EPFO Offers Six-Month Window To Employers To Enrol Left-Out Employees Under EES-2025

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) urges employers under the Employees’ Enrolment Scheme (EES) – 2025, within a six-month period, to avail of the scheme’s benefits. EES is a one-time special scheme for employers to enrol employees who were left uncovered under EPFO, for some reason. This enrolment campaign is for those employees who were left out of EPF coverage between July 1, 2017 and October 31, 2025.

EPFO started this six-month campaign on November 1. The aim is to provide a special window to employers, including the state and local government authorities, to avail themselves of the benefit of this amnesty scheme.

As per the rule, an organisation employing 20 or more employees is required to offer the EPF facility to the employees. However, if they fail to do so, they need to pay a penalty. Under the EES-2025 scheme, they are provided the time-bound opportunity to enrol their employees and contribute to the national vision of “Social Security for All”.  

Under the EES-2025 scheme, employers are required only to deposit their share (employer’s share) along with interest, and related administrative charges and penal damage, which is limited to Rs 100 only to EPFO. Once they deposit the contribution and the charges, they will be considered fully compliant under all three schemes of EPFO. These include Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Employees Pension Scheme (EPS), and employees' deposit-linked insurance (EDLI).

Who Can Apply For This Scheme?

Organisations or establishments that are facing assessment enquiries can seek relief under the scheme. The scheme is open for all defaulter establishments, including those that are facing enquiries:

• Under section 7A regarding the determination of money due from employers

• Para 26B, which is about doubts of employees’ EPF membership

• Para 8 of the Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995

All such establishments can register for the scheme and then be treated as fully compliant entities in terms of social security provisions.

How Will Employers Benefit?

The Rs 100 penal charges for late enrolment are nominal and much less than the standard penalty and non-compliance penalty. By enrolling under the scheme, employers can also make sure that EPFO wouldn’t take any suo motu compliance action against them if an employee left the organisation on the declaration date.

Besides, employers who register for the scheme will become eligible to avail of benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana, subject to the terms and conditions.

However, this is not the first time EPFO has run such a campaign; the Labour Ministry has run a similar campaign in 2017, for employers to declare the number of employees working with them who have been enrolled and register them.  

The idea of such campaigns is to expand social security coverage and remove the need for legal action against defaulter establishments.