Retirement Dilemma: How to Handle a Birth Date Error Affecting an Employee's Future?

One employee's date of birth was registered incorrectly by four years in my organization. Now, according to records, his retirement was in February 2014. However, as per his school Transfer Certificate (TC), he has four years left. The company is not required to continue his employment—what should be done now? Are there any relevant case laws regarding this situation?

What is the basic record the company relied upon? In general, it should be the SSC marks list, DOB certificate from school/revenue officials/gazetted officer/medical officer, etc.

As far as the TC, which is from school or college, is also an authentic document; hence, you need to accept it, failing which the employee may approach legally.

Regards,
Kamesh

Date of Birth in the transfer certificate is the valid proof for age. You cannot send him on retirement now.

Hello Vasukumars, you mentioned that the office records the age of the employee as X years. May I ask the basis of recording the date in your database? You mentioned his school LC/TC bears a date which is 4 years younger than the age recorded by your officials. How did such a huge mistake occur? Do you mean to say that the records or age proof was not submitted at the time of joining? Is this a real case or a case study/case-let? Please elaborate.

Verification Process for Employee Records

Ideally, most firms ask for age proof, residential proof, and a photo ID from an employee when he/she joins a company. Was this process not followed in your company? If the amendment was introduced later, did you not cover your existing employees in it and ask them to submit the documents as part of the verification process?

Steps to Verify Employee's Date of Birth

First, take a declaration from the employee regarding his date of birth. Your records, including the date of birth and previous employment records, can be compared. Definitely, you will find a way to proceed.

Regards,
HRKPATI

Verifying Date of Birth Disputes

In case of a dispute in the date of birth of an employee, we can verify the same in their P.F. records, i.e., FORM 5, and also in the data given to the Gratuity records. We can also verify the employment form which was filled by the employee at the time of their joining.

I don't know if you are displaying their D.O.B and D.O.J in their pay slips. Whether the employee has raised any dispute regarding their date of birth during the tenure of their service. There are many judgments on date of birth disputes which depend on the merits and demerits of the case.

Regards,
L. VENKATESH

The following may kindly be noted.

If it was a recording mistake of the HR (or personnel department) that, despite the employee having submitted a proper Transfer Certificate (TC), they recorded it wrongly, then the employee definitely gets a chance for an extension.

If the employee had given other records showing a different date of birth while joining the service and now is claiming a different date as per the TC, then there is no chance for an extension.

In the case of many public sector companies, the high courts/Supreme Court have held that a dispute regarding the date of birth at the fag end of the service period is not accepted. Citations for these could be obtained from the e-version of labor law journals, or any local lawyer can help.

However, it is also the responsibility of the employee to ensure the proper recording of their date of birth in the organization, which is possible through verifying various service records. If the organization has no system of any such records, then at least when the employees obtain service/working certificates for applying for loans, etc., the date of birth/remaining years of service mentioned can be verified clearly.

Also, many organizations have a system of indicating the date of birth and age of retirement in the appointment letter itself at the beginning.

If, according to Vasukumar, nothing of the above has happened, then there is no way the employee can ask for an extension now.

Kind regards,

Dayanand L Guddin

Thank you all for your attention. Here is some additional information about the above topic:

1. He submitted a copy of the TC ("14-2-1958" in Hindi issued by the school in 1976) at the time of joining in 1977.
2. He is requesting from the company a copy of his date of birth (not available in the copy provided).
3. The company provided him with a letter on a pad dated "1-6-1954" attested by the Factory Manager and sealed in 1991.
4. He was shocked when asked to bring the original document from his hometown and submit a copy of the TC to the company in 1992. There was a few months gap with no acknowledgment or follow-up by the company.
5. He asked orally, and they responded with an okay.
6. On 17-7-2013, he discovered his EPF e-passbook online, showing his date of birth as 14-2-1954. The pension fund column showed '0', and the retirement age was stated as 60 years, with pension fund contributions only up to 58 years. Once again, he was shocked. When he inquired with the PM, he was informed that his retirement date was in February 2014, and they couldn't assist further.

What to Do Now?

Is there any remedy in this case?

Thank you all for your attention.

Additional Information on the Date of Birth Issue

1) He submitted a copy of the Transfer Certificate ("14-2-1958" in Hindi issued by the school in 1976) at the time of joining in 1977.

2) He is requesting the company to provide a copy of his date of birth (not available in the current copy).

3) The company provided him with a letter on a pad dated "1-6-1954," attested by the Factory Manager and CEO in 1991.

4) He was surprised. He brought the original document from his hometown and submitted a copy of the Transfer Certificate to the company in 1992. There was a gap of a few months, with no acknowledgment or follow-up from the company.

5) He asked orally, and they agreed.

6) On 17-7-2013, he discovered his EPF e-pass Book online, showing his date of birth as 14-2-1954, with a pension fund column showing '0'. The retirement age was listed as 60 years, but the pension fund showed deductions up to 58 years only. Once again, he was shocked. When he inquired with the PM, he was told that his retirement date was in February 2014 and they couldn't assist further.

What to Do Now?

Is there any remedy in this case? Please approach the regional provident fund office with evidence of your date of birth and request them to rectify the official records on your company letterhead with an authorized signatory. Then, bring this to your management to ensure the continuation of your service in the organization as per the corrected records available.

This is a clear case where the employee had made previous efforts to get the date of birth corrected, and "the management has erred." Hence, the employee has a better chance of getting this ruled in his favor if he approaches the court. It makes sense for the management to accept the TC and provide the extension as sought for.

Kind regards,
Dayanand L Guddin