New Employee Not Registered for PF & ESI Last Month: Can We Deduct Now Without Hurting Them?

I have a question. We have a worker who joined last month, but we had not registered with PF & ESI. Can we pay the last month's PF & ESI deductions? If so, how can we deduct from employees for last month's deductions? They will suffer a lot!

Registration with EPF and ESIC

First, you will have to get registered with EPF and ESIC for contributing to the same. You cannot simply deduct EPF and ESIC before registration; it is wrong.

Vikram, the employer must enroll the new employee immediately upon joining, and not later than 14 calendar days. The pop-up displays on the ESIC site, and ESIC/EPF is payable from the date of joining as per the register of employees maintained.

Solutions for Paying Last Month's ESI and EPF Contributions

Sir, do you have any solutions on how to correct this mistake? I mean, how can we pay the last month's ESI and EPF shares of workers which we were unable to register last month? This happened because we had already paid the salaries last month. As per the law, it is necessary to pay all ESI and PF contributions to the workers. Please help.

First of all, register the employees as per the attendance register in the EPF and ESIC portals. Then, you can file ECR for the pending employees for the pending month(s) under EPF. It will not restrict.

For ESIC, when you proceed, it will display contributions already filed. Opt for supplementary contributions, and from that point, insert the IP number. It will populate the IP details. Enter the number of days and the amount of wages, file the contribution, and generate the payment.

If we register any worker after more than 10 days, the ESI department will issue a notification for the delayed date of registration. What is the best solution in this situation?

If the employee already has an IP membership of ESIC from a past employer, then that joining date would be valid, and TIC will be effective. If it is a fresh registration, the employee must visit the local dispensary within two weeks to validate the same (it will be displayed on the TIC after generation, in case of new IP number allotment). Also, interest applicable would be charged by both departments on their portal for late payment.

ESIC Number Generation Issue

But now, the ESIC number is not generated even after 10 days from the joining date.

ESIC Validation Requirement

ESIC gives a pop-up that 14 days have passed and asks the employer to send the employee to the local dispensary immediately along with the newly generated TIC card for validation. If the employee fails to do so, the department will charge the employer for violation of rules.