Can Employees Rejoin and Still Get Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana Benefits Legally?

Subject: How to get benefits under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana without violating rules & regulations/Terms & conditions/Law

Refer: Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana

Dear Sir/Madam, kindly, we request you to please clarify the following things:

1. If an employee leaves his/her employment on 30/09/2020 and rejoins the same organization on 01/10/2020, is he/she eligible to get benefits under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana without violating rules, regulations, terms & conditions, and the law?

2. If an employee leaves his/her employment on 30/09/2020 and rejoins another organization on 01/10/2020 (where the Director is the same for both organizations), is he/she eligible to get benefits under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana without violating rules, regulations, terms & conditions, and the law?

3. If an employee leaves his/her employment on 30/09/2020 and rejoins another organization on 01/10/2020 (where the Director is different for both organizations), is he/she eligible to get benefits under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana without violating rules, regulations, terms & conditions, and the law?

4. If the employer has paid ECR Contribution for the wage month of September 2020 and has not paid ECR Contribution for the wage month of October 2020, and if the employer cancels ECR for the wage month of October 2020, gives the date of exit as 30/09/2020 for all employees, and again enrolls all employees with the marking of the date of joining as 01/10/2020, in this scenario, can all employees get benefits under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana without violating rules, regulations, terms & conditions, and the law?

Please clarify.

@T.Thirumurugan, there are several pre-conditions to this subsidy announcement. First, the addition of new employees must be above the base of the September employee count. Second, if a company has up to 50 workers by the end of September, it needs to create at least two jobs to be eligible for the EPF subsidy. It will require the addition of five new employees if the reference base is more than 50 employees. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/...173581247.html

Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana

The scheme itself is yet to be notified, though it has been widely publicized. Generally, the scheme would cover the following aspects, though exact detailed stipulations are still awaited.

"Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana" is a new scheme announced by Hon'ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to create employment opportunities in the country during the COVID-19 recovery phase.

- This scheme will be processed as a note to get the cabinet's approval. Under this scheme, the government will provide a subsidy of 24% or 12% for two years to establishments for new recruits. The month of September will be considered as the base for the scheme.

Eligibility of the Employee

- The monthly wages of the employee should be reckoned as ₹15,000.
- Employees who have lost their jobs between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020, and rejoin work will be eligible for the subsidy.
- New candidates who enroll between October 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, will get the benefits under the scheme for a period of two years.

Eligibility of the Establishment

- The establishment should be registered under EPFO.
- For establishments with up to 1,000 employees who earn under ₹15,000 per month, 12% of the employee's contribution plus 12% of the employer's contribution will be paid entirely by the Central Government.
- For establishments with more than 1,000 employees who earn under ₹15,000 per month, only 12% of the employee's contribution will be paid by the Central Government.
- Establishments with fewer than 50 employees must recruit at least two new employees, and those with more than 50 employees must employ at least five new employees.

Note: This information is only a press release. An official notification is expected, which will specify the conditions and eligibility in detail in due course.

Eligibility

1. The scheme is available for all workers who lost their jobs between 1st March 2020 and 30th September 2020, and for new workers employed after 1st October 2020. Subsidy is available for workers with wages up to Rs. 15,000 per month. This means that if any establishments hire new employees on or after 1st October 2020, either a person who had lost their job between 1st March 2020 and 30th September 2020 or any new employees who have never registered with EPFO, such establishments get this benefit.

2. Further Conditions - The establishments get the benefit only if the below conditions are satisfied:

- Establishment with ≤50 employees: minimum 2 employees to be hired.
- Establishment with >50 employees: minimum 5 employees to be hired.

(Reference for employee base is as of 30th September 2020).

The subsidy amount under the scheme, which will be operational till June 30, 2021, will be credited upfront only in Aadhaar-seeded EPFO accounts (UAN) of new employees.

Period: New/eligible employees employed between 1st October 2020 and 30th June 2021 will be eligible for the benefit. The benefit is available for a period of two years from the date of their employment during the above-mentioned period.

