PF eligibility checker
Check if your business must register for PF (Provident Fund, also called EPF). You can also check if an employee must be in PF. Use one check or both.
Check your business or an employee
Does your business need PF?
Need to register now, or soon? We can register you and then file every month.
- 25+ years in practice
- Founder worked 35 years at EPFO
- 100+ clients
- 3,500+ employees covered
Does this employee need PF?
How the PF rules work
For your business
Your business must register for PF when it has 20 or more employees, in any industry. Count all your staff, including casual staff, workers a contractor sends and staff on high salaries. Don't count apprentices, the owner or partners. Is your business a company? Call us to check how to count directors.
Once PF applies, it stays, even if your staff later drop below 20.
For each employee
An employee must be in PF when their PF wages are ₹25,000 a month or less. This limit went up from ₹15,000 on 17 September 2026. Staff with PF wages above ₹15,000 and up to ₹25,000 who were left out of PF before must be in PF from 17 September 2026.
Above ₹25,000: an employee who was in PF in an old job usually stays in PF. A new employee who was never in PF can join if you and they both agree in writing. Whether they also get the pension part of PF (EPS) depends on when they joined PF and their PF wages then. International workers usually must be in PF, whatever their salary. Some are left out under an agreement between India and their home country. Call us to check.
Note: This checker is a guide based on the general PF rules. It is not a final answer for your business. Some cases need a closer look, like staff in more than one state, contract workers or apprentices. Call us and we'll check. Rules checked on 17 October 2026.
More help with PF and ESI
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Common questions
Yes. Once PF applies, it stays, even if your staff later drop below 20. You keep paying PF every month.
Only in some cases. If they were in PF in an old job, they usually stay in PF. A new employee can join if you and they both agree in writing. International workers usually must be in PF too. Call us to check.
PF wages are basic pay plus DA (dearness allowance), not the full salary. Other allowances, like a special allowance, may also count as PF wages. Call us to check. But PF wages must be at least half the total pay. If they come to less, the difference is added to PF wages. We work this out for you.
Not sure if PF applies to your business? Call us and we'll check.
We never miss a PF or ESI due date.