--- title: "ESI Calculator 2026: ₹21,000 Limit, 0.75% + 3.25% | LekhaHR" description: "Free ESI calculator on Code wages: tests the 50% add-back and the ₹21,000 ceiling, then works out the 0.75% employee and 3.25% employer shares." canonical: https://lekhahr.in/tools/esi-calculator/ last_updated: 2026-09-30 --- Tool · ESI on Code wages since 21 Nov 2025 · updated 30 Sep 2026 # ESI calculator, **on Code wages.** Enter one month's salary components. The calculator weighs wages against excluded items, adds back anything over half, tests the ₹21,000 ceiling, and writes each share with its reason. because gross pay stopped being the ESI base on 21 Nov 2025. ## Your employee, one month Rates effective 1 Jul 2019 · Code wages from 21 Nov 2025 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026 Worked examples Excluded items are 53% of total remuneration, so ₹798 above the 50% line is added back to wages. CoveredCode wages ₹13,298 · ceiling ₹21,000 - **01Total remuneration**: ₹26,596 because wages ₹12,500 plus excluded items ₹12,500 and employer PF ₹1,596 - **02Employer PF counted in total remuneration**: ₹1,596 because the employer's PF and pension contribution counts in total remuneration for the 50% test, as an excluded item (MoLE Additional FAQs, 16 Mar 2026, reply 1(a)); it is settled together with Code wages - **03Excluded items**: 53% · ₹14,096 because HRA, conveyance, employer PF and the other exclusions pass half of total remuneration (₹13,298) - **04Added back to wages**: ₹798 because the excess over half, ₹14,096.00 − ₹13,298.00, counts as wages - **05Code wages**: ₹13,298 because Basic + DA ₹12,500 + ₹798 added back - **06Covered by ESI**: Yes because Code wages of ₹13,298 are at or under the ₹21,000 ceiling - **07Employee share, 0.75%**: ₹100 because 0.75% of ₹13,298 is ₹99.74, rounded up to ₹100 - **08Employer share, 3.25%**: ₹433 because 3.25% of ₹13,298 is ₹432.19, rounded up to ₹433 - **09Rounding**: +₹1.08 because each share is rounded up to the next whole rupee, never down - **10Total for the month**: ₹533 because the employer deducts ₹100 from pay and adds ₹433 of its own Not legal advice. The calculator covers one employee's month; it does not decide whether your establishment is covered. [Request an invite](https://lekhahr.in/request-invite/) No. 01 How to use it --- because the only judgement call is which box a component belongs in. ## How do you calculate ESI on salary? Work out Code wages: Basic, DA, retaining allowance and allowances that are not excluded, plus any excluded items above half of total remuneration, which includes the employer's PF. If Code wages are at or under ₹21,000, the employee pays 0.75% and the employer 3.25%, each rounded up to the next rupee. Sort each component into one of two boxes. 1. **Counts as wages.** Basic, DA and retaining allowance go in the first box. Any other allowance that is not on the excluded list, such as special allowance, goes in the second. 2. **Excluded items.** HRA, conveyance, and other listed exclusions such as overtime, bonus and commission. Reimbursements of expenses are not wages, so keep them out of the wages boxes. 3. **Days paid.** The days paid in the month, so the calculator can apply the ₹176-a-day test. 4. **Three ticks.** Person with disability (₹25,000 ceiling), whether the employee was already covered when this contribution period began, and whether the employer pays PF for them. The employer's PF counts in total remuneration for the 50% test (MoLE Additional FAQs, 16 Mar 2026), so it can add to Code wages. Try the worked examples above: **₹25,000 gross** with Basic ₹12,500, in PF, is covered at Code wages of ₹13,298; **₹33,600 gross** with Basic ₹20,000 and special allowance ₹4,000 is not, at ₹24,000; and a salary with excluded items at 55% has ₹1,638.50 added back once the employer's PF is counted. No. 02 The rules behind it --- because a rate without a date is a rate you cannot check. ## What is the ESI contribution rate in 2026? 0.75% of Code wages from the employee and 3.25% from the employer, in force since 1 Jul 2019 (GSR 423(E) dated 13 Jun 2019) and continued under the Code on Social Security, 2020 from 21 Nov 2025. Each share is rounded up to the next rupee. The nine rules below, each with its date, are read from one register. - **01Wages for ESI**: Code wages because since 21 Nov 2025, wages are Basic + DA + retaining allowance plus any allowance that is not a listed exclusion. If HRA, conveyance, overtime, bonus, commission and the other exclusions pass half of total remuneration, the excess is added back. Effective 21 Nov 2025 · Code on Social Security, 2020, s.2(88) "wages"; ESIC circular dated 10 Dec 2025 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026 - **02Coverage ceiling**: ₹21,000 a month because an employee is covered when Code wages are at or under this figure. Gross pay is not the test. [Effective 1 Jan 2017 · ESIC wage ceiling, continued under the Code on Social Security, 2020 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026](https://www.esic.gov.in/contribution) - **03Ceiling for a person with disability**: ₹25,000 a month because the Code wages test is the same, with a higher ceiling. [Effective 1 Jan 2017 · ESIC wage ceiling, continued under the Code on Social Security, 2020 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026](https://www.esic.gov.in/contribution) - **04Employee share**: 0.75% because it is deducted from the employee's pay, on Code wages. [Effective 1 Jul 2019 · ESIC contribution rates, continued under the Code on Social Security, 2020 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026](https://www.esic.gov.in/contribution) - **05Employer share**: 3.25% because the employer pays it on top of pay, on the same Code wages. [Effective 1 Jul 2019 · ESIC contribution