Launch of ESIC COVID RELIEF SCHEME.

This is to inform that ESIC has launched a New Scheme called ESIC COVID RELIEF SCHEME, which is a Welfare Measure taken to provide Relief to the Dependants of the IPs (Insured Persons), who have died due to Covid-19.

The Salient features of this ESIC COVID RELIEF SCHEME are given below for your kind information:

1.       The Scheme will be effective from 24-03-2020, for a period of 2years.

2.       If any Insured Person, has died due to Covid-19, his Eligible Dependant family members will get Relief up-to 90% of the Average Wages.

3.       The payments will be periodical monthly and will be given to the Eligible Dependents as per the share specified in the ESIC Headquarters Letter No P-11/14/11/COVID-19 Relief Scheme/2021-Bft II dated 04-06-2021.

4.       The Minimum Relief under the Scheme will be Rs 1800/- per month.

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS FOR AVAILING THE ESIC COVID RELIEF SCHEME:

1.       The IP who died due to Covid-19, must be Registered on ESIC Portal atleast 3 months prior to date of Diagnosis of Covid-19, resulting in death.

2.       The deceased IP should have been in Employment on date of diagnosis of Covid-19.

3.       ESI Contributions for atleast 70 days should have been paid or payable in respect of him/her during a period of 1 year immediately preceding the Diagnosis of Covid-19, resulting in death.

A scanned copy of the ESIC Headquarters Letter No P-11/14/11/COVID-19 Relief Scheme/2021-Bft II dated 04-06-2021, containing complete instruction on the subject is attached with this mail for your ready reference.

Accordingly, it is requested to kindly bring this New Scheme to the knowledge and information of all your Employees who are registered with ESIC.

Also, kindly intimate to this office, the details of any of your Employees who have unfortunately died due to Covid-19, to enable us to examine and process their Benefit under the Relief Scheme.

EPFO gets electronic facility for key employers

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched an electronic
facility for the key employers that will help them check the EPF compliance
of their contractors.

EPFO-registered employers, who engage employees
through contractors, can add details of the contractors and the contract
employees on EPFO’s unified portal. Anil Kumar Pritam, the Regional
Commissioner (Grade-1), of the Nashik Region EPFO, said some employers
source manpower via contractors.

However, they are unable to know whether
the contractors concerned are paying the PF contribution of their workers.

“This new electronic system will help the employers know whether the
contractors have opened the PF accounts of their contract workers and are
actually making the PF contribution of their workers regularly,” he said,
adding that contract workers will not be deprived of EPF facilities as
employers will be able to ensure that the contract workers are registered
with the EPF.

Breaking News on Labour Laws….

PF Salary ceiling to be Increased to Rs. 25,000/- from Rs.15,000/- as recommended by CBT to Ministry of Labour & Employment.

CBT members have proposed to the Ministry of Labour to cut contribution and increase the EPF cover wage limit for the country’s 4.5 crores PF members.

EPFO Central Board of Trustees (CBT) members have started pressuring them citing the interest of employees.

Members have demanded the Labour Ministry to include it on the agenda of the next board meeting.

The Board members have made it clear in the proposal that, like ESIC of the Ministry, the ceiling of the coverage of employees has been increased to Rs. 21,000 salary, similarly, the wage limit of contribution deduction of PF members should be increased from Rs. 15,000/- pm to Rs. 25 000/- pm.

At present, the maximum amount of PF contribution is Rs.1800/- per month on PF Salary of Rs. 15,000/- .

The employer contributes the same amount, but given the time, this amount is less.

Therefore the deduction limit should be on PF salary of Rs. 25,000/- pm.

EPFO CBT member Harbhajan Singh said to media that the members have given the proposal to the Union Labour Minister along with the Ministry.

Increasing the cover limit will strengthen the PF account of the employees and will also deposit a huge amount in EPFO ​​Fund.

Harbhajan Singh further said that the minimum pension is still Rs. 1000/- pm which inadequate according to the current time and circumstances.

The members have proposed to increase it to Rs. 7,500/- pm.

EPFO can use the funds lying in inoperative accounts to increase the pension.

Unclaimed money has never been cleared. In the year 2014, the unclaimed amount was Rs. 40 thousand crores and in the last financial year, it was stated as Rs. 27 thousand crores.

These issues will also come up in the board meeting.

This is just FYI and nothing has been finalized so far.

