EPFO move to ensure contract workers get PF

Nagpur: In order to ensure labour contractors meet their liability towards provident fund (PF), principal employers will now have to upload all details related to contractual workers on per assignment basis in a portal set up by Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). The principal employers are also being asked to verify if the PF remittances are actually made by the contractor which can be done by logging on to EPFO website. This has come after a series of correspondence by the labour ministry with state and other government departments in the Centre. Government bodies are the biggest employers of contract workers. The labour ministry has observed that a large number of such workers end up not getting their PF and other social security dues. This it points out as a violation of human rights also.
Based on this idea, EPFO recently developed a portal in which the principal employers will have to feed details like contractor’s name and work order. This will give EPFO access to the number of workers engaged by the contractor. The principal employer also has access to EPFO website from where it can be found if the contractor has remitted the PF dues or not, said a source
EPFO’s regional office at Nagpur has been holding a series of meetings with the principal employers that include a number of government departments like AG office, Indian Bureau Of Mines, directorate of atomic minerals and other agencies. Meetings are being held on a daily basis. It is being stressed that the principal employer should see that the money it was paying goes into the workers’ PF account.
“In case of a default, the principal employer can pull up the contractor and even withhold payment. This is because ultimately it is the principal employer’s liability to pay PF dues of the contractual workers,” said a EPFO official.
The principal employers are also being asked to ensure that contractors get a unique account number (UAN) for the workforce they employ. Getting a UAN which is linked with documents like Aadhaar card will enable settlement of PF accounts directly without employer’s involvement.
It began with the labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya writing to chief ministers about the situation of contract workers. The letter says a large number of contract workers engaged in government establishments were not getting their social security dues. Though the officers have powers to take action it was not feasible to go against a state agency, said the letter.