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March 19, 2007
Employment
Law: More Benefits to ESI Beneficiaries
To
celebrate the 55th anniversary of its inception, the
Employees State Insurance Corporation ("ESIC") of
India, a central government body set up under the Employee State
Insurance Act, 1948 ("ESI Act"), announced a slew
of measures designed to add to and enhance the existing benefits
enjoyed by employees registered under the ESIC Scheme ("Scheme").
The
ESI Act and the Scheme provide, to specified categories of
employees in specified registered establishments certain
benefits in times of sickness, injury, disablement, maternity,
unemployment, old age and bereavement, and to the nominees of such
employees, upon death. The Scheme is contributory for both the
employer and the eligible employee. In
recent years, the ESIC has introduced certain initiatives to
improve its quality of service, such as providing online
registration and a toll-free helpline while increasing the
deliverables to its members with the introduction of such schemes
as the unemployment allowance scheme. As recently as October 2006,
the monthly wage ceiling limit for eligibility under the Scheme
was raised from INR 7,500 to INR 10,000. The ESIC has now
announced the following offerings to its members, with no increase
in the premium to be paid by the employee:
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An
increase in the disablement benefit, from the existing 140% of
the standard benefit rate to 150%;
-
A
proposed increase in the funeral allowance, from INR 2,500 to
INR 3,000 per insured person, subject to the approval of the
Central Government;
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An
increase in the sickness benefit, from the existing 100% of
the standard benefit rate to 120%;
-
An
increase in the ceiling limit on per capita medical
expenditure from INR 900 per insured employee's family unit to
INR 1,000;
-
No
premium to be paid by eligible employees earning up to INR 70
per day. However, the employers' contributions will have to be
paid.
While
the increases may appear marginal, the aggregate amounts to a
huge financial commitment by the ESIC as the Scheme currently
covers approximately 40 million employees. More than the actual
amount, it is the willingness of the Central Government to
strengthen its protective mantle over the economically modest
employees that is an encouraging and heartening sign. Source:
The
Economic Times, Mumbai edition, dated March 10, 2007
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