Availability of Employee Death Benefits Under Various Labour Laws in India

Introduction India is a socialist country. Therefore, social benefits that are governed by labour laws are regarded as sacrosanct. Social security schemes in India not only protect the employees but also their families by giving benefits in financial security and healthcare. These schemes guarantee long-term sustenance for families when the earning member retires, dies, or suffers a disability, thus helping insure the future and protect the interests of the employee. The various Labour Laws of…

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ESIC – An Overview of the Death Benefit Scheme

ESIC – History Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) as a scheme was inaugurated on the 24th February 1952 in Kanpur by our then Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. The Scheme was simultaneously launched in Delhi, and the initial coverage for both the centres was 1,20,000 employees. It is the first Social Security scheme enacted to protect the employees and their dependents in 1944. The ESI Act, 1948 covers contingencies such as sickness, maternity, temporary…

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ESI under Code on Social Security: An Overview of Changes

ESI – Background  Employees’ State Insurance Scheme [‘ESI Scheme’] is a comprehensive social security scheme devised to protect employees and their dependents, covered under it, against contingencies, such as sickness, maternity, and death or disability due to employment injuries. The ESI Scheme is based on the principle of ‘pooling of risks and resources’, wherein that section of the population, which is exposed to risks of the same nature, comes together to mitigate the physical and…

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Implications of the ESIC Proposal to Increase the Wage Threshold

Introduction The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is a statutory body responsible for administering India’s flagship social insurance program. It is established under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 which empowers it to make rules with respect to the scheme under Section-95 of the Act. Rule-50 of the Employees’ State Insurance (Central) Rules provides for the wage threshold for coverage of an employee under the Act, and consequently the scheme. It was previously amended in…

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Unemployment Benefits Under ESI: RGSKY and ABVKY

The unemployment rate in India hit record levels during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and had been increasing until the lockdown ended in mid-May. Labour participation rate has increased to around 40.66% according to data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), which is close to pre-COVID levels. However, several individuals are still being laid-off as part of restructuring operations, business continuity plans and other measures to cope with the economic consequences of…

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