Key takeaways:

Non Contributory Period days in Provident Fund are the number of days on which an employee is on leave without pay.
During the NCP days, no PF was contributed by the employee and employer in the employee’s PF account.
These days are calculated by the employer while filing the ECR.

Bonus Tip: According to the EPFO guidelines, in case the wages declared is ₹0 due to the non-working period of an employee, the NCP should be equal to the number of days. Half day NCP is not allowed.

NCP stands for Non Contributory Period. These are the days when an employee is on leave and no PF contribution is made by both employee and employer.

PF is like a piggy bank in which you put a small amount of what you earn and your company also contributes to that piggy bank. NCP are the days when an employee does not work and is on leave without pay. In simple words, on these days you and your employer are not contributing any amount in your piggy bank.

For example, if an employee joins 16 January 2025 and the payday is 15 January 2025. Then in this case, the NCP will be 0 as the employee has joined and started contributing within the same month.

How are NCP days calculated?

The employer while filing for the ECR (Electronic Challan cum Return) calculates and enters the NCP days of an employee.

For instance, if my NCP days in a 30 day month were 20 days. My employer while filing the ECR will enter the PF contribution for only 20 days.

This means that the EPFO calculates the pensionable services only on the basis of the contributory days of an employee. It also has a great impact on the EPS (Employees Pension Scheme) as the minimum contributory service period should be of 10 years. More NCP days can result in the delay of the specified period of EPS.

How can you check your NCP days in the PF account?

Follow the below steps to check the NCP days in your PF account:

Go to the official website of EPFO portal.

Click on “services” and then on “for employees”.

Click on the “Members Passbook”.

Enter your UAN and password to login.

Open the UAN passbook in which you can see all your NCP days separately.

Refer the below example to understand how NCP days are calculated in a month:

Month	Total days	Working days	NCP days	PF (Full/ reduced)
January	31	26	7	reduced
February	28	28	0	full
March	30	20	3	reduced

From the above table, you can see how NCP days affect your PF contribution.

Some common scenarios for NCP days:

Reasons	Details
Leave without pay	When no paid leaves are left and you ask for some days off. It will be treated as leave without pay.
Unauthorised absence	This happens when you are absent from your work without informing your employer.
Joining in mid month	When you join after the 1st date of any month, it will be counted as joining in mid month and the days before joining will be NCP days.
Strikes or lockouts	When there are industrial strikes or lockouts. These days will be counted as NCP days of your employment.

Many other reasons can be there for NCP days, these were some of them.

What are the impacts of NCP days on your PF contributions?

Some of the impacts of NCP days on your PF contribution are:

The most common and direct impact of NCP days on your PF is the monthly amount of PF which is contributed by you and your employer.
Any reduction in the working days of your employment can reduce the contribution percentage.
Your PF account not only grows from the contribution, it grows with the compound interest earned on the amount.

A lower contribution in a month can result in a lower amount on which interest will be earned.

For example, I earn ₹30,000 in a month and I have NCP days in this month. Now this is how my PF will be impacted:

Salary parameters	details
Per day salary	₹30,000 divided by 30= ₹1000
Salary for 27 days	₹27,000
Employee contribution	12% of ₹27,000 = ₹3,240
Employer contribution	12% of ₹27,000 = ₹3,240

Whereas if there were no NCP days, the employee contribution was ₹3,600 and employer also ₹3,600. The 3 NCP days resulted in a lower total contribution for this month.

Conclusion:

Overall, keeping an accurate record of NCP days is important for both the employer and the employee. It ensures that service records and PF contributions are accurate so that final settlement of your PF will be correct. You can easily keep a check on your NCP days by the UAN passbook.

FAQs:

What is the meaning of NCP days in PF?

NCP days are non-contributory days when no PF contribution is made due to leave without pay or absence.

Are NCP days visible to the organisation doing background checks?

Yes, NCP days are visible during background checks as they can review your EPF passbook through UAN to verify your employment history.

I left my previous organisation on 27 November 2024 and the same exit date is marked on the EPFO portal. However, when I checked the EPFO passbook, it showed 3 NCP days for that month. Will it cause any problems in future?

No, having 3 NCP days in your EPF passbook for your exit month is normal. As the exit date matches the date on the EPFO portal and your experience letter. There will be no problems in future.

What are the NCP days during the service period in PF?

NCP stands for Non Contributory Period. These are the days when an employee is on leave and no PF contribution is made by both employee and employer.

I have not taken any leave without pay. What will be my NCP days in PF? Can it be zero?

Yes, when there are no leaves without pay, NCP days in PF will be zero.