rates, continued under the Code on Social Security, 2020 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026](https://www.esic.gov.in/contribution) - **06Low daily wage**: ₹176 a day because at or under this average daily wage the employee's share is nil, while the employer's share is still due. ESIC's contribution page sets this figure but gives no effective date. [Effective 21 Nov 2025 · ESIC contribution rates, continued under the Code on Social Security, 2020 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026](https://www.esic.gov.in/contribution) - **07Contribution periods**: Apr to Sep · Oct to Mar because an employee covered at the start of a period stays covered to its end, even if wages cross the ceiling during it. [In force; continued under the Code from 21 Nov 2025 · ESIC contribution periods, continued under the Code on Social Security, 2020 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026](https://www.esic.gov.in/contribution) - **08Rounding**: up to the next rupee because each share is rounded up separately: ₹99.74 becomes ₹100. [In force; continued under the Code from 21 Nov 2025 · ESIC contribution rules, continued under the Code on Social Security, 2020 · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026](https://www.esic.gov.in/contribution) - **09Establishments covered**: 10 or more employees because the Code on Social Security's First Schedule applies ESI to establishments of this size. [In force; continued under the Code from 21 Nov 2025 · Code on Social Security, 2020, Chapter IV and First Schedule (in force 21 Nov 2025); ESIC · checked by the LekhaHR team 30 Sep 2026](https://www.esic.gov.in/) No. 03 What changes in LekhaHR --- because nobody should redo this sum by hand for every employee. ## How does payroll software work out ESI? In LekhaHR payroll, each salary component is marked once as wages or excluded. The 50% test, the ceiling and both ESI shares are then worked out for each person, each month, with the reason shown on the payslip. LekhaHR prepares the figures; you or your accountant file the return and pay ESI. - **01Salary structures**: wages or excluded, set once because the treatment of each component is decided once and reused. - **02ESI contribution report**: Code wages and both shares because each insured person's figures carry their working. - **03Filing and payment**: you or your accountant because LekhaHR prepares the figures and never files returns or pays ESI. PF is worked out on the same Code wages in the [EPF calculator](https://lekhahr.in/tools/pf-calculator/), with the ceiling explained in the [EPF wage ceiling ₹25,000 guide](https://lekhahr.in/guides/epf-wage-ceiling-25000/). [How LekhaHR payroll works out PF and ESI](https://lekhahr.in/payroll-software/#ch-statutory) No. 04 Questions ## ESI questions, answered on Code wages. ### How is ESI calculated on salary? Since 21 Nov 2025, ESI is worked out on wages as the Code on Social Security, 2020, s.2(88) defines them, not on gross pay: Basic, DA, retaining allowance and any allowance that is not excluded, plus excluded items above half of total remuneration. The employee pays 0.75% and the employer 3.25% of that figure, each rounded up to the next rupee. ### What is the ESI salary limit in 2026? ₹21,000 a month, or ₹25,000 for a person with disability, tested on Code wages since 21 Nov 2025, not on gross pay. Above it there is no ESI, except within a contribution period (1 Apr to 30 Sep, 1 Oct to 31 Mar): someone covered when the period began stays covered, on actual wages, until it ends. ### Has the ESI wage limit been increased to ₹30,000? No. As of 30 Sep 2026 the ESI coverage ceiling is ₹21,000 a month (₹25,000 for a person with disability), unchanged since 1 Jan 2017. It is the EPF ceiling that rose, to ₹25,000 from 17 Sep 2026. The Labour Ministry has discussed a higher ESI limit, but no notification had been issued by 30 Sep 2026. ### Is ESI applicable for a ₹25,000 salary? It depends on Code wages, not the gross. A ₹25,000 salary with Basic + DA of ₹12,500 and ₹12,500 in HRA, conveyance and other excluded items, for someone in PF, has Code wages of ₹13,298 once the employer's PF of ₹1,596 is counted, so the employee is covered. In an establishment of 10–19 people with no PF, Code wages are ₹12,500. ### Is ESI calculated on gross salary or basic salary? Neither, exactly. Since 21 Nov 2025, it is on Code wages: Basic + DA + retaining allowance, plus allowances that are not excluded (special allowance counts), plus any excluded items above half of total remuneration. HRA and conveyance count only through that add-back. ### What is the 50% rule for ESI wages? Excluded items may make up at most half of total remuneration, which includes the employer's PF. Take ₹20,000 with Basic + DA of ₹9,000, ₹11,000 of excluded items and employer PF of ₹1,277. Half of ₹21,277 is ₹10,638.50, so ₹1,638.50 is added back and Code wages are ₹10,638.50. ESI is then ₹80 from the employee and ₹346 from the employer. ### When is the employee's ESI share nil? When the average daily wage is ₹176 or less, the employee pays nothing and the employer still pays 3.25%. For 30 paid days that is Code wages of ₹5,280 or less. The figure is on ESIC's contribution page, which gives no effective date for it. ### Which establishments have to register for ESI? Establishments with 10 or more employees, in areas where ESI is implemented, under the First Schedule of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The calculator works out cover and contributions for one employee; it does not decide whether your establishment is covered. No. 05 · By invitation ## Run the whole payroll with its working shown. because every ESI line in LekhaHR carries the same because as this calculator. 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