Is It Legal for Companies to Pay PF and ESIC Before Salaries? Let's Discuss!

Hello friends, our company pays all workers after the 21st to 22nd of every month. However, PF and ESIC contributions are paid before the 15th of the month. Is this lawful or not? Is our company making a mistake in paying PF and ESIC before our salary?

You are complying with the statutory requirement of remittance of contributions before the due date. However, while filing ECR in the EPF portal, you have to mention the date of disbursal of salary. By remitting EPF & ESI before the due date, you are avoiding the imposition of interest and penal damages for belated remittance. Instead of paying salary belatedly, you may explore the possibility of at least releasing 50% of the salary on or before the 7th of the month. Once your financial position improves, resort to the practice of payment of salary before the due date.

Thank you.

EPF and ESIC Calculation and Payment

EPF and ESIC are calculated based on the actual workdays performed by an employee. Salary is also calculated based on the actual workdays. If EPF or ESIC is paid before the salary is generated, it may not reconcile with the wage sheet and ECR, causing issues.

Grace Days for EPF and ESIC Payments

To address this, EPF and ESIC have grace days within which payments must be made to be considered legal. While early payment of EPF and ESIC is not a problem as long as the records of salary and workdays match accurately, discrepancies can arise if they do not align properly, creating problems for the employer.