The Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (ESI Act) provides for health care and cash benefit payments in the case of sickness, maternity and employment injury. The Act applies to all non-seasonal factories run with power and employing 10 or more persons and to those factories which run without power and employing 20 or more persons. The appropriate Government may after notification in the Official Gazette, extend the provision of the Act to any other establishment or class of establishments, industrial, commercial, agriculture or otherwise.

Under the Act, cash benefits are administered by the Central Government through the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), whereas the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations are administering medical care.

The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is the premier social security organization in the country. It is the highest policy making and decision taking authority under the ESI Act and oversees the functioning of the ESI Scheme under the Act. The corporation comprises members representing Central and State Governments, employers, employees, Parliament and the medical profession. Union Minister of Labour functions as the Chairman of the Corporation. A Standing Committee constituted from among the members of the Corporation acts as the Executive Body for the administration of the Scheme.

The basic provisions of the Act are :-

• Every factory or establishment to which this Act applies shall be registered within such time and in such manner as may be specified in the regulations made in this behalf.



• It provided for an integrated need based social insurance scheme that would protect the interest of workers in contingencies such as sickness, maternity, temporary or permanent physical disablement, death due to employment injury resulting in loss of wages or earning capacity.



• It also provided for six social security benefits:-
  
  
  • Medical Benefit
  
  
  
  • Sickness Benefit (SB)
  
  
  
  • Maternity Benefit (MB)
  
  
  
  • Disablement Benefit
  
  
  
  • Dependants' Benefit(DB)
  
  
  
  • Funeral Expenses
    
    



• The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish a Corporation to be known as the 'Employees' State Insurance Corporation' for the administration of the scheme of Employees' State Insurance in accordance with the provisions of the Act.



• The Corporation may, in addition to the scheme of benefits specified in this Act, promote measures for the improvement of the health and welfare of insured persons and for the rehabilitation and re-employment of insured persons who have been disabled or injured and may incur in respect of such measures expenditure from the funds of the Corporation within such limits as may be prescribed by the Central Government.



• The contribution payable under this Act in respect of an employee shall comprise contribution payable by the employer and contribution payable by the employee and shall be paid to the Corporation. The contributions shall be paid at such rates as may be prescribed by the Central Government.



• All contributions paid under this act and all other moneys received on behalf of the Corporation shall be paid into a fund called the 'Employees' State Insurance Fund' which shall be held and administered by the Corporation for the purposes of this Act.



• Whoever, for the purpose of causing any increase in payment or benefit under this Act, or for the purpose of causing any payment or benefit to be made where no payment or benefit is authorised by or under this Act, or for the purpose of avoiding any payment to be made by himself under this Act or enabling any other person to avoid any such payment, knowingly makes or causes to be made any false statement or false representation, shall be punishable with imprisonment or with fine or with both.



• If the person committing an offence under this Act is a company, every person, who at the time the offence was committed was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.