Under the Code on Social Security, 2020, the Employees' Provident Fund (EP

Under Section 1(3) read with the First Schedule of the Code on Social Security, 2020, Chapter III relating to the Employees' Provident Fund applies to every establishment in which twenty or more employees are employed. This contrasts with the threshold for the Employees' State Insurance Scheme under Chapter IV, which applies to establishments employing ten or more persons. Once the Code becomes applicable to an establishment, it continues to apply even if the number of employees later falls below the threshold. The Central Government is empowered to apply the provisions to other establishments with fewer employees by notification, thereby extending the social security net progressively.