Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana on Thursday, aimed at incentivising the creation of new employment opportunities during the Covid-19 economic recovery phase. The new scheme will benefit any new employee joining employment in EPFO registered establishments on monthly wages less than Rs 15,000.
The new scheme will benefit any new employee joining employment in EPFO-registered establishments on monthly wages less than Rs 15,000. It will also benefit those who left their job between March 1 to September 30 and are employed on or after October 1, said Sitharaman.
Eligibility criteria for establishments:
Establishments registered with EPFO will be eligible for the benefits if they add new employees compared to reference base of employees as in September 2020. In order to avail the benefits, establishments, with up to 50 employees, would have to add a minimum of two new employees.
The organisations, with more than 50 employees, would have to add at least five employees to avail the benefits. The establishments registering with EPFO after the commencement of scheme will get subsidy for all new employees and the scheme will remain operational till June 30, 2021.
Government’s contribution:
The organisations of up to 1000 employees would receive employee’s contribution (12 per cent of wages) & employer’s contributions (12 per cent of wages), totalling 24 per cent of wages, for two years. Employers with over 1,000 employees will get employees’ EPF contribution of 12 per cent from the central government. The subsidy support will be credited upfront in Aadhar seeded EPFO account (UAN) of an eligible new employee.
Source: Hindustan Times
