In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of section 1 of the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 (34 of 1948), the Central Government hereby appoints the 1st day of January 2022, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act, namely,- (i) sections 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 and sections 45A to 45H of Chapter IV; (ii) sections 46 to 73 of Chapter V; and (iii) sections 74, 75, sub-sections (2) to (4) of sections 76, 80, 82 and 83 of Chapter VI, shall come into force in the entire areas of the following districts in the State of Assam:-
Now all EPFO members compulsory have to do the E-nomination in order to avail the various benefits as framed by EPFO in the act
The benefits of filing e-nomination are as follows:
1) Filing of e-nomination helps in getting Provident Fund (PF), Pension (EPS), and Insurance (EDLI) benefits easily in case of the death of the member
2) It also facilitates the nominee to file online claims
The EPFO members must be aware of the benefits of the different EPFO schemes. They are as follows:
Benefits of EPF The EPFO members must be aware of the various benefits of the EPF scheme. They are as follows:
1) Accumulation plus interest upon retirement, resignation, death.
2) Partial withdrawals allowed for specific expenses such as house construction, higher education, marriage, illness, and others
Benefits of EPS The benefits under the EPS scheme are as follows:
1) Monthly benefits for superannuation/ retirement, disability, survivor, widow (er), children
2) Amount of pension based on average salary during the preceding 12 months from the date of exit and total years of employment
3) Minimum pension on disablement
4) Past service benefits to participants of erstwhile Family Pension Scheme
Benefits of EDLI The EDLI Scheme is an insurance scheme that provides life insurance benefits to all employees who are members of the Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 1952 or of PF Schemes exempted under Section 17 of the EPF & MP Act, 1952. The EDLI scheme is supported by a nominal contribution by the employers (@0.5 percent of monthly wages, up to the maximum wage limit of Rs 15,000).
No contribution is payable by the employees for availing of insurance cover under this Scheme. The benefits payable under EDLI Scheme have been enhanced by the Central Government. Â
New Message on EPF Member portal
How PCS can assist to achieve the above activity: Our team to support the establishments for a smooth e-Nomination functionality process following activities has been initiated.
Brief details video has been created for the e-Nomination process E-nomination Video ( Procedure & guidelines) click the link. You are requested to share the link as a guideline to all the employees to process the same.
Please note if no E-nomination is added digitally then employees won’t be able to avail of EPF Benefits in the future which would create hassle activities for employers to deal with. To avoid the same, kindly initiate the process immediately. To avail, any above activity from the PCS team kindly emails the respective coordinating person. Let us achieve the target smoothly at the earliest.
Chandigarh Municipal Election on 24th Dec 2021 and under the provision to Subsection (i) of section 10 of the Punjab shops & commercial Establishment act 1958 as applicable to the union territory of Chandigarh,Friday 24th Dec 2021 a short leave for all Factories & shops & commercial Establishment falling in the area of Ward 1 to 35 of Municipal Corporation should be allowed for casting the votes
The Tripura Labour Department on December 04, 2021, has decided to revise the Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) for different categories of workers engaged in the employment of shops and establishments in Tripura and shall be payable with effect from October 01, 2021.
Whereas, the total minimum wages per month for the following categories of workers are:
• Unskilled: Rs 6,314 per month
• Semi-skilled: Rs. 6,927 per month
• Skilled: Rs. 7,747 per month
The overtime rate shall be double of the ordinary rate of minimum wages.
Appended below is the Pan India Compliance calendar for the month of November 2021, employer is under obligation to contribute towards some of the above-mentioned compliances for the welfare of the employees. Each of these compliances is again governed by a set of rules and formulas. It is proven to be a deliberate attempt to violate the provisions of the law, there could be imprisonment of the employer. Please, comply with the same in time to avoid any future non-compliance so that hefty penalties and fines are not charged by the respective dept
The Labour Department of Delhi on 15th November 2021 has published the Delhi Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Rules, 2021, through which the application for registration of establishment and the manner of notifying changes shall be made through online.
As per the amendment under rule 3, the occupier of the establishment, within 90 days of the commencement of work of his establishment shall apply for the registration under the Act, online on the Shop and Establishment Portal of Labour Department.
On submission of application online on the Shop & Establishment portal of Labour Department, Government of NCT of Delhi, the registration certificate shall be generated online in Form C under rule 4.
Further, the occupier shall notify any change in respect of any information under sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Act within 30 days after such change has taken place, online, on the Shop & Establishment Portal of Labour Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi.
In Schedule- I and Schedule- II which specifies “under rule 3 & 5” & “under rule 6“respectively, has been omitted.
• Form G which specifies “REGISTER OF WAGES / DEDUCTIONS / OVERTIME/ ADVANCES”, has been substituted.
• Form H & I “Register of Employment and Remuneration of Employees” & “Register of Leave”, has been omitted.
ESIC vide circular No. T-11/13/56/02/2020 Rev.II has acknowledged to all regional and sub-regional offices regarding the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India that payment of conveyance allowance as per the present case does not fall under the definition of term “wages” which means “all remuneration paid or payable in cash to an employee, if the terms of the contract of employment, express or implied, were fulfilled and includes [any payment to an employee in respect of any period of authorized leave, lock-out, a strike which is not illegal or layoff and] other additional remuneration if any, [paid at intervals not exceeding two months], but does not include
(a) any contribution paid by the employer to any pension fund or provident fund, or under this Act ;
(b) any traveling allowance or the value of any traveling concession ;
(c) any sum paid to the person employed to defray special expenses entailed on him by the nature of his employment; or
(d) any gratuity payable on discharge”.
Therefore, concluded that conveyance allowance shall not form part of the wages of the employees and the judgment hold good with effect from 8th March 2021. Please refer to the circular and enclosed judgment for more details.
Our Views
ESIC Circular: Honorable Supreme Court Decision on Conveyance in ESIC v/s Texmo Industries
The Circular issued by the ESI Corporation, which is attached along with is contradictory. They have made Conveyance Exempt from the 8th of March 2021, which is the date of the Supreme Court Order. The Supreme Court cannot amend the law but can throw clarity on the law and therefore the clarity comes in effect from the time the ESI Act, 1948 (As amended) was enacted.
Conveyance is not a wage that has been determined by the Honorable Supreme Court and this position is now accepted by the ESI Corporation.
Now, the establishment is left with 2 options.
Option 1
Exempt Conveyance as a wage, this will lower the contribution of the existing employees but also bring fresh employees, whose gross including conveyance was higher than Rs. 21000.00, into the coverage of the ESIC as their gross after deduction of conveyance may be less than Rs. 21000.00. This will be an expensive proposition for the employer.
Option 2
Merge Conveyance with Special allowance or Supplementary Allowance or any other allowance being paid monthly. Delete the word Conveyance from the nomenclature. This will maintain the status quo. There will be no change in the contribution values and no new employee will fall under coverage.
