ESI calculator
Enter the month's gross wages. You get the employee and employer ESI contribution and every step of the working, including the ₹21,000 wage ceiling and the rupee rounding, so you can check it line by line.
ESI per month, employee + employer
₹—
Your result appears here, with the ESI wage, both shares, the ceiling check and the rounding.
Rules used: the ESI Act, 1948 rates and wage ceiling as Workdome's payroll applies them to a new company: employee 0.75%, employer 3.25%, no contribution where the month's gross is above ₹21,000, and each share rounded up to the next rupee. Checked against Workdome's own computation on 18 October 2026. Rates, the ceiling and the rules are set by notification, and the Code on Social Security, 2020 is meant to bring ESI within it; where a change applies, the amount can differ from this calculation. A company can choose its own rounding and excluded wages in Workdome. This is an estimate for planning, not legal advice.
How it is calculated
A small percentage of the ESI wage, from both sides
Both shares are a percentage of the same wage. The employee's share comes out of their pay, and the employer pays theirs on top.
The formula
- Employee
- 0.75% × the ESI wage
- Employer
- 3.25% × the ESI wage
- Total
- 4% of the ESI wage, before rounding
Who is covered, and on what
- Ceiling
- The month's gross must be ₹21,000 or less. Above it, no ESI is charged.
- ESI wage
- The gross less any excluded wages. With nothing excluded, it is the gross.
- Rounding
- The fraction of a paisa is dropped, then each share goes up to the next rupee.
Worked example. Gross ₹18,000, nothing excluded: employee 0.75% × ₹18,000 = ₹135, employer 3.25% × ₹18,000 = ₹585, together ₹720. At ₹15,400 the employee share is ₹115.50, which rounds up to ₹116, and the employer share is ₹500.50, which rounds up to ₹501.
Questions
ESI questions payroll teams get asked
What are the ESI contribution rates?
The calculator uses 0.75% from the employee and 3.25% from the employer, 4% in all, on the ESI wage. These are the rates Workdome's payroll applies by default; they are set by notification, so check the current ESIC rates if you are close to a change.
Is ESI charged on salary above ₹21,000?
No. The calculator charges nothing when the month's gross is above ₹21,000, and judges that on the gross, not on the ESI wage. At exactly ₹21,000 ESI applies.
Which wages count towards ESI?
The month's gross, overtime included, less any wages your payroll leaves out. Workdome's default list leaves out conveyance and one-off bonuses. If yours does the same, enter the total of those in the excluded field.
How is the contribution rounded?
ESIC asks for each share up to the next rupee. A fraction of a paisa is dropped first, so ₹250.004 is ₹250, and ₹115.50 is ₹116. The calculator also offers rounding to the nearest paisa, for payrolls that keep paise.
Does this calculator file or pay anything?
No. It works out the amounts in your browser and sends nothing anywhere. Workdome payroll prepares the ESIC monthly contribution file from the same figures; you review, upload and pay it.
ESI, worked out in the payroll run
Workdome calculates ESI for every employee in the run from the salary structure on file, and builds the ESIC monthly contribution file from the same figures.