Employees Provident Fund......!
Employees Provident Fund......!
Employees Provident Fund......!
Employees Provident Fund
The Employees Provident
Fund was established under the Employees Provident Fund Act, No. 15 of 1958 and
is currently the largest social security scheme in Sri Lanka. The objective of
the Employees Provident Fund is to ensure the financial security of employees
in private sector institutions, government-sponsored corporations, statutory
boards and private businesses during their retirement.
As of the end of 2022, the
assets of the Employees Provident Fund were approximately Rs. 3.5 trillion.
While the administrative matters of the Employees Provident Fund are controlled
by the Department of Labour, the management of the Fund is entrusted to the
Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The Employees Provident Fund Department, on behalf
of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, is responsible for receiving all monies paid
under the Employees Provident Fund Act by way of contributions, surcharges,
fees and income from investment of monies, for having custody of the monies of
the Fund, for maintaining separate accounts in respect of each member of the
Fund, for paying benefits to persons authorised by the Commissioner of Labour
under the Act, for investing funds not immediately required for the purposes
specified in the Act, for maintaining accounts relating to the Fund, for
preparing financial statements of the Fund and for forwarding a copy thereof to
the Minister responsible for the Industry and for forwarding the same to the
Auditor General.
According to the Employees
Provident Fund Act, employees are required to contribute at least 8 per cent of
the gross monthly salary of employees and employers at least 12 per cent.
Through this, an employee's EPF contribution is invested in safe investments
that grow every year.
EPF is not only a helping
hand to those who are of retirement age or a shoulder to the weak but also a
partner throughout the years. EPF offers employees the option of obtaining a
guarantee to obtain housing loans and partial payments of 30 percent to provide
housing and medical needs as pre-retirement benefits. Through this, EPF helps
employees realize their dream 'home' before retirement and control health
concerns.
Required Housing loans applied for and not yet
received.
Original Certificate of
Financial Loan Balance (Form No. 2) and copies (white and pink copies) should
be sent along with the application form.
When the housing loan has been taken and fully repaid
If the loan taken at the
time of applying for restoration of benefits has been fully repaid, the
application form SHK| should be sent in quadruplicate along with four copies of
Housing Loan Form SH14|.
When the arrears on the housing loan are still to be
paid
Application form SHK|
should be filled in quadruplicate and confirmed by the District Industrial
Commissioner, even if the related loan is more, and sent along with the Housing
Loan Form SH14. If a current or savings account is opened in the same bank
branch, delays in transactions can be reduced. Details SHK| (If the lending
branch is far away, it can provide an account number of the nearest bank. The
Central Bank of Sri Lanka will release the savings fund after obtaining a
confirmation from the lending bank.)
Payment of Benefits
Refunds will be made in any of the following ways
Cheque
Shall be credited directly
to the member’s bank account through syllabuses.
After the partial payment
the member’s account will
be closed and no claims on the account will be received thereafter. If any
partial payments are received after the refunds, the member will have to apply
for a partial payment to receive the amount.
If there is any unpaid
balance after the refund of the member’s account, the refund can be claimed
under partial payments of benefits. A member can apply for a partial payment by
submitting an application to the Finance Department of the Central Bank.
Printed application forms
for refund can be obtained free of charge from the Department of Finance or can
be downloaded from the website.
The Employees’ Provident
Fund (EPF) is a social security scheme created for the retirement of employees
working in the private and semi-government sectors in Sri Lanka. It was
established in 1958.
Key features of EPF:
* Compulsory contribution:
It is mandatory for all employees working in the private and semi-government
sectors to be members of the EPF.
* Contribution rate: At
least 8% of the employee’s gross monthly income must be contributed to the EPF
by the employee and at least 12% by the employer. Thus, a total of 20%
contribution is paid every month for an employee.
* Administration: The fund
is managed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The Department of Labour carries
out the administrative work of the fund.
* Investment: The money
accumulated in EPF is invested in various ways like government bonds, treasury
bills, stock market and corporate bonds.
* Annual Interest:
Depending on the returns on investments, the interest rate is declared annually
and credited to the members’ accounts.
