The Ministry of Labour and Employment has, by way of a gazette notification,
enhanced the ESI wage ceiling from Rs 15,000 per month to Rs 21,000 per month.
This comes into effect from 01-Jan-2017.
As you are aware, the current
limit is Rs 15,000 – in other words, employees who draw an ESI wage of more
than Rs 15,000 cannot come under ESI currently. With effect from 01-Jan-2017,
employees drawing an ESI wage of up to Rs 21,000 will need to become ESI
members.
As far as your organization is
concerned, you may see some of the current employees (whose salary is between
Rs 15,000 and Rs 21,000) getting into ESI for the first time on account of the
wage ceiling enhancement. Also, there could be an increase in the cost to
company on account of employer ESI contribution to such employees (who get
added to ESI).
Please implement this in
payroll with effect from January 2017. Kindly consider the new wage ceiling for
final settlement processing too.
ESIC: Wage ceiling hikes over 20
years
From Rs3,000 to Rs6,500:
effective 1 January 1997.
From Rs6,500 to Rs7,500:
effective 1 April 2004.
From Rs7,500 to Rs10,000:
effective 1 October 2006.
From Rs10,000 to Rs15,000:
Effective 1 May 2010.
From Rs15,000 to Rs21,000:
Effective 1 September 2016.
