ESI stands for Employee State Insurance managed by the Employee State Insurance Corporation which is an autonomous body created by the law under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.

Employee's State Insurance (ESI) is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for Indian workers

The scheme provides full medical cover to the employee registered under the ESI Act, 1948 during the period of his incapacity, restoration of his health and working capacity.

It provides financial assistance to compensate for the loss of his/ her wages during the period of his absenteeism due to sickness, maternity and employment injury. This scheme provides medical claim to his/her family members also.

It is the statutory responsibility of the employer under Section 2A of the Act read with Regulation 10-B, to register their Factory/ Establishment under the ESI Act within 15 days from the date of its applicability to them. This scheme is started for Indian workers. The workers are provided with a huge variety of medical, monetary and other benefits from the employer. Any Company having more than 10 employees (in some states it is 20 employees) who have a maximum salary of Rs. 15000/- has to mandatorily register itself with the ESIC