* Retirement Benefits:
Once members reach the retirement age (50 for women, 55 for men), they are eligible
to receive the total amount in EPF and the accumulated interest.
* Pre-retirement Benefits:
It is permissible to put the money in EPF as collateral for taking out a home
loan before retirement and to withdraw up to 30% of the money for specific needs
like house construction or medical expenses, subject to certain conditions.
The main objectives of EPF
are:
* To provide financial
security to employees during retirement.
* To ensure social
security.
* To encourage the saving
habit of employees.
Employees Provident Fund
Board
The Employees Provident
Fund (EPF) was established on 1 March 1981 under the Employees Provident Fund
Act, No. 46 of 1980. The Fund is administered by the Employees Provident Fund
Board, which currently functions under the Ministry of Finance, Economic
Stability and National Policies headed by the Hon. Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The provisions of this Act
apply to all public or private sector institutions of a class or category
specified in the Gazette published by the Hon. Minister. Self-employed persons
and workers working abroad can also contribute to and become members of the
Fund.
At present, the Fund has
about 2.6 million active members and covers about 79,000 employers. As of 31
December 2021, the value of the Fund was about 406 billion rupees. The EPF In
order to decentralize the operations of the Board and provide better services
to the members, a branch network was introduced in 1995.
Our vision
To be an effective and
viable primary fiduciary to all stakeholders through institutional efficiency.
Our mission
To be a very caring and
prudent fiduciary in the broadest sense of the word in the financial interests
of the members and in providing excellent customer service.
The main functions of the
Board are
To collect contributions
from employers.
To invest such funds
prudently.
To provide social and
welfare benefits to the members and pay claims
To pursue non-paying
employers and collect excess income and legal proceedings.
To maintain the accounts
of the members and issue annual member statements.
To distribute annual
dividends to members based on the profits earned by the fund.
To include self-employed
persons as members of the fund
Our Values
✰ Creative, Innovative and
Service-Dedicated Employees
✰ People-Friendly Service Environment
✰ Supportive Policies and Procedures
✰ Excellent Arrangements and Rules
✰ Strong Financial Stability
Excellent Customer
Community
Member Benefits
Finance
The main objective of the
establishment of the Fund is to provide benefits to its members without
charging any contribution. For this purpose, the following 08 schemes are
currently in operation. These benefits are provided without regard to the
balance in the account of the members and no deduction is made from their
balances in respect of the benefits so provided. The full interest and dividend
declared by the Fund are credited to the members' accounts every year.
Death Benefit-Rs.
100,000/-
• Permanent Disability-•
Rs. 200,000/-
•
More than 91% of the
investments of the NBFC are invested in government bonds, which provide a high
return guarantee in the current market conditions. As per the statutory
provisions, the Board is required to disclose the annual dividend + interest to
all its members. It was 8% in 2019
The NBFC has revamped its
website to provide better services to its members
We are pleased to inform
you that we have revamped our website to provide an improved suite of services
to the NBFC members and employers. The new website has links to provide
employers with an online payment platform and a facility for ETF members to
access advanced services.
Employees’ Trust Fund
(ETF)
External is a fund created
for the benefit of employees in Sri Lanka. It was established under the
Employees’ Trust Fund Act No. 46 of 1981.
The main objectives of the
ETF are:
* To promote employee
rights.
* To promote economic
democracy through employee welfare, loans and investment contributions.
* To encourage employee
participation in management by acquiring equity interest in companies.
* To provide
non-contributory benefits to employees upon retirement.
How does the ETF work?
* Employees working in all
government and private sector organizations can become members of the fund.
* Self-employed and
migrant workers can also join it on their own initiative.
* Employers are required
to contribute 3% of the gross income of employees to this fund every month.
* This fund is invested in
various schemes for the welfare of employees.
Benefits of Employees
Provident Fund:
* Members can check their
account balance online or through SMS.
* Members can check their
application status through SMS.
* Various welfare benefits
are provided for the welfare of employees.
For more information on
Employees Provident Fund
No comments