Dental Care Scheme - Haryana Labour Welfare Board

What is the Dental Care Scheme of the Haryana Labour Welfare Board?

The Dental Care Scheme is a welfare benefit administered by the Haryana Labour Welfare Board under the Labour Department, Government of Haryana. Dental treatment is one of the health costs least covered by ordinary employee medical benefits, and dentures in particular are almost always paid out of pocket. The Haryana Labour Welfare Board runs this scheme to reimburse that cost for workers of industrial and commercial establishments in the state who contribute to the Labour Welfare Fund.

According to the Haryana Labour Welfare Board's scheme page, the benefit has two parts:

• Rs 4,000 or the actual cost of dental care, whichever is less, for dental treatment.
• Rs 10,000 or the actual cost of the jaw, whichever is less, where the worker gets a complete denture fitted.

Both parts are available to the registered worker and to the worker's dependents, which is what makes the scheme worth knowing about for a family where an elderly parent or a spouse needs dentures.

Main features

• Reimbursement scheme. The worker pays the dentist first and claims afterwards.
• Two distinct ceilings, Rs 4,000 for treatment and Rs 10,000 for a complete denture.
• Covers the worker and dependents.
• A hard 3-month claim window from the bill date.
• Applied for online, either on the Haryana Labour Welfare Board portal or through Antyodaya SARAL.

The Dental Care Scheme is one of a family of Haryana Labour Welfare Board benefits that also covers spectacles, medical assistance, education stipends for workers' children, marriage assistance and funeral assistance. Registration with the Board, done through the employer's Labour Welfare Fund contribution, is the common gateway to all of them.

Who is eligible for the Dental Care Scheme?

You qualify if:

• You are a worker employed in an industrial or commercial establishment in Haryana.
• You are registered with the Haryana Labour Welfare Board, which follows from your establishment deducting and depositing Labour Welfare Fund contributions for you.
• You have completed a minimum service period of one year, which the Board's scheme page states as a fixed condition.
• Your monthly salary is within the prescribed ceiling. The Board's own scheme page lists Rs 27,000 per month; several older public listings still carry Rs 25,000.
• You hold the bill, prescription and employer certificate for the treatment claimed.

Dependents of an eligible worker are covered by the worker's claim, so a dependent does not register separately.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• You are not registered with the Haryana Labour Welfare Board, for example because your establishment does not fall under the Labour Welfare Fund or does not deposit contributions.
• Your establishment is outside Haryana.
• You have less than one year of service with the establishment.
• Your monthly salary exceeds the prescribed ceiling.
• You are self-employed, a contractor or a proprietor rather than a worker of an industrial or commercial establishment.
• Your bill is older than 3 months at the time you file. This is a bar on the claim, not on your eligibility, but the practical effect is the same.
• You are a construction worker registered with the Haryana Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board rather than the Labour Welfare Board. That Board runs its own separate benefit schemes.

What documents are required?

The Haryana Labour Welfare Board's scheme page lists the following:

Keep the original bill safe. The claim window runs from the bill date, and the bill is also the document against which the reimbursable amount is calculated, since both parts of the benefit are "whichever is less" against the actual cost.

How to apply for the Dental Care Scheme

1. Get the treatment done and collect the dentist's prescription and the itemised bill. Note the bill date — your 3-month window starts from it.
2. Obtain the employer certificate and employee certificate from your establishment's HR or accounts section, along with your latest salary slip.
3. Log in to the Haryana Labour Welfare Board portal at hrylabour.gov.in, or to the Antyodaya SARAL portal at saralharyana.gov.in where the Dental Care Scheme is listed under the Labour Department. Register first if you do not already have a login.
4. Open the Dental Care Scheme application form, fill in your worker registration details, establishment details and the treatment claimed, and choose whether you are claiming for dental care or for a complete denture.
5. Upload the documents, salary slip, employer certificate, identity proof, prescription, bill, employee certificate and the signed undertaking form.
6. Submit within 3 months of the bill date and save the application or SARAL reference number displayed on screen.
7. Track the claim with that reference number. The SARAL service listing shows a delivery timeline of 89 days from submission, excluding government holidays.

How to apply with help, offline

1. Visit your nearest Antyodaya SARAL Kendra with all the documents and ask the operator to file the Dental Care Scheme application for you under the Labour Department.
2. Alternatively, contact the Labour Welfare Officer or the Labour Inspector for your area through the district Labour Office, who can guide you on the Board's forms and the undertaking format.
3. Collect the acknowledgement carrying your reference number and keep it until payment is received.

How to check your claim status

1. Log in to hrylabour.gov.in with the credentials you used to file, and open your application list.
2. Or open saralharyana.gov.in, choose Track Application Status and enter your SARAL reference ID.
3. If the status has not moved after the 89-day service timeline, call the Haryana Labour Welfare Board on 1800-180-4818 or 0172-2560015, or write to hlwbgrievance@gmail.com.
4. Workers can also use the Shramik helpline on 0172-2971057 or 1800-180-2129, available 8 am to 8 pm, Monday to Saturday.

Why Dental Care claims get rejected, and how to avoid it

• Bill older than 3 months. The commonest reason by far. File as soon as you have the bill rather than waiting to accumulate documents.
• Employer certificate missing or unsigned. Establishments sometimes delay this; ask for it on the day you plan the treatment, not after.
• Labour Welfare Fund contribution not deposited by the establishment for the claim period, which means the worker does not show as registered with the Board.
• Less than one year of service at the establishment.
• Salary above the prescribed ceiling as shown on the salary slip.
• Illegible or non-itemised bill. A handwritten slip without the clinic's details, the treatment described and the amount will not support the claim.
• Claiming a denture benefit for partial dental work. The Rs 10,000 ceiling applies specifically to a complete denture; other treatment falls under the Rs 4,000 ceiling.
• Wrong bank details, which delays the reimbursement even after approval.

Where to get help

• Haryana Labour Welfare Board toll free: 1800-180-4818
• Haryana Labour Welfare Board landline: 0172-2560015
• Grievance email: hlwbgrievance@gmail.com
• Shramik helpline: 0172-2971057 or 1800-180-2129, 8 am to 8 pm, Monday to Saturday
• Antyodaya SARAL helpline: 1800-2000-023, for portal and tracking issues

No fee is payable to the Haryana Labour Welfare Board for filing a Dental Care Scheme claim. An Antyodaya SARAL Kendra may charge the small notified assistance fee for filling the form, but no one may charge for approval of your reimbursement.