EPFO Insurance: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has released two major updates for its members. The first relates to the EPFO’s EDLI (Employee Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme). The second relates to job holidays and weekend breaks. If you are an EPFO member, this news will be very important for you. The Ministry of Labor and Employment announced these two major EPFO updates on Friday. Let’s find out.
The EPFO has now revised the rules for insurance coverage for employees under the EDLI scheme. Under the new changes, even if an employee’s PF balance is less than Rs 50,000, their family will still receive an insurance benefit of at least Rs 50,000. Previously, this benefit was only available if the employee had a balance of up to Rs 50,000 in their account. Furthermore, if the employee passes away within six months of their last PF contribution, the family will still receive the minimum EDLI payout. However, this requires the member to be on the employer’s rolls.
It’s often seen that employees experience short breaks in their service. This break often occurs when they change jobs. In such situations, EDLI claims are often rejected or settled for a lower amount. However, according to the new rules, even short breaks will be considered regular service.
The EPFO stated in its circular that if the employee resumes employment with another organization covered under the EPF & MP Act, 1952, after a Saturday, Sunday, or declared weekly holiday, national holiday, gazetted holiday, state holiday, or restricted holiday, these holidays will not be considered breaks in service; they will be considered continuous service. However, the condition for this is that these holidays should be the only holidays between the date of leaving the first job and the date of joining the second job, and there should be no additional gap.
Even a 60-day job gap will not be considered a break
Under the new EPFO rules, a job change with a gap of up to 60 days will also be considered continuous service. Even in such circumstances, employees will receive the full benefit of the EDLI scheme, meaning that even if an employee has not completed 12 months of continuous service, they will still receive the EDLI benefit.