Coverage: who is insured
An establishment in an ESIC-implemented area with 10 or more employees (20 in some states) must register. Within it, every employee with gross wages up to ₹21,000 per month is an insured person; the ceiling is ₹25,000 for persons with disability. Coverage is tested on gross, so a worker with ₹12,000 basic and ₹10,000 in allowances is outside ESI, while one with ₹18,000 gross is inside.
Contribution periods run April–September and October–March. An employee who crosses ₹21,000 mid-period keeps contributing until the period ends, and only drops out from the next period.
Contribution rates and payment
The employee pays 0.75% of gross wages and the employer pays 3.25%, both computed on the gross actually paid in the month including overtime and allowances. Employees earning up to ₹176 per day are exempt from the employee share; the employer still pays its part. Contributions are deposited on the ESIC portal by the 15th of the following month, and each insured person has an Insurance Number and e-Pehchan card.
ESI wages exclude a few items such as annual bonus and gratuity; the current exclusion list is on the ESIC portal.
- Employee 0.75% of gross; employer 3.25% of gross
- Ceiling ₹21,000 gross per month (₹25,000 for persons with disability)
- Employee share exempt where daily wage is up to ₹176
- Due by the 15th; contribution periods April–September and October–March
Benefits and why HR should care
Insured persons and their dependants receive medical care through ESIC dispensaries and hospitals, cash sickness benefit for certified illness, maternity benefit, disablement benefit for employment injury, and dependants' benefit on death from employment injury. Rates and durations are set by ESIC; check the current benefit schedule rather than quoting figures.
For workers, ESI often matters more than PF because it is usable now. For employers, ESI coverage also affects how maternity and sickness absence are handled: an insured woman claims maternity benefit from ESIC rather than under the Maternity Benefit Act.
Gross wages in September are ₹16,000 plus ₹1,200 overtime, so ESI wages are ₹17,200. Employee contribution is 0.75%, ₹129, shown as a deduction on the payslip. Employer contribution is 3.25%, ₹559. Both are deposited by 15 October. If the worker receives a raise to ₹22,000 gross in November, she stays covered and contributing until 31 March, the end of the October–March contribution period.
Attend Mitra applies ESI settings to attendance-derived gross wages so that overtime and LOP flow into the contribution automatically, and shows employee and employer ESI in the salary register. Portal filing is done by the employer.