Navigating Reimbursement Declarations: Is It Ethical to Provide a No-Entitlement Letter?

Hi All,

An employee is requesting a letter from our company (Pvt Ltd), stating that she is not entitled to medical reimbursement, LTA, and school fee reimbursement from our company. She wants to submit this to her husband's company, which is a government entity.

I have three questions here:

1. Is this practice common in government companies? If so, why is this declaration necessary?
2. Our pay structure includes LTA and Medical Allowances. While no reimbursements are given, these figures are utilized to reduce TDS for employees. Would it be ethical for me to provide such a letter?
3. If I do issue this letter, could it lead to any future problems for the company?

Regards,
Kavitha

Dear Kavitha,

Apologies, but this sounds fishy to me. Is her husband trying to raise a bill for her at his organization? Please investigate and understand why she needs it. Request you not to sign any document stating an incorrect account of the benefits provided by your company.

Regards,
(Cite Contribution)

Dear Ms. Kavitha,

If the husband has given the details of spouse in his office as an employee in some other organization, obviously the government will ask for a self-declaration and from the company of the spouse to give the declaration for Children Education Allowance / Reimbursement of Tuition Fee (either one only eligible), Medical Expenditure, and LTA, which have not been availed by the spouse of the government employee during the calendar year in which the employee claims. Normally, it is in practice in government offices (even I obtained from my colleagues for processing the LTC (Leave Travel Concession) of the employee whose spouse is working).

But as said by Ms. (Cite Contribution), please have a check with that organization who called for a certificate for not availing the facilities of LTA, CEA/RTF, and Reimbursement of Medical Expenditure.

If the same is paid as an allowance to that effect, for that also, you can give a certificate stating that your organization has considered the same and added it to the CTC or gross pay of the employee; hence, your organization is not adopting the reimbursement system.

So with that, your employee will have the feeling that you have responded immediately, but if you keep pending means that one employee is enough to spoil the entire name of the HR Department.

All the best

This sounds new to me. I have not come across it so far. Here's my question: doesn't this pose a threat that can be contested by the one who signs the document? What safeguards the HR who signs it?

Regards,
(Cite Contribution)

Dear Ms. (Cite Contribution),

Good morning and have a great day ahead.

As a matter of fact, I am only advising Ms. Kavitha to provide the actuals for whatever the employees' eligibility/entitlement is being paid through the salary and nothing else. The purpose of requesting such documentation is to prevent duplicate payments for the same journey, medical treatment, or CEA/RTF, whatever it may be.

By providing only genuine information and not manipulated or fabricated data, HR need not fear any legal issues such as fraudulent claims. The certificate from HR should outline the details of the employees' eligibility/entitlement without mentioning any payments to the employee's spouse. This allows the receiving end to interpret the information and make decisions as they see fit.

Thank you.

Thank you, (Cite Contribution) and Bhaskar, for your suggestions. Your inputs have given me some idea as to what I should do. I will update you guys if anything else crops up.

Thanks and Regards,
Kavitha V. Rao

Dear Kavita,

There are 2 aspects to your question. First aspect is about her entitlement, for which her appointment letter needs to be referred. The second aspect is that yes, some of the government organisations do ask for such kind of undertaking from the employees to prevent one single family from having two times benefits. If a spouse receives benefits, the other spouse will not. Therefore, ask the lady to compare the benefits provided by her and her husband's company, determine which benefit is more advantageous, and issue her a certificate for the benefit she will avail from her husband's company.

I hope it's clear now.

Nitu

Dear All,

Sub: Clarification Required about Karnataka LWF Act.

The Karnataka LWF Act is applicable if 50 or more employees are engaged on the premises. Do we need to consider the headcount of all state branches or only those in Karnataka? For example, XYZ Company has branches across India, but Karnataka has only 3 branches with a total headcount of less than 20 employees. In this case, is the LWF Act applicable or not? Your valuable consideration on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Bharath

Dear All,

The Karnataka LWF Act is applicable if there are 50 or more employees engaged in the premises. Do we need to consider the headcount of all state branches or only those in Karnataka? XYZ Company has branches across India, with 3 branches in Karnataka, but the total headcount is less than 20 employees. In this scenario, is the LWF Act applicable? I would appreciate your valuable consideration.

Regards, Bharath

Government and government companies still have outdated rules and regulations that they are finicky and fussy about following strictly rather than in spirit. When claiming certain benefits, they ensure that the same benefits are not claimed by a working spouse through their employer, hence the insistence on such certificates.

There is no harm in issuing certificates that endorse facts and truth to assist your employees. I have been routinely issuing such certificates every year to certain employees. There is nothing suspicious about this, despite what some members may suspect.

Hi All,

An employee is requesting a letter from our private company (Pvt Ltd), stating that she is not entitled to medical reimbursement, LTA, and school fee reimbursement from our company. She needs this letter for submission to her husband's government company.

I have three questions here:
1. Is this a common practice for government companies? If so, why is this declaration required?
2. Our pay structure includes LTA and Medical Allowances, though no reimbursements are provided; these figures are used to reduce TDS for employees. Would it be ethical for me to provide such a letter?
3. If I do provide this letter, could it pose any future problems for the company?

Regards,
Kavitha