Applicability: Establishments employing up to 1000 employees: 24% of PF contribution, which includes both employer and employee contributions, shall be borne by the Government. Establishments employing more than 1000 employees: Employee contribution of 12% shall be borne by the Government.

Implications:

1. Only two slabs of <50 and >50 may offer huge variation. Considering a few more slabs could benefit the establishments better.

2. The scheme limiting salary to Rs. 15,000 will benefit low/semi-skilled employees but not high-skilled employees. We may have to await the detailed scheme to be released by the Government of India in due course.

Overview: Overall, it’s a good move by the Government to boost employment after the pandemic. Establishments that have reduced manpower due to cost burdens may reconsider hiring since 12 to 24% of the cost would be subsidized by the Government. Also, routing the benefit through the EPFO account instead of providing direct benefits to either employees or employers has enabled structuring the scheme to be easy, simple, and transparent, aimed at allowing both employers and employees to reap the benefits.

Dear Mr. T. Thirumurugan,

The answer is 'NO' to all your queries. The rejoined employee is still a member of PF and cannot withdraw his PF as there is no 60-day unemployment period. Secondly, it clearly indicates the management's intention of manipulating records. How can a person leave on the close of the working day of 30th Sept. 2020 and join on 1st Oct. 2020, that too in a sister concern?

1. The newly joined employee is required to fill PF Form 11, where he has to declare that he was not a member of PF. Within a day, how could he forget he was a member of PF?

2. Have you paid his final settlement on or before 30.09.2020? Do you have any documentary evidence for that?

3. Do you have any documentary evidence through email, etc., that the employee has submitted his resignation and given notice period?

Instead, you can wait for a government notification and show the employee's joining date after 60 days, process their PF withdrawal, etc., subject to their salaries being below INR 15,000/- per month.

Regards, Suresh

Scheme Limiting Salary to Rs. 15,000

The scheme limiting salary to Rs. 15,000 will benefit low/semi-skilled employees but not high-skilled employees.

Clarification on Salary Limitation

Sir, whether the limiting salary to Rs. 15,000.00 is Gross Salary or P.F. Wages?

Example 1: If the basic is 12,000.00 and DA is 2,000.00 with HRA at 1,000.00, will he still get the benefit? Since if the salary is Rs. 15,000.00, he will not receive the benefit.

Example 2: If the basic is 12,000.00 and DA is 2,000.00 without HRA, he is eligible.

Example 3: If the basic is 12,000.00, DA is 2,000.00, and HRA is 4,800.00, his total salary will be 18,800.00, but his PF wages will be 14,000.00, which is less than 15,000.00. In this case, is he eligible for the scheme?

Any seniors, please guide in this regard.

The ABRY scheme has already been notified and is available on the EPF website. Those whose monthly salary is below ₹15,000 are entitled to be covered under the scheme. Employee contributions will be directly reimbursed to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of the employee, and employer contributions will be deducted in the ECR itself, similar to PMRPY.

Regards, N. Lokanadha Babu
Manager-HR

Clarification on Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana Scheme

Can our members clarify whether any notification has been issued by the Government of India regarding this scheme? Additionally, are any of our member companies availing of these facilities, and if so, from which month onwards under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana Scheme?

Eligibility for MSME Companies Under the Scheme

More than 20% of MSME companies are enjoying the scheme. The portal displays the eligibility criteria on the ECR filing page. If the establishment is found eligible, the portal highlights it with red lines. The establishment then needs to file the declaration in advance and inform about the new registered UANs to get them activated.

Declaration Requirements

In the declaration, the establishment must declare that they have not deducted the EPF contributions from eligible members. This declaration may be cross-examined by the department in case of any doubts. After this process, the benefits are automatically displayed in ECR.

Hello everyone. We are an MSME with 30 employees. We are hiring 5 new employees who do not have any EPF account, starting from 1st April. Their wages will be around Rs. 9,000. Are we eligible for this scheme? Should we simply enter the new employees on the portal with their details from the Aadhaar card, or do we need to send any written intimation to the PF office? Should we deduct their PF or not?