Handling Employee Contributions: What Happens on the Day of Death?

Please clarify whether we need to pay the contribution for the day of death of an employee or not. If the contribution is paid, will the date of exit be the same day or the next day?

In one case, the PF department asked us to mention the next day as the day of death. However, in another case, the PF department insisted we mention the same day as the day of death. Although we are clear that the same day should be taken as the day of death.

Employee Death and PF Contribution

Any employee who dies during employment should have their last day of employment recorded as the day of death. Otherwise, the PF membership of the employee will cease before their death. Contributions for the day of death should be paid if the employee is eligible, i.e., the employee was not on leave without pay.

EPF Benefits on Death

For EPF benefits on death, the employee should be on the rolls at the time of death, not necessarily physically working.

The salary can be paid on the day the employee dies, and the date of leaving the job can also be provided on the same day.

Example Scenario

For example, if the employee reports for duty on January 01, 2021, and passes away after half a day or at the end of duty, which date would you record? According to the law, the date should be the same day. Upon review, you will notice that the employee's contribution to the Employees' Provident Fund is primarily considered until their membership ceases under the law. This is because the date of leaving the job signifies that no further contributions from the employee will be made (in that particular employment).

Interpretation of Employment Dates

You can interpret this scenario as follows: if an employee is a member of the provident fund in Company X and after working on January 15, 2021, joins another company, Company Y, on January 16, 2021, the date of leaving in Company X must be stated as January 15, 2021. Conversely, Company Y will indicate the Date of Joining (DOJ) as January 16, 2021, in their records.

If you input the date of leaving as January 16, 2021, in Company X, then Company Y cannot state the same date in their respective records.