Temporary staff can’t be sacked sans hearing: HC

The Madhya Pradesh high court has said that the principle of natural justice applies to temporary employees as well, and they can’t be dismissed from service without being given a hearing if it is being done on some charge that is stigmatic. The judgment came in response to a petition filed by a peon of Chhindwara district civil court, who was appointed against a contingency fund. The petitioner, Sunil Kumar Verma, said he was appointed as waterman in the district court in July 1994 and promoted to peon two years later but his services were not regularised.

According to his petition, a ‘false FIR’ was lodged against him on January 2, 2000, and he was arrested. Since he was in police custody, he couldn’t come to work the next day and on the basis of “unauthorised absence from duty”, he was terminated from service on January 20, 2000, he says.

Rescued Jharkhand Child Labourer Becomes Voice Of India At Labour Meet

From working in a mica mine in Jharkhand’s Giridih district as a child labour to representing India in a global event by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at Durban – the journey has been long for Badku Marandi. Badku, 21, is among four people to represent India in the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, organised by the ILO and the government of South Africa from May 15 to 20. “After being rescued by Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi Foundation, the mission of my life is to rescue other children and encourage them to begin a new life,” Badku, who is now studying in class 11, told PTI from Durban over the phone. He said he is a resident of Kanichihar village in the Tisri block of Giridih district and is now engaged in creating awareness about child labour among children of the area and extending support to them through the foundation.

‘Cut down notice period in IT/ITES sector to global standards’

Thomas Brenneke of Network Redux says with unmatched Indian talent, there should be a fair system for everyone to hire a good talent pool. Voicing concern over the extent of the notice period for IT/ITES workers who want to exit Indian companies, an IT company promoter in Kochi has suggested lessening the number of days on par with global standards.

The current 90-day notice period creates a lot of difficulties in attracting good talents, and it needs to be reduced to 30-60 days, said Thomas Brenneke, Founder & CEO, Network Redux, based in Infopark here. “Right now, this is a great concern especially for small and medium companies in India and it creates revenue loss as well”, he told BusinessLine in an interaction. The Indian talent is unmatched.

However, there should be a fair system for everyone to hire a good talent pool. The company raised this issue at the recently concluded NASCOM SMB forum. He said the industry body or the government should develop a regulation to this effect

From the Desk of Dayanand Mangaonkar

NO GST LEVIABLE IN THE HANDS OF EMPLOYER ON AMOUNT REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES’ PORTION OF CANTEEN CHARGES: GUJ. AAR

The Gujarat Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) ruled that no GST is leviable in the hands of the employer on an amount representing the employee portion of canteen charges.

The applicant, M/s Cadila Healthcare Ltd. is in the business of manufacturing, supplying and distributing various pharma products. M/s Cadila has approximately 7200 employees in it factory and corporate offices and was registered under the provisions of Sec. 46 of the Factories Act, 1948. As per the provisions, Cadila submitted that it was mandatory to provide canteen facilities to its employees at the factory by appointing a Canteen Service Provider to comply with the statutory requirement laid down under the Factories Act.

Cadila and Canteen Service Provider have entered into an agreement whereby Cadila shall pay the full amount to the service provider for the food served during a prescribed period on behalf of the employees and a predetermined % of the amount paid by Cadila.

The balance amount was recovered from employees (without any profit) and the difference of amount was borne by Cadila. It is being treated as a staff welfare expenses towards subsidised food served to the employees.

The applicant has sought an advance ruling on the issue of whether the subsidised deduction made by the applicant from the employees who are availing food in the factory/corporate office would be considered as a supply by the applicant under the provisions of Sec. 7 of the Central GST Act, 2017 and the Gujarata Goods and service Tax Act, 2017.

The applicant submitted that merely setting up a canteen facility for the employees and deducting a nominal cost would not tantamount to supply under Sec. 7 of the CGST Act.

The AAR noted that Cadila has arranged a canteen for its employees, which is run by a Canteen Service Provider. As per their arrangement, part of the canteen charges were borne by Cadila, whereas the remaining part was borne by its employees. The employees’ portion of the canteen charges were collected by Cadila and paid to the canteen service provider. Cadila submitted that it does not retain any profit margin in this activity of collecting employees’ portion of canteen charges.

AAR, therefore, stated that they are not inclined to accord this canteen service facility provided by Cadila to its employees the status of an activity made in the course or furtherance of business to deem it supply by Cadila to its employee and hence no GST applicable on such transactions.

Panel backs raising monthly EPFO wage ceiling to ₹21,000.

