Is It Legal for My Wife's Employer to Cut Her Salary for an Incentive? Seeking Advice

Dear Senior,

My wife is working with an IT company in Ahmedabad. In her appointment letter, the company has mentioned to give a fixed incentive of Rs. 50,000 annually. Now, they are saying to undergo an appraisal, and after that, they will release the fixed incentive. After raising the issue, they are willing to provide the fixed incentive but with the condition that they will reduce her salary by Rs. 5,000 per month. Is this valid? Can we take legal action on this?

Waiting for your immediate reply.

Thanks,
Bharat

Dear Bharat,

Simply put, keeping the fixed annual incentive as agreed while reducing the salary by Rs. 5000-00 per month cannot be considered fair by any stretch of imagination. What kind of legal action do you anticipate being suggested by others when you have omitted crucial information such as the employment status of your wife and the complete details of the compensation package offered by the employer?

Thank you.

Understanding Salary and Incentives

Salary and incentives are entirely different things. Incentives have nothing to do with the regular salary. They are normally performance-based and subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions. So, if the company has asked to submit a self-appraisal, that is not wrong. She may give an account of her performance in the annual self-appraisal to be verified by her superiors.

However, if she is not ready to submit her self-appraisal, and you believe there are no conditions attached to the grant of incentives, it would be wise to show the appointment letter to an expert. This way, a proper analysis of the in-built conditions for incentives, if there are any, can be made to advise you appropriately.

Regards,