Payroll and Compliance - The Monthly Chronicle
February and March 2019
PF Wage definition clarified
There have been ongoing appeals for clarifying the definition of PF wage with several establishments approaching the courts, questioning, if allowances formed part of the wage.
The Supreme Court, in its order, has stated that “no material has been placed by the establishments to demonstrate that the allowances in question being paid to its employees were either variable or were linked to any incentive for production resulting in greater output by an employee and that the allowances in question were not paid across the board to all employees in a particular category or were being paid especially to those who avail the opportunity.”
The court allowed the submission of RPFC - “allowances in question were essentially a part of the basic wage camouflaged as part of an allowance so as to avoid deduction and contribution accordingly to the provident fund account of the employees”.
Proposal to reduce Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) contribution rates.
ESIC authorities through notified circular has proposed to reduce the ESIC rate of contribution. The proposed changes are as:
To read the official notification please refer the link: http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2019/197774.pdf
Registration of beneficiaries under PMRPY scheme (PF).
Please note registration of beneficiaries (PF members) for availing **PMRPY benefit expires on 31 March 2019. Registration may not possible after 1 April 2019.
**The Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) Plan Scheme has been designed to incentivize employers for generation of new employment, where Government of India will be paying the full employer's contribution towards EPF & EPS both w.e.f. 01.04.2018 for the new employment.
PF applicability on National Employability Enhance Mission (NEEM) trainees.
There was an internal communication sent to all business owners. The details of the communication were as below:
NEEM Trainees engaged in any establishment would be brought under PF definition of employee and thus PF contribution would be deducted and deposited for the respective salary.
Note: Earlier the department has stated that - As per the section 15.2 of the Gazette notification of NEEM “Remuneration / Stipend shall be paid as single consolidated amount and such payment will not attract any statutory deduction or payments applicable to regular employees since the NEEM contract assures training and does not constitute employment”.
Thus in case your establishment has engaged any NEEM trainees, kindly reach out to your NEEM Agent and Regional PF Office, to avoid instances of notices from EPFO.
Unified Annual Returns under Payment of Bonus Act, 1965.
Ministry of Labour & Employment has notified that every employer shall, on or before the 1st day of February in each year, upload Unified Annual Return in Form D on the web portal of the Central
Government in the Ministry of Labour and Employment giving information as to the particulars specified in respect of the preceding year.
To read further details on the same please refer the link:
http://egazette.nic.in/ WriteReadData/2019/196259.pdf
Hygiene provision introduced in Factories act.
A new sub-section 44 (C) was introduced under Factories Act head.
Under this section, Ministry of Labour and Employment by notified memo has made it mandatory for every factory to provision of Sanitary Napkins (conforming to Indian Standards) for their women workers performing duties in establishment covered under Factories Act. This sanitary napkins provisions must be checked-provided-maintained and replenished on daily basis.
Delhi Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2018.
To bring parity among disabled and normal business owners and individuals, the department of social affairs of Delhi has issued a draft of the Delhi Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2018.
The below are the highlight of this draft notification:
- Establishment not to discriminate on the ground of disability
- The Committee for Research on Disability at the State Level would be established for governance purpose.
- A nodal officer shall be designated in the District Education Office of the Department of Education would be appointed to deal with all matters relating to admission of children with disabilities and the facilities to be provided to them in schools.
- Every establishment shall publish equal opportunity policy for persons with disabilities within a period of six months from the notification.
- Every Government establishment shall take into account four percent of the total number of vacancies including vacancies arisingin the identified and nonidentified posts in the cadre strength in each group of posts, for the purpose of computation of vacancies for the persons with benchmark disabilities.
To read the complete details please refer:
https://archive.org/details/in.gazette.delhi.e.2018-12-28.194360/page/n31
Maternity Benefit Act: Draft Notification from Union Territory of Chandigarh.
There was draft notification for Maternity benefit issued for the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
The draft notification states that: every establishment 50 or more employees shall have Crèche facility within prescribed limit from the establishment for the benefit of the employee.
To read further details please refer to the attached link: https://avacontent.azurewebsites.net/2019/02/19/draftchandigarh-maternity-benefit-amendment-rules-2019/
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| Due date | Nature of transaction | Existing rules | Mode |
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| 10th March 19 | Andhra Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh | State-wise regulations | Online |
| 15th March 19 | Gujarat | Gujarat PT regulations | Online or Challan payment |
| 20th March 19 | Karnataka | Karnataka PT regulations | Online |
| 21st March 19 | West Bengal | West Bengal PT regulations | Online |
| 31st March 19 | Assam & Orissa | State-wise regulations | Online |
| 31st March 19 | Maharashtra | Maharashtra PT regulations | Online |
| PF Central | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 15th March 19 | Remittance of Contribution | EPF & MP Act, 1952 | Online |
| ESI Central | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 15th March 19 | Remittance of Contribution (Main code and Sub codes) | ESIC Act, 1948 | Online |
| TDS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7th March 19 | TDS Payment | Income Tax Act, 1961 | Online |
| Labour Welfare Fund Remittances | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5th March 19 | Kerala (Labour Welfare Fund Act) | Kerala State Labour Welfare Fund | Offline |
Sources: Government Notifications, Circulars, Press releases.
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