Do you need to register for ESI?

The 10-staff rule

ESI (Employees' State Insurance) gives your staff medical care, and pay when they can't work because of sickness, injury or maternity. It applies to any business with 10 or more staff. The rule is the same in every state. Seasonal factories are not covered by the 10-staff rule.

Once ESI applies, it stays, even if your staff later drop below 10.

For some risky kinds of work, ESI can apply even with 1 employee. Call us to check.

Who counts towards the 10

Count all of these:

• Permanent staff
• Casual staff
• Staff sent by a contractor
• Staff who earn more than ₹21,000 a month (the ESI pay limit)

Do not count: apprentices, the owner (if one person owns the business) and the partners of a partnership firm.

Paid directors? Call us to check how to count them.

Which staff must join ESI

ESI is a must for staff whose ESI wages are ₹21,000 a month or less (₹25,000 for a person with a disability).

ESI wages are not the full pay. Some pay is left out, such as house rent allowance (HRA) and overtime. But ESI wages must be at least half the total pay. If they come to less, the difference is added to ESI wages.

Staff on very low daily pay don't pay the employee share, but you still pay yours. Call us and we will check each person.

If you register late

Did you reach 10 staff some time ago, but did not register? Register as soon as ESI applies. Call us to check your case. We register you, and then we file on time every month.