Hot on the heels of the revelation made in parliament last week that around 22,450 institutions had failed to pay EPF to its employees since 2015 to date, Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando said all measures have been taken from the Ministry side to recover the amounts defaulted to date by individual companies.
Setting the record straight, he said institutions had stopped making payments much before 2015 and added that legal action will be instituted against organization continuing to function while disregarding the mandatory contributions stipulated by the EPF Act.
“We will send letters of demand to employers while legal action is being taken to make the payment,” the minister said.
It was disclosed in Parliament last week that around 22,450 institutions had failed to pay the EPF to its employees since 2015 to date.
The details were tabled by the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in response to a question raised by MP Nalin Bandara Jayamaha.
The value of the defaulted amount by institutions has been estimated to be around Rs.34.9 billion during the said period.
It is reported that some of the companies that had failed to comply with the statutory obligation are large companies.
However, while some of the institutions are non-existent today the ownership of some others had changed hands. With regard to ETF payments the Chairman/CEO of the ETF Board of the Central Bank Somasiri Ekanayake said the Board has already taken several measures to ensure that companies make all mandatory contributions to workers required by the ETF Act.
The measures such as field inspections by enforcement officers from the 19 ETF branches to ascertain outstanding dues to employees and sending letters of demand if dues not paid, investigations when a petition against an employer is made, workplace awareness programs on employer and employee responsibilities and public awareness through media and regular monitoring and progress meetings to ensure institutions fall in line with the mandatory payments to employees.
The ETF Board has 19 branches across the country and enforcement officers have been appointed to conduct field inspections based on the defaulted list, business registration list and non-contributors list.
“During the field visit, the officers calculate whether there are outstanding dues to be made to the employees by the employers and if there are letter of demand to recover that amount is sent to the employer/employers. Legal action will be taken if employers do not comply,” Ekanayake said.
The Central Bank also has set up a special investigation unit and when it receives a petition against an employer, the petition is forwarded to the Unit to conduct an investigation.
“We have issued guidelines to all the branches to conduct awareness programs for employers and employees at regional level,” Ekanayake said adding that public awareness through electronic media and digital media are conducted for a wider understanding among the public on the mandatory requirement and social responsibilities of an organization to obey rules and regulations.
The Board has set a monitoring mechanism under which : monthly and quarterly progress meetings are held to ensure institutions adhere to statutory payments.
However, with regard to EPF payments the officials of the Labour Department conduct an initial inquiry when a complaint is made. An initial request is made to the employers to settle the outstanding payments with the surcharge which is followed by a final request.
Cases are filed in Magistrate’s courts if they fail to make the payments.
