of my employees has passed away due to his health issues on 01.07.2020. However, he has been absent from his duties since 13.06.2020. We would like to apply for his death claim. What should be mentioned as the Date of Exit? Should it be 01.07.2020 or 13.06.2020? Is it valid to mention 13.06.2020? Please suggest and explain.

Thanks & Regards

Considerations for Employee Absence

Are you considering treating his absence from 13.6.20 till 1.7.20 as leave and pay, or treating the period as absent/LWP? Taking a lenient view, if there was at least oral information that he was unable to report for duty, you may consider debiting his leave account and settling the matter.

My view is, since he had not applied for any leave for this period until his death, you may treat the period as LWP and record 1.7.20 as the exit date to close the matter.

Options for Closure

On the other hand, if you treat the period as 'resigned or terminated,' you will have no records to prove this and must proceed according to the applicable procedure for closing the issue. This is not appropriate.

One more option is to close the matter as 'absconded' as of the last attendance marked, terminate him on record, and proceed further. With no other record, this is the only choice.

The better option is to treat the exit date as the date of death. Any date prior to it would cast the duty on the employer to justify the exit reason. For instance, if it is treated as 13.06.20, he was alive on that day, and what reason could there be to terminate him on that date? But as for 01.07.20, it is self-explanatory. As he was absent from 13.06.20 to 01.07.20, you need not pay salary for that period. The theory of relation back (i.e., to terminate with effect from the last day of attending duty) is not applicable in this case.

EDLI Benefit and Date of Exit

EDLI Benefit is paid only for death while in service. Consequently, the date of exit should be the same as the date of death. Reason for leaving: Death. The employee was on your rolls at the time of death.

Regards

Mr. Srinath suggested a reasonable option that will also benefit the heirs. However, without recording "no show" since 13.6.20, the fact of how to treat the absence of 17 days to declare "Exit on 1.7.20" is the moot point. This issue needs to be addressed, or caution must be exercised to consider the implications that would follow.

On your small query (as you said), here is what I say. The employee is on the payroll of the company until the date of his death. There should not be any question about his date of exit, as his date of exit is his date of death. The days on which he remained absent due to illness can be adjusted towards his leave credit.

Your small query has many significant answers.

Further to the above, he has a one-year-old child. We need to process a pension for this child as well. If so, can you explain the process?

Regards,
Hanuma

Please check your data to ensure that contributions have been regularly paid or remitted to the EPF account of the deceased employee, as well as the EPS contributions properly accounted for. A complete statement must be prepared in advance, and necessary forms should be filled out and sent to the Range EPS office for the grant of Family Pension. Additionally, ensure that proper nominations have been filed.

Eligibility for Family Pension

What about the wife of the deceased? She is also eligible for a family pension. Please review the details of Family Pension and follow the instructions for the submission of Form-D attached.

How to mark "Yes" in case of the death of an employee in the employer login

To mark "Yes" for the death of an employee in the employer login, you need to access the employee's profile in your employer portal. Once there, navigate to the section where you can update the employee's status. Select the option to indicate the employee's death and ensure all relevant details, such as the date of death, are accurately entered.

If a nominee is filed in the portal after the death of an employee by their relatives using the employee's credentials, is that valid or will there be any objections?