Employers required to submit necessary documents pertaining to recruitments within 30 days for EPF registration

Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva announced fresh regulations making it mandatory for the employers to submit the required documentation of the employees along with the duly completed forms, within 30 days of the recruitment, to proceed with the registration process with the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF).

The relevant gazette notification was issued on the third of this month, amending the previously issued EPF regulations, under Section 46 of Employees’ Provident Fund Act, No.15 of 1958

“Every employer of employees in any covered employment shall within 30 days from the date of recruitment of an employee forward to the relevant Labour Office in the area within which the workplace of such employee is situated, an employee’s record card substantially in Form ‘A’ of the Second Schedule hereto and (2) the Commissioner General shall issue to such employee, a certificate of membership of the fund substantially in Form ‘B’ of the Second Schedule hereto,” it stated.

The new requirement is applied for all employments covered by the EPF, regardless of the nature of the employment, making it a blanket requirement. 

For the employees who are in the process of obtaining the membership of the EPF for the first time, they are required to be present before the Labour Department to provide the required information and their respective employers are required to facilitate them with this process.

However, if an employer refuses or unreasonably delays to certify the record card of an employee, the employee could submit the uncertified record card to the Commissioner General of Labour, according to the new regulations. 
“In such event if the Commissioner General is satisfied that the employer has without any reasonable cause refused or delayed to certify such record card, the Commissioner General shall, notwithstanding the fact that such employer has not certified employee’s record card, grant the membership of the fund to such employee,” it noted.

The new regulations have also enabled the usage of electronic document and forms with the employees’ finger prints.

In addition, the employees may be required to provide a photo on the discretion of the Commissioner General of Labour.

The Labour Ministry published the updated versions of the Employee’s Record Card and Certificate of Membership Forms, along with the Contribution Detail File (should be named as EVEMC.TXT) of employees, which is required to be maintained and submitted by the employers.