In News:

• The Ministry of Labour and Employment has launched the Employee’s Enrolment Scheme 2025 (EES-2025) to widen the social security net by bringing excluded employees into the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) fold.
• Implemented by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the scheme provides a single, time-bound opportunity for employers to voluntarily regularise workers who should have been covered under the EPF Act but were not enrolled earlier.

About the Scheme

• Type: One-time voluntary compliance window.
• Implementing Agency: EPFO, Ministry of Labour & Employment.
• Coverage Period for Eligible Employees: 1 July 2017 to 31 October 2025.
• Operational Window: 1 November 2025 – 30 April 2026 (six months).

The scheme allows employers to declare and enrol employees who were omitted—intentionally or inadvertently—from EPF coverage during the above period.

Objectives

• To expand EPF coverage under the EPF & MP Act, 1952.
• To promote voluntary compliance and foster trust between employers and regulators.
• To support workforce formalisation and ensure financial protection for previously unregistered workers.
• To reduce litigation and compliance burden by providing a simplified remedial mechanism.

Key Features

• Employers may enrol all eligible employees engaged between July 2017 and October 2025 who were not covered earlier.
• Waiver of employee contribution for the past period if it was not deducted earlier.
• Employers are required to pay:
  • Employer’s share of EPF contribution, and
  • A nominal penalty of ?100 per establishment.
• Applicable even to establishments under inquiry under:
  • Section 7A of the EPF Act, or
  • Paragraph 26B of the EPF Scheme.
• EPFO will not initiate suo motu action for earlier non-compliance once the employer makes full voluntary disclosure under the scheme.

Significance

• Strengthens social security by widening EPF coverage for millions of workers.
• Boosts ease of doing business by reducing penalties and enabling smooth compliance.
• Encourages formalisation, aligning with India's goal of universal social protection.
• Helps reduce disputes, improve employer-employee relations, and enhance long-term financial safety for the workforce.