Can I Claim Gratuity After Taking Unpaid Leave During Pregnancy? Seeking Advice

Dear Friend,

I need to know about my Gratuity as I am working in a Pvt. Ltd. company for the last 5.3 years. During my pregnancy period, I have taken 6 months of leave without pay in 2014 and 2 months in 2015 before and after my delivery. Can I claim Gratuity benefits if I submit my resignation from my service?

Please help me out.

Thanks and Regards,
Moutusi Deb

The period during which an employee is on leave, whether it is maternity leave or general leave, during the period of five years of continuous service, will be treated as a period on duty and form part of the service for the purpose of computation of gratuity.

B. Saikumar

Hi,

For gratuity calculation, the only condition is that the period from your date of joining to your last working day should be more than 5 years, regardless of whether you are on leave or Leave Without Pay.

I hope your concerns have been clarified.

Thank you.

Regards,
Hareesh K - HR

Rule Position on Continuous Service

1. [2A. Continuous Service]—For the purposes of this Act:

(1) An employee shall be said to be in continuous service for a period if he has, for that period, been in uninterrupted service. This includes service which may be interrupted on account of sickness, accident, leave, absence from duty without leave (not being absence in respect of which an order treating the absence as a break in service has been passed in accordance with the standing orders, rules, or regulations governing the employees of the establishment), lay-off, strike, or a lock-out or cessation of work not due to any fault of the employee, whether such uninterrupted or interrupted service was rendered before or after the commencement of this Act.

As learned members have clarified, your absence on medical grounds will not affect your entitlement to gratuity.