It is the second week of October. HR is still reconciling the new ₹25,000 PF ceiling. Nobody has opened the older question: people who joined years ago, were eligible, and were never given a UAN. The Employees’ Enrolment Campaign closes on 31 October 2026. Face authentication on UMANG takes a real calendar day per person. A decision on 30 October will not become a filed declaration.
Two October jobs that are easy to mix up
| Enrolment Campaign 2026 | ₹25,000 ceiling | |
|---|---|---|
| What it fixes | Past non-coverage | Coverage from 17 September 2026 |
| Who | Left out between 1 Apr 2009 and 31 Mar 2026, still employed and alive | PF wages now up to ₹25,000, including eligible contract workers |
| Clock | Window ends 31 October 2026 | September ECR ordinarily due 15 October 2026 |
Filing the September ECR does not close the campaign. Declaring an old joiner under the campaign does not split September wages. Run both lists. The October payroll calendar puts the dates on one page.
What the campaign actually is
The Ministry of Labour and Employment notified the Employees’ Enrolment Campaign, 2026 on 29 June 2026 through G.S.R. 525(E), G.S.R. 526(E) and G.S.R. 527(E), under the Code on Social Security. EPFO’s implementation order followed in July. The scheme started on 1 July 2026 and ceases on 31 October 2026.
It is a one-time window to declare eligible employees who stayed outside EPF between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2026 and to regularise that past compliance. The Press Information Bureau has asked establishments to use it before the close. A declaration covers someone who is alive and still working with you on the day you file it. People who have already left are out.
It does not rewrite membership rules. Someone who was an excluded employee under the scheme - for example, a person who joined on or after 1 September 2014 above the ceiling that applied then - is not turned into a member by a campaign form. Read the eligibility conditions before you upload a full headcount.
What HR has to do, in order
Build the left-out list
Join date, wage at joining, whether a UAN exists, and whether they are still on the rolls today. Leavers do not belong on this file.
Face-authenticated UAN
EPFO’s implementation order requires a face-authentication UAN through the UMANG app for each declared employee, then remittance through ECR. Budget days, not an afternoon.
Establishment first
If the establishment itself was never covered and should have been, coverage comes before employee declarations.
Do not wait for 31 October
The notified scheme ceases that day. Plan as if there is no extension. Portal steps can change - confirm them on the employer login this week.
Damages and records
The campaign is a compliance window with its own damages treatment for defaulting establishments, as set in the June 2026 notifications. Do not copy a rupee figure from a blog into your board note. Read the gazette (or have your PF consultant read it) and keep the declaration, UAN and ECR acknowledgement on the employee record.
Separately, employers who miss dues under the Code on Social Security owe simple interest at 12% a year from the due date until payment. The campaign does not switch that interest off for amounts that fall outside its terms.
Where Bynarize fits
The declaration is filed with EPFO, not inside an HRMS. What fails in October is the employee list: join date, wage history, PAN, Aadhaar and whether the person is still active. Employee records and payroll in Bynarize are the place that list should already live, so you are not reconstructing 2009–2026 from offer-letter PDFs in the last ten days of the campaign.
If you are a Founder or HR Head: this week, split the work into two owners. One files the September ECR by 15 October. One finishes historical declarations before 31 October, with UMANG appointments booked now. One spreadsheet titled “PF pending” will miss one of those dates.
Drawn from the 29 June 2026 campaign notifications, EPFO’s July 2026 implementation direction, and the PIB note urging employers to finish by 31 October 2026. Confirm eligibility, damages and the current employer-portal flow before you declare anyone.
Is your joiner history still in email?
See employee records and payroll on one tenant before the campaign window ends.
