An insured contract worker gets the same ESIC cash benefits as any other insured person. Sickness pays 70% of wages for up to 91 days a year, after 78 days of contributions. An injury at work pays 90% of wages from the first day of insurable employment, with no contribution condition. Maternity pays full wages for 26 weeks. All of it rests on the contractor's insurance number and contributions.
The cash benefits at a glance
ESIC pays these cash benefits to an employee while insured, alongside free medical care for the worker and family from the first day. Its benefits page, written under Chapter IV of the Code on Social Security 2020 and last reviewed on 9 October 2026, sets them out:
| Benefit | Rate | How long | Qualifying condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sickness | 70% of wages | Up to 91 days a year of certified sickness | Contributions for 78 days in the corresponding contribution period |
| Extended sickness | 80% of wages | Up to two years, for 34 specified long-term diseases | As set for the scheme [VERIFY: the extended-sickness contribution condition] |
| Enhanced sickness (sterilisation) | 100% of wages | 7 days for vasectomy, 14 days for tubectomy | As for sickness benefit |
| Maternity | 100% of wages | 26 weeks, extendable by a month on medical advice; 6 weeks for miscarriage; 12 weeks for adopting or commissioning mothers | Contributions for 70 days in the last two contribution periods |
| Temporary disablement (employment injury) | 90% of wages | As long as the disability lasts | None: payable from the first day of insurable employment |
| Permanent disablement (employment injury) | 90% of wages, scaled to the loss of earning capacity | Monthly, for life | Loss of earning capacity certified by a Medical Board |
| Dependants' (death from employment injury) | Up to 90% of wages, shared among dependants | Monthly | Death from an employment injury or occupational hazard |
| Funeral expenses | Actual cost, up to ₹20,000 | One-time | Death of an insured person from any cause |
Unemployment relief under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana and the Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan Yojana is a separate set of schemes for workers who have lost their job, covered in a separate article on this site.
Sickness benefit and the 78-day condition
Sickness benefit replaces 70% of wages while a worker is certified unfit, but only once the contribution record is there. A medical officer of the Corporation, or a practitioner it authorises, has to certify both the illness and the inability to work, and the worker must have contributed for 78 days in the corresponding contribution period.
- No benefit on a paid day. Section 41(2) of the Code bars sickness or temporary disablement benefit for any day the person works, is on paid leave or a paid holiday, or is on strike.
- One benefit at a time. Sickness benefit cannot be drawn alongside maternity or temporary disablement benefit for the same period, and the worker chooses which (ESIC, citing s.41(5) of the Code).
- Treatment under ESIC's care. A person drawing sickness or temporary disablement benefit must stay under treatment at an ESIC dispensary or hospital and follow the medical officer's instructions (s.41(3)).
- New joiners wait. Because the condition is tied to contribution periods, a worker in their first months may not yet qualify for sickness cash, although medical care starts on day one [VERIFY: the contribution and benefit periods under the ESI regulations, and when a new joiner's first benefit period begins].
Employment injury: disablement and dependants' benefit
An injury at work is covered from day one, whatever the contribution record. Temporary disablement benefit is 90% of wages for as long as the disability lasts, with no waiting period and no contribution condition. If the injury leaves a permanent loss of earning capacity, permanent disablement benefit is paid monthly for life at 90% of wages, scaled to the loss a Medical Board certifies. It cannot be commuted into a lump sum (s.41(1)).
If the worker dies from the injury, dependants' benefit pays up to 90% of wages each month, shared among the dependants, who under the Code include a widower and a grandparent who was wholly dependent on the worker. This is the ESIC route. A worker above the ₹21,000 wage ceiling, outside ESIC, is compensated by the employer instead, at the amounts in Chapter VII of the Code, which a separate article on this site works through.
Maternity and funeral expenses
Maternity benefit is full wages for 26 weeks, paid by ESIC, not the employer, for an insured woman with 70 days of contributions in the last two contribution periods. Where the confinement happens somewhere without ESIC facilities, an insured woman, or an insured man in respect of his wife, gets a medical bonus of ₹15,000. An insured woman cannot also claim maternity benefit from her employer for the same confinement. Which of ESIC or the employer pays in a given case is covered in a separate article on this site.
Funeral expenses are paid on the death of an insured person from any cause, not only an employment injury: the amount actually spent, up to ₹20,000, to the eldest surviving family member, or to whoever paid where there is no family. The claim is made on Form 22 at the nearest branch office, with the death certificate and the insurance number.
When the contractor's record is short
The worker can still be paid, and the cost lands on the employer. Under section 42 of the Code, if an employer fails to insure an employee, insures them only after an accident, or fails to pay contributions so that the employee loses a benefit or gets it at a lower rate, the Corporation may pay the benefit at the rate the worker would have had and recover its capitalised value from the employer. Section 31(1) makes the establishment liable for contributions for everyone employed "by or through a contractor", with a right to recover from the contractor.
- An insurance number before the first shift, for every contract worker at the site, on the gate register.
- ESIC challans that match the gate register each month, so the contribution days that decide sickness and maternity eligibility are actually there.
- Accident reports to the branch office without delay, since temporary disablement benefit depends on the injury being reported and certified.
- Sick-leave records that do not overlap ESIC days. A day paid as leave is a day the worker cannot draw sickness benefit, so the contractor's leave and ESIC claims should be reconciled.
Whether a particular claim qualifies is decided by the Corporation on its own records, and how the site and contractor share any recovery under section 42 is a question for their contract and the site's own counsel.
How Velura Services helps
Every worker we deploy is registered with ESIC before the first shift, with the insurance number on the gate register, and contributions are paid monthly so the contribution days that sickness and maternity benefit depend on are in place. When a worker falls ill or is injured, our field team gets the branch-office paperwork moving and keeps the site's HR informed.
Sources
- ESIC, Information – Benefits, last reviewed 9 October 2026. Sickness, extended and enhanced sickness, maternity, temporary and permanent disablement, dependants', funeral expenses and medical benefit: rates, durations and qualifying conditions. Opened and read.
- ESIC, Benefits. Summary of the cash benefits. Opened and read.
- Code on Social Security, 2020 (Act 36 of 2020), Gazette text hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Sections cited: s.31(1) (contributions for employees engaged through a contractor), s.41(1)–(3) (no commutation; no benefit on paid or worked days; treatment under ESIC care), s.42 (benefit paid where the employer defaults, recovered as capitalised value). Opened and read.
- Ministry of Labour and Employment, Additional FAQs on Labour Codes (as on 16 March 2026). Q12: ESI coverage at ₹21,000 a month. Opened and read for earlier articles in this cluster.