Latest news of EPFO: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has issued an important clarification, which may provide great relief to the families of employees. EPFO has clarified that if only Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays fall between leaving one job and joining another, it will not be considered as a “break in service”. This rule will be applicable in cases related to death claims under the Employee Deposit-Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme. This circular of EPFO was issued on 17 December 2025. Its purpose is to remove confusion regarding continuous service.
What did EPFO say?
EPFO said that in many cases it has been observed that even very short periods of time are treated as leave, as a result of which employees do not get the full benefit of EDLI or their claims are rejected. In one case, an employee left an organization on Friday and joined another company under EPF on Monday, but the intervening Saturday and Sunday were treated as holidays. As a result, the family did not get the benefit of EDLI despite the total service period being more than 12 months. To remove such discrepancies, EPFO has issued this new clarification.
What are the new guidelines?
As per the new guidelines, if the gap between two jobs is only due to weekly holiday, national holiday, gazetted holiday, state holiday or restricted holiday, it will be considered as continuous service. This means that if an employee leaves the company covered under EPF and joins another similar company immediately after the holidays, his service will be considered continuous. In simple words, leaving a job on Friday and joining a new job on Monday will not have any impact on EDLI eligibility.
Apart from this, EPFO has also recently implemented some other changes related to EDLI. Now, dependents of such employees who have not served for 12 continuous months and whose average PF balance was less than Rs 50,000 will also get a benefit of at least Rs 50,000. If an employee dies within six months of the last contribution and is still in the records of the company, his family will get the benefit of EDLI.
EPFO has also clarified that if employees work in different EPF-covered institutions, it will be considered as continuous service, even if there is a gap of up to 60 days. This move is being seen as a big relief for lakhs of EPFO members and their families.
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