A high-level committee has backed a proposed increase in wage ceiling under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to ₹21,000 a month from the current ₹15,000.

The committee has, however, said the government can implement the increase from a later date considering all inputs.

The proposal, once implemented, will bring an estimated 7.5 million additional workers within the fold of the scheme, and also adjust for the increase in wages as the last revision was done in 2014.

“The ad-hoc committee on EPFO coverage has agreed to enhance wagesunder EPF Act to align with ESI establishment,” a senior government official told ET, adding that it has suggested the implementation to be considered at a later stage and not immediately.

The suggestion, if accepted by the central board of the trustees of EPFO, will give a breather to the employers who are reluctant to immediately take on any additional financial burden.

Employers had in their consultations cited stress on their balance sheets due to the outbreak of the pandemic and sought more time for implementing the proposed increase.

It will also be a relief for the exchequer as the Centre currently pays about ₹6,750 crore every year to the Employees’ Pension Scheme of the EPFO. The government contributes 1.16% of the total basic wage of EPFO subscribers towards the scheme.

Under the current rules, any company with more than 20 employees must register with the EPFO and the EPF scheme is compulsory for all employees earning less than ₹15,000.

The increase in the limit to ₹21,000 will bring more workers under the retirement scheme. It will also align the ceiling with the other social security scheme Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) where the limit is ₹21,000.

KE Raghunathan, an employer’s representative on the central board of the trustees of the EPFO, said there is a consensus within the EPFO that similar norms should be followed for providing social security under both EPFO and ESIC.

“Workers should not lose out on the benefits of their social security because of the difference in norms under the two schemes,” he said.

Labour unions are, however, apprehensive the decision may take a very long time to implement.

“Lots of hurdles are in the way to implement this including the required approval from the finance ministry,” a trade union representative said requesting not to be identified.

From the desk of Dayanand Mangaonkar

Contract Labour Act – Whether Sub Contractor also needs to take CLRA License;

The definition of Contractor as given under Sec. 2(c ) of the Contract Labour (R&A) Act, 1970 provides that a Contactor also includes a Sub-Contractor.

However, answer to the question raised in the title of this article is not categorically provided either in the Act nor in the Rules but at the same time it is to be taken from various provisions including Sec. 2(c ) of the CRLA Act and Rule 21 of CLRA (Central) Rules inter alia providing that for obtaining License, which is to be by the Contractor will be accompanied by a Certificate from the Principal Employer in Form V and as such the Sub-Contractor while obtaining License would be required to have a signature of his employer (contractor as well as the principal employer). Both the Principal Employer and the Contractor will issue the Certificate as given in Form V under Rule 21(2) of the CRLA Rule.

It is also imminent to note that for allowing Sub-Contractor to obtain License, the consent of the Principal employer either in writing via Work Order or the Agreement is mandatory, to enable Sub-Contractor to make an application for CLRA License subject to required headcounts. If such consent or clause in the Agreement is not provided, then it is advisable to ask Principal Contractor only to include head counts of Sub-Contractor in his application when Principal Contractor makes an application for License.

The Authorities normally insists to consolidate head counts of all Sub-Contractors in the application of Principal Contractor when each Sub-Contractor has got less than 50 employees and when such Sub-Contractor has got 50 or more than 50 employees, then Authorities insist for Sub-Contractor’s separatr License. The reason is well known to all. However, Law is silent on this issue

From the desk of Dayanand Mangaonkar

Proposed changes in Employees Pension Scheme 1995

In recent CBT meeting concluded at Guwahati it is decided to constitute task force of experts of Pension, Superanuation & Social Security Field.

It was also suggested to include members from PFRDA, VVGNLI (V V Giri National Labour Institute) , Two Independent Actuaries, Chief Investment Officers of some reputed Investment Firms /Mutual Fund Houses, Financial or any other Expert.

The task force would study the existing EPS 95 in the time and also issues raised by the Committee Members and suggest possible measures to engage the benefit under the EPS 95 within the defined time limit.

Other Recommendations:-

1) To make wage ceiling of PF & ESI equals; (Presently PF Wage ceiling is Rs. 15,000/- pm & ESI Wage ceiling is Rs. 21,000/- pm)

2) To make 12% contribution to EPS; (Presently its 8.33% subject to maximum if Rs. 1250/- pm)

3) To cover all employees upto wage ceiling; (Presently, Pension Contribution is restricted upto salary of Rs. 15,000/- pm)

Let’s see how and when these proposals and amendments see the light of the day.