Gratuity Confusion After Company Name Change: How Can My Friend Claim What's Due?

rakeshmba
Dear All HR professionals,

One of my friends joined XYZ company 6 years ago. The first company was not registered, and a year later, the company obtained a registered ID. The company's name was changed to PQR Pvt. Ltd.

My friend resigned from that company and claimed the Gratuity amount. However, the company replied stating that he was only eligible for one year of Gratuity since he had completed only one year with the company. The company offered a new offer letter with a Date of Joining (DOJ) a year before. However, my friend also has the old offer letter where the DOJ is six years ago. The company mentioned that the company's name had been changed and registered as PQR Pvt. Ltd.

Legal Process for Claiming Gratuity

Is there any legal process to claim the Gratuity amount in this case?

Thank you.
korgaonkar k a
The company PQR Pvt. Ltd. is registered under ROC and commenced its business a year ago. This company has a separate legal entity, and therefore, according to the law, it is not liable to pay gratuity in this case unless there is an agreement for the continuation of service with the previous employer.
korgaonkar k a
You cannot say that the employer is the same for the following reasons:

1. The legal entity of the present company and the previous one is different.
2. The present company is run by a Board of Directors, while the previous one (not mentioned by you) may have been run by a proprietor or partners.

Thank you.
Swati Virmani
I would suggest that you check the appointment letter of your friend with XYZ Co. Does it mention anything about the gratuity payment? I am sure that since the company was not registered with the ROC, it must not have been covered under the gratuity act for the first 5 years. After getting registered with the ROC, the company would have been eligible to provide gratuity payments to employees who worked with them for 5 years under the registered company PQR. Hence, I doubt your friend can claim the gratuity amount.

Regards,
Swati
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