Is It Fair for My New Job to Exclude Employer's EPF Contribution in a Consolidated Salary?

My last monthly CTC when I left Company A (Pvt Ltd) was Rs 18,447, where both the employee's and employer's contributions to EPF were Rs 1,167 each. During the COVID-19 period, I had to join a sister concern, Company B (Pvt Ltd), which is part of the same company. They agreed to pay me a consolidated amount equivalent to my previous salary at Company A but without any EPF benefits. However, when calculating my salary, they did not include the employer's contribution of Rs 1,167 and finalized my salary as Rs 17,280. Since the two companies are separate entities, can they choose to ignore the Rs 1,167 by citing "consolidated salary" as a term?

Hi, As Company B has agreed to pay a consolidated amount equivalent to your past salary, they should have fixed your overall salary at Rs. 18,447, including employer PF contributions. Before accepting the offer, you should have raised this question with Company B.

If in your first organization there was PF, the second organization (if the organization is covered under EPFO) cannot discontinue your PF. It is illegal. In the second organization, your salary is a consolidated amount, and your PF Gross will be the same. In Form-11 at the time of joining, if you have disclosed your UAN number, etc., the second organization should continue your PF, but they may restrict contributions to a maximum of 15,000/- per month. In most cases, organizations are making such decisions due to a lack of knowledge.

S K Bandyopadhyay (WB, Howrah)
CEO-USD HR Solutions
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons]
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]
USD HR Solutions – To strive towards excellence with effort and integrity