A relief news has emerged for the employees and their families. Employees Provident Fund Organization i.e. EPFO has issued an important circular, which will provide huge benefits to employees changing jobs and their dependents. With this new decision, breaks in service due to weekends and government holidays will no longer be considered, due to which disputes related to death claims can be eliminated to a great extent.
Service break will not be considered due to holiday
EPFO has clarified that if an employee leaves one company and joins another company and only Saturday, Sunday or any declared holiday falls in between, then it will not be considered as a break in service. Earlier, it was seen in many cases that when there was a weekend between two jobs, the service of the employee was considered broken, due to which his family was not able to get the benefits related to insurance and pension.
Why was this decision taken?
EPFO said that many such cases have come to light, where after the death of the employee, the Employee Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) claim of his family was rejected only because of a minor gap or a lesser amount was given. Many times the officials did not calculate the service correctly, due to which the dependents suffered losses. This new circular has been issued to eliminate this problem.
What will be the new definition of continuous service?
Now, if an employee has only weekly off, national holiday, gazetted holiday, state holiday or restricted holiday between the end of one job and the start of another job, then his service will be considered as continuous. EPFO has also said that even if there is a gap of maximum 60 days at the time of changing jobs, the service will still be considered continuous.
Big relief to families regarding EDLI claim
EPFO has also increased the minimum payment received under the EDLI scheme. Now a minimum of Rs 50,000 will be paid to the nominee or legal heir, even if the employee has not completed 12 months of continuous service. This benefit will be available even if the average balance in the employee’s PF account is less than Rs 50,000.
In which cases minimum payment will be given
The new rule will also be applicable in cases where the employee dies within six months of his last PF contribution, provided the employee is still registered in the records of the employer. This means that now the family will not have to face lengthy legal processes or disputes for insurance claims.
